Derek F. Abell

Derek F. Abell (born 1938) is the founding president and Professor Emeritus at the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Berlin. In 2012, he also became the international dean at HSM Educação in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is a published author of books and academic journal articles, mostly in the fields of strategic marketing, general management, leadership, and executive responsibilities. One of his most significant contributions has been the creation of the Three Dimensional Business Definition Model.

Early life and education He obtained a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Southampton in 1960. After that he moved to the United States and obtained his master's degree in industrial management from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1966, and his doctorate in business administration from Harvard Business School in 1970. According to his book, Defining the Business, Abell suggests the previous two-dimensional definitions were insufficient, and instead created a three-dimensional analysis. The three dimensions in Abell's model are:

Served Customer Groups (who are the customers) Served Customer Functions (what are the customers' needs) Technologies Utilized (how are needs being satisfied)