Isa Müller-Wegner, Chief Operating Officer European Emerging Countries at eBay explains: "The Swiss online market is very large with 5.9 million buyers and shoppers, a population share of 82 percent. For over 21 years, eBay's mission has not changed: we connect buyers and sellers around the world. We want to encourage Swiss women entrepreneurs to take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity for themselves."

Contemporary workshops

The first workshop will take place on March 17 in Zurich and will bring together more than 40 women entrepreneurs from all over Switzerland to share their successes and experiences. Through hands-on exercises, participants will address topics such as marketing, finance and design. The keynote speaker of the event will be Stefan Widmer, CEO of Beliani, one of the fastest growing Swiss online companies.

Women's Expo Switzerland

As part of this comprehensive initiative, eBay has also now announced its long-term partnership with Women's Expo Switzerland. The trade fair will take place on March 26 in Zurich, where eight female entrepreneurs supported by eBay will present their start-ups to the public.

eBay has long been committed to advancing women in the workplace, particularly through the Women's Initiative Network (WIN), which helps women pursue long-term, successful careers in business. eBay believes it has a responsibility to create conditions for women at all levels to grow, learn, and develop professionally with their roles.

Related links: www. ebay.com and www.womenexpo.ch

Thanks to numerous innovations and a consistent focus on customer needs, Heiniger AG is now the world market leader in the animal shearing business: millions of farm animals such as sheep, cows, horses or even dogs and camels are sheared and groomed every day worldwide with Heiniger equipment. There are 40 different knives for sheep shearing alone, as Daniel Heiniger explained to the audience. "Heiniger AG impressed the jury with its innovative business model. The family-owned company has succeeded in becoming the market leader in a highly competitive global market niche. One of the main reasons for this is the top quality of the SwissMade products as well as the understanding of the real customer needs worldwide," jury president Walter Steinlin finally emphasized in his laudation.

The family-owned company was founded in 1946 by Hermann Heiniger and is now managed in the third generation by CEO Daniel Heiniger. It employs over 100 people, 33 of them in the subsidiary in Australia and eight in New Zealand.

2nd & 3rd prize winner
Second place goes to Moser-Baer AG from Sumiswald, manufacturer of the legendary railroad clock. With its MOBATIME brand, the family-owned company, which is now headed by Managing Director Reto Reist, is an international leader in the development, production and sale of clock systems, time systems and time references. Worldwide, several tens of thousands of Moser-Baer systems are in operation at airports, railroad stations and hospitals. The company has established a second mainstay in the field of medical technology. "Swiss quality, information technology and a high understanding of service flow into product developments and services on a daily basis," said Walter Steinlin, explaining the company's success. And further "With strategic acquisitions, the company has grown continuously since 1938 and is now one of the most important employers in the Emmental with 140 employees."

Kühni AG from Ramsei was awarded third place. From an original carpentry workshop, a leading full-service provider in timber construction has emerged. With 160 employees, including 34 apprentices, the family-owned company offers an end-to-end market service from planning to turnkey house construction. The company uses state-of-the-art machinery - ultimately, Kühni AG is a fully digitalized craftsman's business in the Emmental.

Other prize winners
Other award winners of the evening are the watch manufacturer Armin Strom AG from Biel, Carrosserie HESS AG from Bellach, which specializes in vehicle construction, and Furrer + Frey AG from Bern, which specializes in overhead line construction. In the case of Armin Strohm, it is particularly worth mentioning that the still young company management has taken the risk of its own manufacture - something that many other well-known watch manufacturers deliberately keep their hands off... And the name HESS is also known worldwide: Over 3500 "Cobus" buses are in use at international airports to transfer passengers from terminals to planes. Finally, Furrer + Frey AG is one of the market leaders in China, where the company has a 50 percent share of the market for overhead contact line equipment for metros. For SVC President Hans-Ulrich Müller, it was clear that "all six companies are winners.

50th Prix SVC Award Ceremony
For the twelfth time, the Swiss Venture Club (SVC) is awarding the Prix SVC Espace Mittelland to exemplary small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region that impress with their products, their innovative business model and their sustainable track record. The event in the Kursaal Bern was hosted by Patrick Rohr. 1,400 guests from the worlds of politics, business and culture once again made the awards ceremony an important meeting place for business in the Espace Mittelland region.

