Graphax with restructured and expanded management team

Graphax, the Swiss provider of digitization solutions and office automation based in Dietikon near Zurich, is starting the coming financial year with a new management team.

The newly composed executive board of Graphax. (Image: zVg / Graphax AG)

Graphax has restructured and expanded its management team. With immediate effect, Juan Chenevard, as CEO, bears overall responsibility for the company with its 190 employees and eight branches in German- and French-speaking Switzerland. Juan Chenevard has been with the company for 14 years, most recently in the role of CSO. He will be supported by a new and expanded management team that will be formed in 2022. "In the coming months, we will continue to steadily implement our digitization strategy and expand our service portfolio to be even more customer-specific. In doing so, we will not disregard our in-house values, as Graphax's corporate culture, developed over almost 5 decades, has always stood the test of time, especially in challenging times. We value this very much and we feel obliged to continue the company in this spirit," says the new CEO.

Manuel Marquina (COO) is responsible for the customer-first orientation in customer service and its further development. He will also deal with the digital transformation in operations and the expansion of the service structure throughout Switzerland. Sonja Nobs, who has been responsible for marketing at Graphax AG for many years, has been newly appointed to the GL as CMO, with the aim of strategically and operationally expanding customer dialog in the digital world and promoting the growth areas of the various business units. Thomas Fux joins the traditional company Graphax for the position of CFO. In addition to the classic tasks, the finance specialist will also take care of strategic analyses in order to further improve operational processes and to be able to initiate cost-relevant decisions.

Due to the strategic management tasks resulting from the digital transformation and in order to manage the customer experience holistically, new responsibilities must be placed in the strategic management, according to the statement. In close cooperation, the new management will develop agile measures that will be necessary in the future to further successfully expand customer retention and acquisition.

Source and further information

Why industrial companies will increasingly rely on machine learning in 2023

Big uncertainties, smaller batches, demographic change: Swiss data science specialist LeanBI explains why industrial companies are becoming more seriously interested in machine learning.

Getting the best out of data: machine learning will become even more important in industrial operations in the coming year. (Image: Unsplash.com)

Machine learning has been hyped in the industry in the past. However, the reality has so far fallen short of expectations. Although the technology is certainly being used in production, it is spreading there only with great delay. According to LeanBI, a Swiss specialist for data science applications that develops customized data analysis solutions based on artificial intelligence, this is about to change. There are four main reasons why industrial companies will increasingly rely on machine learning in 2023.

  1. Volatile environmental factors. The global crises lead to delivery delays for input materials and make sales forecasts more difficult. If industrial companies want to take all influencing factors into account, their corporate planning becomes highly complex. This complexity can only be mastered with the help of machine learning systems. They can significantly help companies to forecast developments while taking a wide variety of scenarios into account - and thus ensure reliable delivery to end customers.
  2. Individualized production. The batches of industrial companies are becoming smaller and smaller because their customers increasingly expect individual product solutions. To cope with this development, they need to increase the performance of their manufacturing processes. For this reason, industrial companies will increasingly implement predictive maintenance and predictive quality applications. They make it possible to avoid unplanned downtimes and the generation of scrap through timely intervention, thereby optimizing overall equipment effectiveness.
  3. Energy scarcity and ESG. The current energy shortage will remain the normal state for the foreseeable future. Industrial companies are therefore forced to make their productions as energy-efficient as possible. Machine learning systems enable them to measure and analyze energy consumption online and take it into account in production planning. Collecting energy data also enables them to meet increasing ESG (environment, social, governance) requirements. For example, they can equip their products with environmental and energy labels or provide traceable proof of ESG compliance at any time by historizing the data.
  4. Demographic change. Workforces are aging, many employees are retiring soon and cannot be adequately replaced due to the shortage of skilled workers. This means that industrial companies are losing valuable expertise in machine management. In many manufacturing processes, influencing factors such as materials are subject to strong fluctuations that cannot be absorbed by a recipe. Machine operators therefore level out these fluctuations through process interventions based on years of experience. To ensure that this know-how is not lost, companies will try to transfer it directly to the machines. Special machine learning approaches based on ontologies such as Bayesian networks are best suited for this.

