SME Day 2017: The youth takes over...

"I can no longer hear the empty phrases about change. Thus spoke Prof. Dr. Urs Fueglistaller, the host and "father" of the SME Day, in his introduction. As is well known, change has always existed: Already in 2003, on the occasion of one of the first editions of the SME Day, the topic was "SMEs in change". And this time, change will not stop at the event itself. Because the SME Day 2017 started with a "handover of office". Prof. Dr. Urs Fueglistaller of the KMU-HSG has been replaced by Tobias Wolf, himself a graduate of this institute and a young entrepreneur. In the future, he will take over the conference management - for this purpose, Prof. Fueglistaller already handed him the key for the KMU-Tag car, with the remark that he still had to change to the winter tires... Prof. Fueglistaller was seen off into his retirement by the audience with a standing ovation.

Also a factor of the SME Day 2017: Women entrepreneurs

So a younger generation is now taking over the event. They are supposed to embody the current change. And there is enough to change in other ways as well. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Jenewein spoke on the topic of "Leadership in Change". He made some recommendations for "disruptive times" in which we find ourselves: Change not only needs leadership, but leadership also needs to change. Agility and adaptability are needed, he said, and this works better in the long term than simply focusing on greater efficiency. It is not only a matter of managing, but also of leading, and the ideal "both/and" must be mastered. "Management is a competence, leadership an attitude," says Jenewein.

Afterwards, moderator Patrizia Laeri talked to entrepreneur Gabriela Manser, CEO of Goba AG. In the context of change and corporate management, she sees her job as "creating conditions so that my core team can do its work". Martina Gerster, Managing Director of Härterei Gerster AG in Egerkingen, experiences her business as "hard as steel" in the literal sense. However, she also sees the economic changes as opportunities - although these must first be recognized. On the other hand, the ever-increasing demands on risk and quality management are standing in the way. These would have an increasingly negative effect on the joy of development.

Many analog problems cannot be solved digitally

After that, Ludwig Hasler made his appearance. He appealed to the audience not to be afraid of taking a wrong turn, and that it was perfectly acceptable to get lost from time to time. With regard to the theme of the conference, he said: "Confidence in change requires the ability to transform oneself. The creativity of humans is becoming increasingly important, because machines will not be able to take over this creativity in the future. The human brain is still superior to any artificial intelligence. And: "Confidence begins with a vista, a will. None of that comes from digital."

"Decisions are exchange rates". That was the headline of Wolfgang Frick's presentation. From his marketing perspective - he is Business Manager Marketing and Assortment Management at SPAR (Switzerland) - he put some of the achievements of the digital transformation into perspective. "Many problems that have arisen digitally are still being solved analogously, but few analog problems can be solved digitally." His appeal to the audience: to be guided less by numbers and more by trust, combined with courage: possibilities - implement - do.

There will only be "digital generations

Finally, it was Philipp Riederle who gave those present the view of the younger generation. Despite being only 23 years old, he probably has a few things ahead of many of those present, such as the conviction that the idea of an "end of work" might not be so far-fetched after all. There is still too much discussion about "infrastructure" at the moment, but too little about social developments. In addition, many technologies have been available for a long time, but too little use is made of their possibilities. And when someone does, they prefer to complain about it instead of taking the initiative themselves. Seen in this light, Philipp Riederle was not very optimistic about the future. Because we are in the process of squandering many of our opportunities. Thus, the SME Day 2017 ended with a rather relativizing assessment - from a representative of the young generation, of all people.

More information: www.kmu-tag.ch