At this award ceremony, the SVC itself also had something to celebrate - its 50th Prix SVC award ceremony. Since the first event in Bern in 2003, a total of 299 companies in seven economic and three language regions have been honored at 50 Prix SVC awards ceremonies throughout Switzerland. For once, Hans-Ulrich Müller was able to receive a trophy himself on this occasion.

www.swiss-venture-club.ch

The results of the Accenture study show: If a woman earns $100, the global average for a man is $140, or 40% more. In addition, women are less likely to be in paid employment than men - in comparison, only 50% of women are in paid employment, but 76% of men. This phenomenon further reinforces the economic inequality between the sexes:

If this factor is added, a man earns as much as $258, while a woman receives only $100. The Accenture study refers to this as a "hidden" wage gap.

Gap could close in 2044

According to the study "Getting Equal 2017," however, the wage gap in industrialized countries could close in 2044 if the relevant conditions were met. That sounds like a long time, but in fact wage equality between men and women would be achieved 36 years earlier than under current conditions.

The effect would be even greater in the emerging markets, where equal pay could be achieved 100 years earlier than at present - in 2066 instead of 2168.

"We need equality between women and men in the workplace. Equal pay is an economic and competitive imperative and affects everyone. We must take all necessary measures to improve professional opportunities for women and close the gap as quickly as possible," says Nicole Stuber-Berries, responsible for the Women's Initiative in Switzerland and Managing Director Financial Services at Accenture Switzerland.

Equality Catalysts

The study specifically identifies three specific career catalysts for women: Corporations, Governments, and Universities. In addition to this stocktaking, the study identifies three critical factors that put women at a disadvantage on their way to the desired wage equality right from university, including in Switzerland: female students in this country are significantly less likely than their male counterparts to opt for courses of study that per se have a higher earning potential (48% vs. 58%).

They are less likely to have a mentor (72% vs. 87%) and less likely to aspire to a leadership position (86% vs. 97%). In addition, they are less engaged in their studies when it comes to acquiring technological expertise (70% vs. 84%) or taking programming and computer courses (59% vs. 75%).

Referring to a related Accenture survey from 2016, the study identifies three key catalysts that women can use to close the wage gap:

• Digital competence - The degree to which a person uses digital technologies to connect and share with others, to educate him or herself, or to work
• Career Planning - The need for women to set career goals, make thoughtful decisions and proactively advance their careers
• Technological expertise - The opportunity to acquire his digital and technological skills at least as fast as men do

Around 28,000 men and women, including students, in 29 countries were surveyed for the study. The sample included equal numbers of men and women from three generations (Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers) and represents a cross-section of all professional career levels and from companies of various sizes.

Create role models

If the three career catalysts take hold and businesses, governments, and academia provide additional support for women's related efforts, the global wage gap could be reduced by 35% by 2030 and women's earnings could increase by $3.9 trillion.

"Equality is fundamental to inclusive employment policies, including pay," says Thomas D. Meyer, Country Managing Director of Accenture Switzerland. "Businesses, governments and educational institutions play an important role in closing the pay gap. All three sectors need to work together to create appropriate opportunities, environments and role models."

http://www.accenture.ch

Co-working, collaborative home office activities outside of the actual office space is strongly welcomed by young, social media-influenced workers, but studies like the one by the ifo Institute nonetheless emphasize that 74 percent of all workers who are actually allowed to use the home office are still mostly present in the corporate office.

The ifo study concludes that this kind of flexibility makes workspace management more difficult. In other words: Organizing high workspace utilization remains a major challenge. Jenny Noon, Facilities and Real Estate Director at Time Inc. UK, comments: "As our traditional media company Time Inc. UK reinvents itself for the digital age, the way we work is also changing. We have introduced a 'modern approach to working' across all our branch locations. This includes 'hot desking': employees sharing workstations with the aim of creating a dynamic, collaborative and inspired working atmosphere."

Linked needs

"The changed look and feel of our office also helps us work differently," elaborates Jenno Noon of Time Inc, "These changes foster the creativity we need for the important business transformation. They also allow us to work more efficiently by making better use of our expensive real estate in London. - We even designed a 'pub environment' for one of our publications."