"Machine learning can provide the best answer to many challenges faced by industrial companies," explains Marc Tesch, owner and CEO of LeanBI. "The conditions are favorable, because in recent years many companies have already worked on equipping their machines with sensors for data acquisition through digital retrofit, networking the machines and bringing the data to the cloud. Now they can take the next step and profitably analyze their data with machine learning algorithms."

Source: LeanBI

Logistics 2023: Three important trends for the transport industry

With the impact of the Corona pandemic, the war in Ukraine, rising energy prices and high inflation, the logistics industry has seen challenging moments in recent years. Now the new year is upon us and the big question: What will 2023 bring?

Logistics 2023: Where is the journey heading? (Image: Pamyra)

What will logistics look like in 2023? Lasse Landt provides the answers. He is Managing Director and CFO of Pamyra GmbH, a comparison portal for freight forwarding services. It allows users to compare the prices and services of reliable freight forwarders and other transport companies for private and commercial customers. Pamyra's network includes freight forwarders in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and throughout Europe.

Three main trends for logistics in 2023 can now be derived from the comparative values and usage data. Accordingly, Lasse Landt considers topics such as the modernization of IT, the setting of sustainable climate targets, and the use of automation and AI in logistics to be essential.

  1. Necessity of IT modernization
    One thing is certain, the transport industry is still under pressure to make strong progress with digitization in the coming year. While digitization is more than IT modernization, it is ultimately a big part of it. The goal of logistics companies must be to be able to intelligently combine different technologies in order to connect with business partners and customers and continue to grow. The fact that the IT in many companies is very outdated means that collaboration is often very complicated. In the future, it will be important for industry players to further develop common communication standards to ensure interoperability. This works much better in other areas where digitization or modernization is already further advanced. Here, RESTful APIs show that communication between different software can work well with good documentation. A good example of this is the start-up and our partner Magaloop. The ordering app digitizes ordering processes of kiosks and retailers and connects them with suppliers and manufacturers. The tool ensures fast, simple and efficient ordering processes and thus helps an entire industry to better manage its resources.
  2. Advancing sustainable goals and climate neutrality
    The importance of promoting sustainability has not passed the logistics industry by. Setting their own goals here and improving their ecological footprint is a major hurdle that many companies in the industry have to overcome. Logistical processes must be converted to be resource-friendly and CO₂-neutral - quite a mammoth task. At present, there are still too few ways to meaningfully determine CO₂ consumption, for example. However, as digitization progresses, there will also be solutions here to make logistics greener. At present, we feel that the willingness to pay here is unfortunately still lower than media reporting would suggest. On the other hand, due to the complexity and fragmentation of the transport market, we often simply lack the means to assign an exact CO₂ footprint to a package. But we are working on finding a solution that will enable freight forwarders to offset their CO₂ emissions through our platform.
  3. Automation and AI as problem solvers
    New and innovative problem-solving approaches are more important than ever in the logistics industry in order to survive in the long term. In this context, automation and artificial intelligence can contribute to mastering numerous challenges in logistics and, above all, to increasing efficiency and resilience. The topic has been set as a trend for many years, but in 2023 a large number of processes will certainly continue to be automated with it. We, too, are already working internally on an AI-driven document capture capability. The goal is for our customers to enter documents and then have them automatically recognized and processed using AI. In the future, more and more logistics companies will work with the help of artificial intelligence and automation. This will then take over many tasks, such as planning routes or avoiding empty runs.

Source: Pamyra GmbH

Plasterer and painter company Schlagenhauf renews its headquarters

The nationally active plastering and painting company Schlagenhauf is extensively remodeling its offices in Meilen. In the future, employees at the headquarters will work in a friendly open-plan office with state-of-the-art infrastructure. In this way, the family-owned company wants to continue to position itself as a top employer in the region.

