Ever more companies are committed to sustainability and are pursuing ambitious sustainability goals. Many even have a sustainability strategy. There is, however, often a clear gap between ambitious goals and their implementation. That is, because in addition to a good sustainability strategy, sustainable corporate management is also required to successfully implement the strategy. That sounds … Read more
For medium-sized companies, the sustainability of their business activities has always played a major role. The long-term existence of the company is more important to them than high quarterly profits. Accordingly, CEOs of SMEs generally have a positive attitude towards sustainability. However, their ideas on the content and significance of sustainability for their own company … Read more
Medium-sized companies in Germany are currently missing out on business opportunities worth billions. The reason: most companies are pursuing sustainability in too limited a way and without a holistic strategy. Untapped sustainability potential According to a PwC study from 2023, 60% of the SMEs surveyed have recognized that they need to drive the transformation towards … Read more
The German economy is in recession. And German SMEs are right in the middle of it. In addition to short-term economic causes for the slump, there are also longer-term structural reasons. SMEs are therefore facing growing challenges in the short and medium term that require consistent strategic action. The German Institute for SME Research (Institut … Read more
There has been no business forecast for 2020 that came even close to what happened in this extraordinary year. At least I am not aware of any such forecast. Wildcard events like the Corona pandemic and its effects on society and economy are hard to predict for a specific year. Yes, there have been several … Read more
The year 2019 has started, and nobody exactly knows how the economy will develop over the coming 12 months. However, there are 5 trends already visible. They will have an impact on every business, no matter if you are self-employed or working for a large company. Even if you don’t think, these trends will have … Read more
Many C-suite and mid-level executives have by now understood and experienced the benefits of business coaching. The range of topics for business coaching is very wide. It includes leadership development, stress management, coping with change, and handling conflicts, to name just a few. One particular branch of business coaching which still requires more explaining is … Read more
The experts have been debating the use of strategic planning for some time. Already in the mid-1990s, Canadian management professor Henry Mintzberg questioned the use of a formal strategic planning process in his book “The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning”. And in view of fast, partly unforeseeable changes, there are good reasons to doubt … Read more
Every company needs an up-to-date business plan. Although this is most obvious for start-ups, it applies to established firms, too. A business plan keeps everyone on track in implementing the company’s strategy and reaching its business goals. There is plenty of information available via books and seminars on how to write a good business plan. … Read more
After 12 games of the world chess championship between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin the score was 6-6, and a tiebreak became necessary to get a decision in the match. The tiebreak on Wednesday, 30 November, consisted of four rapid games with 25 minutes plus 10 seconds increment per move for each player. With such … Read more
Game 10 of the world chess championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin was a tragicomedy of errors. In a slightly better position, Carlsen gave up his advantage through an inaccurate exchange of bishops in move 19. After that, Karjakin missed two opportunities for immediately forcing a draw. In view of his one-point lead … Read more
On Monday, 21 November, the world chess championship match between titleholder Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Sergey Karjakin saw the first decided game after seven draws. Game 8 took a dramatic course and ended in a win for Karjakin with the black pieces after 52 moves. The game perfectly illustrates the fourth success principle from … Read more