Markus Eckhart: Corporate Experience & Business Perspective
Experience at a glance
More than 25 years of corporate and professional experience,
Extensive leadership and line management responsibility in international organisations,
Management experience across Finance, Controlling, Strategy and B2B Marketing,
Responsibility for complex cross-functional projects, business processes and improvement initiatives,
Practical expertise in decision quality, business steering, implementation and de-biasing.
These experiences provide the foundation for Mind your business and its combination of Management Advisory, Process Consulting and practical Training & Workshops.
Experience across Finance, Strategy and B2B Marketing.
A practical perspective on decisions, processes and implementation
I founded Mind your business to help organisations address challenges that rarely fit neatly within a single function: important decisions, business steering, cross-functional collaboration and effective implementation.
My work builds on more than 25 years of experience in international corporate environments, including extensive management and leadership responsibilities.
Having worked across Finance, Controlling, Strategy and B2B Marketing, I understand the different perspectives that shape business decisions – and the challenges that arise when functions need to work together.
Today, I combine this experience with analytical methods, process consulting, practical training and de-biasing to support industrial and process-driven B2B organisations.
Corporate experience in international B2B organisations
- Borealis – connecting Finance, Strategy and Marketing:
My more than 13 years at Borealis were particularly formative. Working predominantly at the company's headquarters in Vienna, I held responsibilities across Group Controlling, Business Finance and Strategic Marketing, ultimately serving as Head of Strategic Marketing & Services.
These roles involved close collaboration with executive management, business units and numerous corporate functions. They provided practical experience in preparing management decisions, developing business processes, leading teams and translating strategic priorities into action.
- Mondi – financial steering in an international business environment:
Before joining Borealis, I worked at Mondi as Group Controller Corrugated. This experience strengthened my understanding of financial performance management, the challenges of industrial business models and the role of Finance in supporting operational and strategic decisions.
It also reinforced the importance of connecting financial analysis with business realities.
- Alstom – early experience across countries and functions:
My professional experience at Alstom in Austria and Switzerland provided an important foundation for working in international organisations. Collaborating across countries, cultures and business functions taught me to consider different perspectives and understand how organisational structures influence cooperation and decision-making.
The combination of these experiences continues to shape the way I work today.
Finance, Planning & Performance Management
Making management information more relevant and useful.
My responsibilities included initiatives to improve group-wide financial steering, planning and management reporting.
Selected examples:
Leading the KPI Excellence project to strengthen performance measurement and group controlling,
Managing initiatives to simplify and improve corporate planning processes,
Contributing to more effective management reporting and business finance processes.
These projects demonstrated how much value organisations can create when financial information and management processes are designed around real decision-making needs.
Strategy, Project Lead & Business Improvement
Turning strategic priorities into practical business initiatives.
I have contributed to strategic and operational improvement projects involving several functions and organisational levels.
Selected examples:
Working as a core team member on the Strategy 2025 initiative in Borealis' Polyolefins division,
Contributing to Business Optimisation initiatives focused on improving business performance,
Leading and supporting cross-functional projects involving priorities, processes and implementation.
These experiences reinforced a key principle: a well-developed strategy only creates value when it is translated into effective processes, responsibilities and actions.
Strategic Marketing & Commercial Collaboration
Connecting customer value with business priorities.
My experience in Strategic Marketing complements my Finance and business steering background.
Selected examples:
Leadership responsibility for Strategic Marketing & Services,
Responsibility for Marketing Excellence initiatives,
Participation as Marketing Representative in a broader Commercial Excellence programme.
Working at the interfaces between Marketing, Sales, Finance and management showed me how important a shared understanding of customer value and business performance is for effective collaboration.
Keynote "De-Biasing Leadership", Fifteen Seconds 2021
Photo: Fifteen Seconds | Tim Koenig
What this experience has taught me
After many years in different management roles, a few observations have become particularly important to me.
Good analysis is essential – but it is not enough. Decisions are also shaped by assumptions, incentives, relationships and organisational realities.
Strong functions are important – but business performance often depends on what happens at their interfaces.
And a convincing concept creates little value if an organisation cannot translate it into daily work.
This is why I believe effective management support requires the ability to connect different perspectives: financial and commercial, analytical and behavioural, strategic and operational.
Sometimes the most important contribution is a new analysis. Sometimes it is asking a critical question, challenging a familiar assumption or helping a management team agree on a practical next step.
What matters is finding an approach that works in the specific business context.
Why people and decision-making matter
Processes, structures and management tools are important. But they never operate independently of the people who use them.
Throughout my career, I have worked with different personalities, professional backgrounds and organisational cultures.
I have experienced how constructive discussions can improve decisions – and how misunderstandings, competing interests or established routines can prevent good ideas from becoming effective.
These experiences shape how I work with clients today.
My approach is based on five principles:
Understanding the business context before suggesting solutions,
Combining analytical rigour with practical management experience,
Challenging assumptions and established ways of thinking constructively,
Involving the people whose decisions and collaboration determine success,
Keeping implementation and practical outcomes in focus.
I value open discussions, mutual respect and the willingness to examine difficult questions without losing sight of what needs to be achieved.
How I discovered de-biasing
My interest in de-biasing started with a practical management problem.
During an analysis in one of my corporate roles, I noticed recurring patterns in decisions that had not produced the intended outcomes. Similar mistakes were being made repeatedly, although the people involved were experienced and the available information appeared sufficient.
The usual explanations – inadequate processes, missing data or unclear responsibilities – did not fully account for what I observed.
This led me to explore cognitive biases and the systematic ways in which human judgement can deviate from what we believe to be rational.
What interested me most was not the theory itself, but how this knowledge could improve decisions in real business situations.
I began translating research on biases into practical approaches for management decisions, collaboration and implementation.
Today, de-biasing is an additional perspective in my advisory work and training.
It helps uncover assumptions, challenge established patterns and improve the way decisions are prepared and discussed.
Explore Decision Excellence | Learn more about De-Biasing
How my experience creates value today
Management Advisory: An experienced perspective for complex management challenges.
I support business leaders and management teams when decisions, priorities, business steering and implementation require an independent perspective and ongoing attention.
My cross-functional experience helps connect different aspects of the business and address challenges that cannot be solved within a single department.
Explore Management Advisory
Process Consulting: Practical improvements in management-related processes.
I work with organisations to improve decision-making, planning, performance management and cross-functional processes.
Having designed, managed and improved corporate processes myself, I understand the importance of solutions that work beyond the project presentation.
Explore Process Consulting
Training & Workshops: Developing practical capabilities through real business experience.
I design and deliver training for managers, specialists, talents and corporate academies.
The focus is on applying Finance, B2B Marketing, decision-making and de-biasing concepts to practical management situations.
Explore Training and Workshops
For individual leaders and professionals, I also offer Management Sparring – a confidential and focused setting for challenging ideas, preparing important decisions and gaining a fresh perspective on professional issues.
Explore Management Sparring
What others say about our collaboration
Professional background and further information
Curriculum vitae
For a more detailed overview of my professional background, responsibilities and qualifications, please refer to my curriculum vitae.
Training and professional expertise
For an overview of my training topics, educational activities and experience as a trainer and lecturer, please explore my training profile and workshop offering.
Explore Training & Workshops | View trainer profile
Let's discuss your business challenges
Whether you are looking for experienced management support, want to improve business processes or develop practical capabilities within your organisation, I would be pleased to discuss your situation.
Let's explore how my experience and the approach behind Mind your business could contribute to your objectives.