Jenny Noon continues, "While a modern work environment brings many benefits, it also comes with the risk of having fewer desks than employees. By now being able to book desks in advance through touchscreens, concerns about whether a free workstation will be available when you arrive at the office are alleviated."

Touch screens for desks

Condeco recently won the "Queen's Award" for its innovative solution to the workstation problem and is now launching the latest generation of touch screens for desk booking. By equipping each workstation with a small internet-enabled screen, Condeco is enabling the introduction of a workstation booking system designed to combat wasted space.

Features such as the LED lighting system, which indicates when a desk is free, are particularly useful. It could also better show the presence of employees. Via beacon technology, employees will also be notified in the future about free workstations in their vicinity based on their location.

Workplace booking screens make office spaces receptive to user and business needs, enabling companies to transform the way they work from the ground up.

Decision-maker

Multiple analytics using these screens allow decision makers to reflect employee habits in the design of the office. Paul Statham, founder and managing director of Condeco, says: "All the developments in the world of work - from flexible working hours to the use of different office locations - are causing headaches for management. And while the many changes are meant to simplify work life, the net effect of all the changes is to make office design more complicated."

"In some offices, finding a free desk is a real challenge. The idea behind the workstation booking touchscreens is that employees can simply enter an office and see directly which desks are available. After logging in, an employee can also see where a particular colleague is sitting, for example. This is very important for successful collaboration."

Condeco's research and development team has created a product that combines a simple user experience with a competitive price; making it both affordable and straightforward to deploy. Multiple analytics using the booking displays allow decision makers to reflect the habits of employees in the design of the office.

You can find more information about the workstation booking touchscreens at this Link

Limiting the role of the Chief Data Officer to profit maximization falls short. The CDO's position is essentially designed to achieve three key business objectives:

• drive comprehensive company growth
• Improve the efficiency of measures
• Manage risks

The idea is that all business processes and activities benefit from these three objectives. Jeffrey McMillan , CDO at Morgan Stanley, made some recommendations on this subject at the recent CDO Summit in New York. He focused on five aspects of analysis or strategic processes with regard to the handling of data.

1. The data science strategy should be consistent with the corporate strategy

Good data scientists are not easy to find. But rather than spending too much time trying to find the ideal data scientist, McMillan believes something else is at least as important. Namely, that this person is savvy about business and sales issues. If no one in the company takes care to implement the CDO's recommendations, it undermines his or her position.

2. Users should be encouraged to work with data visualizations

Data sets should be made available to as many employees as possible rather than left in the hands of a few. For McMillan, this approach secures vital corporate interests because it brings the data to the decision makers. "Corporate decision makers don't need algorithms. What they need is information they can use in practice."

3. The framework for action

McMillan has developed a process that makes it much easier to make decisions. He refers to this framework as the "next-best action framework." This refers to a system that learns, evolves and adapts in real time. McMillan describes this process as follows: "Every single detail, about what an employee is doing or can do in his or her area of activity, is recorded into this system. This data is then compared with the employee's own expectations, historical behavior, customer behavior, market conditions and about 400 other factors. We then successively optimize the system in terms of the specific needs of the customer and the employee in question. This process brings to light a whole range of ideas that are evaluated and ranked according to a point system. For example, whether it is better to call a customer about a bad check or rather to invite them to a golf outing. And then we observe what the customer does."

4. Help digital intelligence make a breakthrough

When we talk about artificial intelligence, the business value is in what is in "intelligence." That's why McMillan prefers the term "digital intelligence." "We are digitizing human understanding in a way that adds value. Ultimately, the winners will not be those who merely provide a technology. It will be the companies and institutions that have knowledge. Those who have knowledge and information will prevail in this field. Someone has to "tell" a machine or an algorithm exactly where to start. A machine doesn't learn on its own."

However complex the subject matter, McMillan exhorts his audience to make everything as simple as possible. "Rest assured, in the end, no one cares how difficult it may have been to make it that simple: Only whether it's simple."