Schlagenhauf is building for the future: The large lettering on the windows at the headquarters at Seestrasse 1013 in Meilen accompanies the conversion. (Picture: zVg / Schlagenhauf)

Founded in 1934, the Schlagenhauf family business has grown from generation to generation. With several locations in the greater Zurich area, Winterthur, Baden
and Zug, it operates on a supra-regional basis, but still has a local presence. This allows it to be quickly on site with the customer. The company specializes in a wide variety of painting, flooring, plastering or masonry work, facade insulation, facade construction, scaffolding or complete renovations.

Responding to new needs

With the conversion of its offices in Meilen, Schlagenhauf is now responding to the changing needs and requirements. The company's goal is to digitize in a meaningful way over the next few years in order to offer both existing and future employees the most modern working environment possible. In addition, digitalization will enable the Schlagenhauf Group to work even more efficiently in the future and to implement customer projects with greater process reliability.

For the implementation of this vision, Schlagenhauf works together with the company Integral. Integral is responsible for the consulting, the design and the new office environment. By April 2023, the rooms at the headquarters will be transformed into an open-plan office with modern furniture and an inviting entrance area. The room layout and an adapted IT infrastructure are designed to encourage mobile working and offer employees greater flexibility. Instead of fixed workstations, different zones will be available for different activities in the future. In addition to "standard workstations," there will also be project rooms for team collaboration and retreat rooms for personal conversations or telephone calls.

Uniting a wide range of competencies under one roof

For Schlagenhauf, the offices in Meilen are an important calling card for customers and partner companies. Owner Rolf Schlagenhauf says of the renovation: "The new headquarters will reflect our passion for craftsmanship, our creativity and our quality awareness, and at the same time show that we literally unite a wide range of competencies under one roof."

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Continuing education providers are in a phase of change

The FOCUS Continuing Education 2022 of the SVEB deals with changes at the organizational level. The study is based on the results of an annual survey of Swiss continuing education providers. It shows that providers in Switzerland are in a transformation phase. The vast majority are currently making structural and strategic changes. The focus is on agility and growth.

Always offering the right thing for students? Many continuing education providers are feeling the pressure of change. (Image: Pixabay.com)

The main topic of FOCUS Continuing Education 2022 is change at the organizational level. The study presents the results of the provider survey conducted between April and May 2022 by the Swiss Association for Continuing Education SVEB. 211 continuing education providers from all three language regions participated in the online provider survey. The results of the survey were qualitatively deepened in the course of three group discussions with providers.

Majority implements changes

The vast majority of Swiss continuing education providers are currently implementing changes at the organizational level. 9 out of ten are currently adapting their structures and processes. These adjustments vary in scope. While just under half are making targeted optimizations, one in ten providers describe the current changes as a radical transformation. Slightly more than half of the providers are also undertaking a strategic realignment.

Pressure to change is high

The pressure for change at the organizational level has intensified in the wake of the pandemic. In this context, the pressure is primarily determined by external factors: digitization continues to occupy training providers, but issues such as changing demand and changing customer needs also trigger pressure. Accordingly, providers want to increase the agility of their organization and make internal processes more flexible.

Growth has priority

For many, issues such as gaining target groups, increasing sales and growth are of great priority. On the one hand, this can be explained by the fact that the sometimes massive drop in demand must be made up for. On the other hand, it is now a question of increasing profitability, since investments in the development of the offering and the further training of personnel are associated with high costs.

Source: SVEB

Power outages: Seven tips against data loss

It has become cold in Switzerland, and energy consumption is rising accordingly. Even though complete power outages are currently considered a scenario with a low probability of occurrence, experts from IT service providers nevertheless advise preparing for them.

