Many SMEs are being forced to optimize their operational processes due to growing pressure on earnings. What is often overlooked is the overhead area. Experience shows that many medium-sized companies in particular are lugging around unnecessary ballast. Yet there is enormous potential for reducing costs in the overhead area: 15 to 18 percent is not uncommon.
The Corona pandemic has undoubtedly given digitization in Germany a major boost. But the momentum did not happen voluntarily everywhere. While young companies, in particular those with fluid structures and processes, are finding it easy to go digital, the comprehensive digitization of business processes is still meeting with resistance in many long-established companies.
Raw materials, labor, energy, transportation: everything is becoming ever more expensive. But that's not all: the rising costs of important input factors are endangering the profitability of companies. With our interactive inflation calculator, you can quickly find out just how much price increases are impacting your company's earnings and how price increases to your own customers can provide relief.
In the wake of the Corona restrictions, many companies have had to contend with falling sales while costs remained the same. As a result, their liquidity began to dry up and some even faced insolvency. At the latest in such a situation, liquidity planning is recommended. But there are many stumbling blocks.
If no investor can be found for an insolvent industrial company, the decision is made to close it down. In this case, however, "shutdown" does not mean an immediate standstill at the plant. Rather, it means a carefully managed phase-out of production. In order to achieve the best possible result for everyone involved - employees, customers, creditors and suppliers alike.
Integrated financial planning is indispensable for companies, says Jendrik Voss. It brings together all of a company's planning components and thus links the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow statement.
When an insolvency administrator comes to the company, it is usually already ablaze. The employees have already noticed weeks or months ago that something is going wrong and fear for their future. But no company gets into insolvency without a reason. Often, performance-related problems have not been eliminated for years.For the insolvency administrator, the task now is to mobilize forces and motivate employees.
Distance Leadership and the skills that can now make it easier for managers and remote teams: We recently talked about this with our Head of Human Resources Dr. Axel Hermeier. But what are the skills that hiring managers are paying more attention to than ever before? After all, the changes in the world of business and work have opened new job profiles and changed old ones. The focus on the fitting talents seems to have sharpened.What is increasingly important to companies in the search for talent and in the hiring process? And - vice versa: What new demands are increasingly being made of jobseekers? A look at the new challenges in talent acquisition and recruiting with Dr. Axel Hermeier.
Baking is en vogue: since the lockdowns, when mainly flour and yeast were sold out in supermarkets, another habit has been established: People are buying more from their friendly baker next door, whereas the bakery-restaurant sector has declined.The "culprit" is the home office and resulting less crowded city centers, train stations and airports. The figures speak a clear language. And the signs? The signs are still clearly pointing to change.What opportunities should bakeries seize now, and how do they succeed in reorganizing operations professionally? Dr. Tim Bauer, Managing Consultant at enomyc, reports on four proven success factors.
As one of the world's leading credit insurers, how does Coface assess the impact of the Corona pandemic? Should we be prepared for a major wave of bankruptcies? Was now the right time for the supply chain bailout to expire? What is in store for companies now?We asked Jochen Böhm, Risk Underwriting Director and Member of the Management Board for the Northern Europe region at Coface. He is responsible for risk and commercial underwriting at the international credit insurer and specialist in receivables management. He knows exactly what companies need to pay attention to in order to operate successfully in the long term, to what extent risks can be taken and how the risk situation is developing for companies worldwide.
Now that the supposed normality is returning due to the progress of the vaccination, we are hearing more and more often about cases in which employees would prefer to continue working in the home office, even post-pandemic. What are the opportunities and what are the limitations of remote management? Can a hybrid between New Work and presence culture succeed? And if so, which distance leadership skills are a must? An interview with Dr. Axel Hermeier, our Head of HR.
Burkhard Wittgen is a credit insurance specialist and member of the Executive Board at Aon Credit Solutions. In this interview, he talks about the dissolution of the protective shield on June 30, 2021, and the consequences for companies. What should companies do now? Which consulting services are currently more in demand than ever? What does the "average in the Suez Canal" case stand for and why should trade credit insurers urgently create a digital connection to their clients? Learn more!
The German Corporate Stabilization and Restructuring Act, or StaRUG for short, has been in force since the beginning of the year. It enables companies that are not yet insolvent or heavily indebted, but threatened with insolvency, to carry out pre-insolvency restructuring as part of an independently managed process. For many companies, this could well be an increased chance of sustainable and value-retaining restructuring.