5. Opt for a holistic approach

McMillan issues a stark warning: If you don't take a holistic approach to data management, the effort will either fail or fall far short of the results a company expects. The focus should be on the most important aspects of corporate strategy.

www.morganstanleyfa.com

According to the Institute of Financial Services Zug (IFZ) at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the general conditions for FinTech companies in Switzerland are excellent by international standards. This is also illustrated by the remarkable growth of 17 percent to 190 companies in 2016. However, there is still technological catching up to do.

A project team at IFZ examined the potential for a Swiss FinTech center in comparison to the international context. So-called hubs were created in a ranking for FinTech centers. This shows that the industry finds very good framework conditions in this country: Out of 27 cities surveyed, Zurich and Geneva are in second and third place behind first-place Singapore. Compared to Singapore, the two cities still have some catching up to do, especially in the economic and technological dimensions.

Important drivers

The ranking is based on 68 indicators that show the general conditions with regard to the political and legal, economic, social and technological environment. Among other things, political stability, the efficiency of the authorities, access to loans and venture capital, the number of science and technology graduates, and access to and use of information and communications technology were taken into account.

Zurich goes FinTech

The good framework conditions are paying off: "The Swiss FinTech scene continued to grow in 2016," says Thomas Ankenbrand, project manager of the "IFZ FinTech Study 2017". Last year, 190 companies were active in this country, as illustrated by the database specially compiled by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, which lists FinTech companies with business headquarters in Switzerland. Compared to 2015, this corresponds to an increase of 17 percent.

In terms of the number of domiciled companies, Zurich has strengthened its top position with now 84 (up 12) FinTech companies, followed by Zug with 29 (up 8) and Geneva with 19 (up 6). "Despite the increasing number of FinTech companies, industry associations and support programs, this growth has not yet been fully translated into new jobs or higher company valuations. So the FinTech industry in Switzerland still has a lot of growth potential," says Ankenbrand.

Orientation remains international

The Swiss market alone is too small for most FinTech business models. As a consequence, the global orientation and specialization of Swiss FinTech companies increased further last year, as the study shows. Around 60 percent of the companies pursue an international business-to-business business model. That is, they are often specialized global suppliers to established financial services companies. Incubators/accelerators and venture capitalists also operate internationally.

Therefore, it will be important for the further growth of the Swiss FinTech industry that, on the one hand, products and services can be exported globally and, on the other hand, global access to talented employees and venture capital is guaranteed. Furthermore, the regulatory environment must continue to be dynamically adapted to upcoming developments. "Otherwise, many companies will no longer work the global market from Switzerland," says Ankenbrand.

FinTech companies not banks

Finally, the project team investigated the general assumption that FinTech companies would fundamentally compete with banks. The researchers conclude that in most cases, the companies cooperate with banks or are their suppliers. In addition, the revenue models of FinTech businesses have shifted in the past year toward licensing fees and SaaS (software-as-a-service), as is common for technology-driven business models.

The typical revenue models of established financial companies have little significance for FinTech companies (interest and trading transactions) or are losing relevance (commission transactions). "The companies thus support the banks in their digitization efforts as an innovative spearhead instead of directly competing with them," says Ankenbrand. (Source: HSLU)

Further results from the "IFZ FinTech Study 2017" can be found in this Link

The entire 125-page study (in English) costs 290 Swiss francs and can be ordered at ifz@hslu.ch.

The ADP study times where the happiest employees work. The top five European countries by worker satisfaction are listed below:

1. Netherlands (76%)
2. Poland (74%)
3. Switzerland (73%)
4. Spain (71%)
5. United Kingdom, France and Germany (68%)

Different criteria

Despite high job satisfaction, 86% of Polish workers would consider a career opportunity in another country, compared to 54% of respondents in France, who generally report lower satisfaction and optimism than Polish workers. These results are interesting in terms of employment figures. For example, unemployment is staggeringly high at 18.9% in Spain. High job satisfaction is likely a direct result of comparative job security.

German employees are the most confident about the future of work. 83% of them are optimistic. The UK recorded the largest decline compared to last year (76% vs. 81%). As the UK is one of the strongest economies in Europe with high employment levels, the outcome of the EU referendum is probably to blame for this drop.

Demographic change

Younger workers tend to exhibit higher levels of optimism, with 85% of 16-24 year olds optimistic about the future of work, compared to an overall average of 78%. This drops to 72% in the 55+ age group - suggesting that optimism declines with age.