Power outages: To avoid being left in the dark unexpectedly, companies should be prepared, especially when it comes to backing up data. (Image: Pixabay.com)

The risks for power outages are difficult to assess. Therefore, companies should better prepare for their operations being limited or interrupted by a power outage in the data center or server room. They should review their disaster recovery plans now and adapt them to the new situation. Wolfgang Huber, head of the DACH region at Cohesity, a provider of data management and security solutions, offers seven tips on how companies can protect themselves and their data in the event of a blackout.

  • #1 Prepare use of battery and diesel generators.: In the event of an emergency, battery accumulators must be charged and diesel generators topped up in order to reliably supply a data center with power. These preparations should be checked regularly.
  • #2 Personnel planningDisaster recovery tests prepare IT teams to deal with data loss, but in an emergency, they have to switch the power in the data center to generators and back again for weeks. Data center staffing plans must ensure that operations run smoothly.
  • #3 Implement governance frameworks like COBIT: The single point of failure means that the failure of a single component can endanger the entire server system. The standardized framework COBIT provides best practices for analyzing and testing these points of failure. This ensures that companies test, understand and document every element in the IT stack.
  • #4 Make data inventory: How much and what data is stored where? A precise overview of the company's data, the dependencies between data processing and storage, and the provision of services is crucial. This is the only way to understand which critical workflows depend on external infrastructures that could be lost in the event of a power failure.
  • #5 Keep regulations in view: Data protection and legal requirements - i.e. governance and compliance - must also be strictly adhered to when data is moved due to an emergency. This requires a clear picture of data storage for companies. For personal data, the Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets out the rules for this.
  • #6 Automate as much as possible: Looking to the future, companies need to introduce modern data management solutions. This allows all workloads and data services to be managed automatically on one control plane via a single user interface. This saves IT teams time and resources when they need to move data and applications to alternative storage locations.
  • #7 Practice makes perfect: Proper preparation is key - IT and management teams must work together in a smooth and orderly manner in the event of an emergency. To do this, everyone must be on the same level of knowledge at all times regarding potential risks and data management. For this reason, the company should conduct regular exercises and simulations.

Data Management as a Service (DMaaS) offers are a flexible and reliable solution for protecting against power outages. Critical data is stored at an alternative location. This means that companies no longer have to implement and manage the infrastructure entirely themselves and can concentrate on other business-critical tasks, especially in the event of an emergency.

Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) joins the Net-Zero Banking Alliance

Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) has joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance convened by the UN and led by the financial industry itself. In doing so, the bank is aiming for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Continuing to aim high in terms of sustainability: ZKB joins the Net Zero Banking Alliance. (Image: Zürcher Kantonalbank)

Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance on December 12, 2022, to make its contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. It is committing to interim targets for 2030 and every five years thereafter until 2050. ZKB is aware of the key role the financial sector plays in efforts to achieve sustainable development worldwide, which is why it has anchored the principles of sustainability as an integrated principle in its business operations and is constantly developing them further, according to a statement. In doing so, it says it is guided by science-based international, national and cantonal net-zero reduction paths. "By joining the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, we want to set an example: We want to make an active and impact-oriented contribution to the transition to net zero 2050 with our banking services for the economy and society," says Urs Baumann, CEO of Zürcher Kantonalbank.

Sustainability as an integral part of the ZKB business model

Zürcher Kantonalbank says it is one of the pioneers in Switzerland in the field of sustainability. Back in 1992, for example, the bank produced a product innovation for the important decarbonization of the building sector in the form of the environmental loan - a low-interest mortgage for environmentally friendly construction and renovation - which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. This offer was supplemented in 2020 with free heating replacement advice. ZKB has also been running its own sustainability research since 1996. Building on this, it launched its first sustainable equity fund in 1998. In addition, since 2005 it has been supporting innovative solutions that drive the transition to net zero through targeted investments in start-ups and is now one of Switzerland's most important promoters in this field. In 2020, to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement, its asset management business set active investment solutions on the 2-degree reduction path by default and joined the Net-Zero Asset Managers Initiative in 2021, steadily increasing its commitment to the 1.5-degree reduction path.

ZKB aims to expand leading position in the field of sustainability

By joining the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, Zürcher Kantonalbank will further strengthen its leading position in the field of sustainability and steadily expand its range of products and services to accompany customers into a sustainable future. In addition, it will continue to support innovations needed to decarbonize the global economy and drive active dialog at the national level as an important cornerstone of its efforts for net zero by 2050.

"We are proud to join the Net Zero Banking Alliance. As a bank that has deeply embedded a commitment to the environment, the economy and society in its business activities, our commitment to the net zero target by 2050 is central," says CEO Urs Baumann. "We are pleased to be able to contribute together with like-minded banks, our customers and our employees - to international, national and cantonal net zero targets. Achieving these is both a major challenge and an opportunity for society as a whole. We will only achieve this if all players from business, science, politics and the population work closely together."

Alliance of over 120 banks

The UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance brings together over 120 banks from more than 40 countries, currently accounting for around 40 percent of global bank assets under management. Among other things, members have pledged to move their operations to net zero by 2050. This ambitious commitment calls for banks to set interim targets for 2030 or earlier, following sound, science-based recommendations. The Net-Zero Banking Alliance underscores the important role banks play in supporting the global real economy's transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Source: Zurich Cantonal Bank

Alpine Symposium: New start postponed to 2024

The Alpine Symposium, originally scheduled for January 10 and 11, 2023, is postponing the restart to January 30/31, 2024, the organizers announced via website. Tickets already ordered now retain their validity.

The 18th Alpine Symposium will be postponed to January 30/31, 2024. (Image: alpensymposium.ch)

As our medium has already reported in its print edition, the Alpine Symposium is making a comeback with new impulses, space and time for contacts, discussions and experiences. The highly regarded event was originally launched by Oliver Stoldt in Grindelwald and under his aegis has evolved into a high-profile event with 17 runs. Stoldt has since handed over the reins to Act Entertainment. But even under the new leadership, the Alpine Symposium is intended to provide an opportunity for the exchange of trends and topics, insights and ideas on economic and social challenges. Last but not least, the event is always a welcome networking opportunity, about which we reported here repeatedly in the past have

Originally, the new start was to take place on January 10 and 11, 2023, at the usual venue in the Hotel Jungfrau Victoria Interlaken. However, due to scheduling conflicts and at the request of partners, the organizers now feel compelled to postpone the restart of the 18th Alpine Symposium by one year to January 30-31, 2024. The tickets purchased will retain their validity. The program concept will be retained, but the organizers reserve the right to adapt part of the speaker line-up to current events. Prominent names such as former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, economist and women's rights activist Zarifa Ghafari, and business personalities such as Daniel Bloch, Daniela Landherr, Urs Kessler, and Marc Trauffer have already been announced as speakers.

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Occupational pension provision in 2050

Both the economy and society will have changed by 2050. As a result, occupational pension plans will also have to adapt. But how should it be structured in the future? The study "Occupational Pension Plans 2050" conducted by the Lucerne School of Business on behalf of the PKG Pension Fund provides some insight. The study was conducted over a period of eight months under the direction of Prof. Dr. Yvonne Seiler-Zimmermann and Prof. Dr. Karsten Döhnert.

Megatrends are influencing the future design of occupational pensions: a study by the PKG Pension Fund and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts has investigated this. (Image: Pixabay.com)

The PKG Pension Fund was established in 1972 as a pension fund for trade, commerce and industry in Lucerne. It was the same year that the three-pillar model of Swiss pension provision was adopted with a yes vote of 74 percent and subsequently enshrined in the federal constitution. Now the pension fund has also looked to the future and commissioned a study from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. "In essence, the study shows that the trend of increasing life expectancy will continue and that work and family models will continue to change. Individualization will increase, which will reduce the willingness to show solidarity and increase the demand for transparency. Politicians will have to set the course for the design of pension models," Peter Fries, Chairman of the Management Board of PKG Pensionskasse, concludes the study.