Most satisfied areas

Meanwhile, the telecommunications and IT industry is emerging as the most satisfied industry of all. 79% of workers report being satisfied. In contrast, only 65% of workers in the retail, hospitality and leisure industries reported being satisfied.

Sebastien Moyon, Service Delivery Director at ADP Switzerland, comments, "It has long been recognized that employee satisfaction has a big impact on production. Organizations need to make sure their employees are happy, engaged and satisfied in their roles."

For more information, please read the study "The Employee View in Europe 2017" at this Link

www.adp.ch

Digital does matter! Today, many things are changing digitally. This unsettles many managers. Because they are confronted with completely new challenges and questions in the networked world: What impact does increasing complexity and networking have on leadership? What kind of leadership behavior will be required in the future? How can I inspire my employees - and in particular digital natives - to support me, my ideas and my plans? And: Is leadership still in demand at all in the VUCA world?

VUCA - not a phrase

 VUCA is an abbreviation for: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. In a nutshell, these are exactly the conditions in which executives have to make decisions today. It is obvious that the demands on the executive have changed dramatically in recent years and that the staccato of change is drumming ever more extremely on senior executives.

Managers must be able to deal with the digital reality; unfortunately, justified fears of failure often find no place in everyday business life. Answers to fundamental questions are provided to executives and (project) managers, HR managers and consultants in the new book by management consultant Barbara Liebermeister "Digital ist egal: Mensch bleibt Mensch - Führung entscheidet". In it, the founder and director of the Institute for Leadership Culture in the Digital Age (IFIDZ), Frankfurt, provides readers with the certainty:

Orientation important

There is no need to panic. Because in the modern, digital world, many things are changing, but not everything: People remain people, and leadership must change, but is more in demand than ever. Because the more diffuse, unstable, and change-ridden the corporate environment is, the more employees long for stability and orientation. And the more "soulless" the technologies used are, the more they want an emotional leader who is also a role model, a source of impetus and ideas, and a motivator for them.

Successful leaders

The leader of tomorrow, according to Liebermeister's credo, is empathetic and an excellent networker. The author creates meaning and inspires people for ideas and visions because of her personality. She is convinced that relationships with and between people, not technologies, are the key success factor in the 21st century. In the digital age, people are finally taking center stage.

For more information about the book and the author, in addition to Amazon, visit the IFIDZ website at www.ifidz.de

The Standortförderung Region Winterthur can report record figures in three respects. First: With a total of 407, never before have so many companies participated in the semi-annual survey and taken the opportunity to communicate. With 1507 companies sent out, this corresponds to an incredible response rate of 27 percent. Previous surveys achieved significantly lower response rates (less than 300 in each case).

Secondly, optimism among businesses is back and has even slightly exceeded the 2014 level. Whereas there had been a massive slump in 2015 due to the uncertainty caused by the removal of the minimum euro exchange rate, companies now appear to have fully recovered from the franc shock. 45.3 percent expect higher sales than in the previous year (39 %). 32.6 percent are planning investments (previous year 27 %), and 19.8 percent an increase in personnel in the coming six months (previous year 18 %).

Satisfied with general conditions  

A total of 85.75 percent are basically satisfied with the current conditions in Winterthur. However, they criticize the traffic situation in the city and the shortage of skilled workers, among other things. Half of the respondents consider the tax burden at the Winterthur location to be high.

Record number of new companies  

Last but not least: The city of Winterthur registered a record number of new companies in 2016, namely 578. So much entrepreneurial spirit and the returned optimism promise a prosperous future for the Winterthur region. The Standortförderung Region Winterthur conducts a survey of local companies every six months in order to feel the pulse with regard to the sales and order situation, staffing levels and willingness to invest.

Further results of the survey can be found in the enclosed PDF under this Link (with graphic) and this Link (details).

Only 15% of Swiss travel managers expect more travel in 2017 than in the previous year. In 2016, this figure was still 23%, already 11 percentage points behind 2015, meaning that the Swiss are more pessimistic about the future than their international colleagues (33%). At the same time, however, the number of travel managers in Switzerland expecting fewer business trips this year fell from 16% in 2016 to 8% at present (13% globally).