The main features

No one can know today exactly what the world will look like in 2050; however, megatrends that are already emerging today provide indications of how society and the economy might one day have changed. This allows differences ("gaps") between future and current social life to be identified, which make it possible to derive the most important features that an occupational pension plan must have in order to survive in 2050.

For this reason, one objective of the study was to describe the implications of specific megatrends on the pension system and to provide food for thought on how occupational pensions should be structured in 2050. The following research questions were analyzed:

  • What are the most important aspects of today's occupational pension plan with regard to the accumulation and dissaving of retirement capital?
  • Which megatrends will shape social and economic life in 2050?
  • What are the gaps between current and future social life in 2050?
  • What are the implications of these gaps for occupational pensions?
  • How must occupational pension provision be designed, given the premise of megatrends, to meet the economic realities and social life in 2050?

Megatrends with an impact on retirement provision

The relevant megatrends are social, technological and demographic change. They are leading to a society in which individualization and self-fulfillment are highly significant and are shaping how people live together, both in private and in society. The platform economy will be predominant. It is characterized by flexible, non-permanent employment relationships. Platform employment and crowdworking will lead to widespread self-employment. In addition, it will be possible to live a longer and healthier life.

More personal occupational pension

The major differences between the society of 2050 and that of today mean that both sexes will increasingly pursue part-time and self-employment, which would increase the number of uninsured gainfully employed persons if the current pension system were to be maintained. Gainful employment is also increasingly being reconciled with private life, which entails more time off during the employment phase. There will be a greater desire to determine retirement individually according to one's own vitality. The effective working life will therefore be much more individualized. Adherence to a predefined retirement age would not do justice to individual preferences. The desire to shape occupational pension provision more in line with one's own needs is contradicted by the current redistribution of occupational pension provision, which is secured by guaranteed benefits.

Food for thought for occupational pension provision

For the future design of occupational pension provision in 2050, the study formulates the following food for thought:

  • All earned income is taken into account for the formation of pension assets. No longer are only employees with a certain salary level insured.
  • The occupational pension plan is linked to the insured person. This means that the employer is no longer obliged to organize the occupational benefit plan. However, he will continue to co-finance the contributions.
  • The length of the savings phase is determined by the working life. The start and end of the savings phase are no longer dependent on reaching a certain age.
  • It is possible to save for time off during the accumulation phase.
  • There must be a clear separation between social policy objectives and individual pension savings. Benefits are no longer guaranteed, not even those in the savings phase. The insured person determines his or her own occupational pension provision within a statutory framework.

Occupational pension provision continues to retain its mandatory character and thus its importance for overall retirement provision. It therefore also remains up to politicians and society to answer various unanswered questions about the design of future occupational pension provision.

Source: PKG Pension Fund

The wave of bankruptcies hits Switzerland with full force

According to an analysis by Creditreform, the wave of bankruptcies continues to roll with undiminished force. Compared with the pre-pandemic period, the number of corporate insolvencies is up by over 9 percent.

Creditors are left out in the cold: The bankruptcy wave rolls on unceasingly. (Image: Pixabay.com)

The bankruptcy wave rolls and rolls: with an increase of over nine percent compared to 2018/2019, i.e. before the Corona pandemic, it is reaching a new peak. The creditor protection organization Creditreform does not expect any more big changes by the end of the year. Creditreform had expected since the beginning of government pandemic aid in the spring of 2020 that so-called Zombie Companies were only given a reprieve because they were simply ready for bankruptcy. Now this additional liquidity has been used up, and the only thing left to do is to go to the bankruptcy court.

End of the wave of bankruptcies not in sight

Creditreform expects around 6,700 insolvencies for the year that is coming to an end. And it does not look as if this wave of bankruptcies will abate in 2023, according to the organization's assessment. It may even get worse in view of an emerging economic slowdown.