Expectations are mixed

According to AirPlus, the falling cost of business travel as well as the non-homogeneous Swiss export market could be responsible for this contradictory situation. While some industries (e.g. pharmaceuticals) continue to do well, the processing industry (e.g. mechanical engineering) is struggling. Swiss business travelers are more confident about the situation: 13% believe there will be less travel in 2017 (2016: 17%), while 29% expect an increase (2016: 19%).

In addition to the strong Swiss franc, this could also be due to another trend among Swiss companies, namely the relocation of production facilities abroad

New travel orientations  

The above reasons could increase the need for business travel at the management level. On an international level, Americans have the highest expectations for 2017: 71% of corporate travel managers expect travel numbers to increase. In 2016, the figure was just 26%. Also optimistic are 60% of Indian travel managers and 78% of business travelers, who expect an increase in business trips due to the economic boom and rising exports.

Swiss pessimistic

The economic impact on their market has been increasingly viewed more positively by international travel managers in recent years. 2017 is the first year in which the number of positively minded travel planners (29%) is greater than that of their negatively minded colleagues (23%). This means that the proportion of optimistic managers has more than doubled in the last three years (2014: 14%).

In Switzerland, the picture is different: Only 5% of Swiss travel managers believe that the current economic environment will have a positive impact on business travel. The number who see a negative impact has fallen from 31% in 2016 to 20%. This means that 71% of travel managers see no economic impact on business travel (2016: 62%). Swiss business travelers are significantly more optimistic, putting them more in line with the Western European average.

22% of Business Travelers in Switzerland each expect the economy to have a positive or negative impact on the business travel segment.

The 12th "International Travel Management Study by AirPlus International" can be found under this Link

Cathy Orner, new role at CWT as chief risk officer

Cathy Orner joined CWT in 2006 as Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer. In her new role, she is responsible for ensuring global business continuity - including client data protection, crisis planning, and overall crisis management.

24/7 Resilience

"A key factor in CWT's digital realignment is to create a personalized travel experience for customers using technological innovation," says Andrew Jordan, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at CWT. To ensure this 24 hours a day, seven days a week, CWT needs the highest level of business resilience.

Therefore, potential risks must be identified and averted on an ongoing basis. Cathy Orner's experience in the individual areas of responsibility of the new position makes her the ideal candidate.

http://www.carlsonwagonlit.com

Board members' outlook for their own company: 53% expect a positive business development for their company - with companies being assessed much more optimistically than the economic development as a whole. Prof. Dr. Dr. Christian Wunderlin, President swissVR, says: "The discrepancy between the assessment of the outlook for one's own company and that of the industry indicates how great the confidence is in one's own efforts to master current challenges and in the success of one's own company."

Top strategic topics of the BoD

96 percent of the Swiss board members surveyed confirm that they currently play an active role in defining corporate strategy - and thus comply with the legal mandate. The majority of respondents have a positive view of the competence of the boards of directors in strategic matters. However, 30 percent believe that individual members may be out of their depth when it comes to strategic issues.

The proportion of SMEs is much higher than that of large companies.

Optimizations and strategies

Board members have to deal with a wide range of topics and set priorities. According to the survey, the most important topics in the last twelve months were efficiency enhancement and optimization of internal processes (43%), development of a corporate strategy (36%), and personnel challenges at management level (35%).

For the next year, the respondents expect a comparably high importance only for the efficiency topic. On the other hand, digitization, market and sales strategy, and talent management will gain in importance in the future.

Swiss innovation focus

The majority of the innovation focus is on service and product innovations (58% and 47% respectively). Swiss companies already seem to be following the global trend toward a service society with its strong focus on the development of new services. However, the traditional focus of many Swiss companies - the new development and improvement of products - continues to enjoy a high priority.

The fact that many board members also consider process and business model innovation to be important (30% and 22% respectively) is an indication that Swiss companies are already increasingly innovating beyond the product and are driving innovation in other parts of the value chain (including services, processes, marketing). Furthermore, a large majority (86%) of the surveyed BoD members emphasize that suitable employees and the right know-how are absolute priorities in order to pursue successful innovation activities. (Source: "swissVR Monitor")

More information can be found Swiss Centre for Corporate Governance