Corporate insolvencies in 2018/19, 2020, 2021, 2022. (Graphic: Creditreform)

The figures speak for themselves: a comparison of the insolvency figures for 2018/2019 with the average for the three subsequent years shows that there is still "catching up to do", with a drop of just under nine percent. This is because bankruptcies were already on the rise in 2019, meaning that this rising trend is now also likely to continue with a delay. The pressure on companies will also increase further in the coming year due to supply chain problems, which will lead to a rise in purchasing prices, and higher energy costs.

Problem: Bankruptcy Riding

Insolvencies due to organizational deficiencies are almost 47 % higher than in the previous year. An amendment to Art. 731b of the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR), which has already come into force on January 1, 2021, is now having an effect. This still makes sense, as it removes from the commercial register those companies that no longer have any business activity.

There are increasing signs that more and more companies want to get rid of their debts by leaving the company without the necessary bodies. According to Creditreform, these abusive bankruptcies will continue to increase. Here, he said, there has already been a significant increase in suspicious cases since September 2021: At that time, 47 cases of suspected abusive bankruptcy were identified, with a peak subsequently in the months of December 2021 and January 2022 with 63 and 66 cases, respectively. On average, Creditreform identified 55 suspicious cases per month from January to November 2022.

New registrations, deletions, net growth

But on the other hand, many new companies are still being founded, albeit at a somewhat lower level than in the previous year. 45,111 new companies were entered in the commercial register from January to November, 1.2 % fewer than a year earlier. By the end of the year, we expect over 49,400 new registrations. Deletions may be slightly below the previous year, with net growth thus declining by around 3.4 %.

Source: Creditreform

The 3 top leadership tips to bring home the World Cup trophy

The World Cup ended for the Swiss soccer team in the round of 16 - and of course the causes for the brutal elimination are now being sought. Perhaps also a hint to Murat Yakin: Experts from Hogan Assessments have analyzed how effective leadership can influence the further success of the national soccer team.

The World Cup is entering the decisive phase: Who will win the World Cup trophy? Top leadership tips are now in demand. (Image: zVg / Hogan Assessments)

Brazil, Italy, Spain, Germany and France ... The soccer world champions of this century all had one thing in common: effective leadership. The battle for the World Cup trophy is now entering its decisive phase, and the performances of individual players, teams and coaches will once again be scrutinized by fans and television pundits.

Unlike many other leaders, football coaches are in the public eye: they are expected to deliver victories if they want to keep their jobs. With this in mind, the experts at Hogan Assessments - a specialist personality testing and leadership development company - have identified three leadership tips on how remaining teams can continue to win.

Tip 1: Leadership is about creating a high-performing team - not individual results

In the sports world, the goal for leaders is not to get to the top of an organization. Rather, the goal is to ensure that the team performs optimally together in order to triumph over other teams. In football in particular, team success rests squarely on the shoulders of the coach. A team is defined by shared leadership, shared goals, and shared success or failure. Therefore, the actions of one person often influence the results for everyone else. Didier Deschamps, coach of the French national team, once expressed, "Beyond quality and talent, there are two important aspects: Group feeling and mental attitude."

A successful coach should be able to coordinate players' efforts and encourage them to trust and rely on each other for team success. "Coaches must actively encourage their teams and have an awareness of how to best address each player's skills and talents. This is the only way they can ensure success and be effective in their role as leaders," explains Ryne Sherman, PhD, Chief Science Officer at Hogan Assessments.

Tip 2: With an understanding of players' different personalities, coaches can make smarter strategic decisions

To develop an effective game strategy, coaches must consider the human aspect of the team and athletes. Top athletes are competitive, hard-working, organized, goal-oriented, and motivated individuals by personality. These traits play a big role in the decisions made by players on the field. Gareth Southgate, former England international and coach of the England national team since 2016, put it succinctly: "You have to realize that every player has different characteristics and a different personality, and therefore responds to different things."

Personality and team-oriented leadership are particularly important in soccer when coaches have to make changes in their teams. "These situations clearly illuminate the complexity of leadership in sports, where performance alone cannot be the only determining factor. Personality - especially in adverse circumstances - is also a determining factor in this decision-making process," Sherman said.

Tip 3: Awareness of how others perceive you can help trainers better grow and develop in their leadership roles

From Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola comes the following quote about what he thinks makes a good coach. Guardiola: "What characterizes a good coach? What the players will say about him when it's all over." The players on a team react to their coach's decisions. A relatively recent and drastic example of this was a decision made by Zlatko Dalic, the Croatian coach who led his national team to a World Cup final for the first time in its history in 2018. When Nikola Kalinic refused to start in the match against Nigeria, Dalic kicked him out of the team. This tough decision showed his leadership.

Coaches should become more aware of how they are perceived by players and other notable players in the sports world. This will help them identify aspects of themselves and their teaching and training style that can be improved. This self-knowledge then helps them grow both personally and professionally. Many managers can certainly take a leaf out of their book.

Source: Hogan Assessments

Swiss start-up MyCamper expands to Scandinavia

The Basel-based sharing platform for private camping vehicles is to acquire 100 percent of the Swedish provider Housecar as of December 8, 2022. This will add around 1100 new vehicles to the existing portfolio in the three markets of Sweden, Norway and Finland. In 2023, MyCamper expects a booking volume of 5.4 million Swiss francs in the Scandinavian markets.

Rickard Magnusson and Stefan Lieberherr seal the merger of MyCamper and Housecar. (Image: zVg / MyCamper)

As of December 8, 2022, the Swiss peer-to-peer camping platform MyCamper from Basel acquired 100 percent of the Swedish competitor Housecar. The provider Housecar, which has been active in Sweden since 2020 and in the meantime also in Norway and Finland, will thus be merged into MyCamper and will in future be known as their website be detectable.

From minority interest to complete takeover

In the markets of Sweden, Norway and Finland, there are a total of around 700,000 camping vehicles. That is almost seven times more than in Switzerland. MyCamper had therefore started in 2019 to build a presence itself in the very attractive camping market of Sweden. "After a few months, we noticed that the competition was doing a very good job and it would be difficult to achieve our growth targets there," reports Stefan Lieberherr, CEO of the young company. Instead, MyCamper had invested in the competition and acquired a minority stake in Housecar in 2021. It was by no means a hostile takeover, according to reports from both sides. "We share the same vision and values," said Rickard Magnusson, CEO of Housecar. "Camping vehicles are used on average about 20 days per year. We want to help make better use of existing resources. In addition, we want to make camping and the camping experience accessible to everyone."

Significant expansion of the volume

With the acquisition, four new employees join MyCamper, two of them in management. Thus, the team grows to 25 people. In the markets of Sweden, Norway and Finland, approximately 1100 new rentable private vehicles will be added to the platform. In Switzerland, there are currently more than 2000. In the new markets, MyCamper expects an additional booking volume of 5.4 million francs next year - about half as much as currently in Switzerland. "According to a survey, Scandinavia is one of the most popular camping destinations for our community. So we expect that in the future more Swiss people will take advantage of the opportunity to rent vehicles via MyCamper in the respective markets," says Lieberherr.

Success story in the sharing economy

MyCamper can be described as a Swiss start-up success story. The "Financial Times" ranked the company among the 1000 fastest-growing companies in Europe in 2021. Early investors in the company included Tobias Reichmuth and Roland Brack, known from "The Lion's Den Switzerland" and even die-hard outdoor fans. Already in the first active year 2016, more than 1000 rental nights were arranged. In 2019, it was already almost 26,000. The growth could be accelerated again during the pandemic. "This year we are slightly below last year, but firmly expect that we will return to the growth track," says the CEO.

MyCamper is the largest Swiss peer-to-peer sharing platform in terms of sales, the fourth largest camper sharing platform in Europe and the number one in all markets with its own presence (Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland). By means of the expansion to Sweden, Norway and Finland, economies of scale are to be taken along with the aim of entering further European markets in the future.

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