Many employees no longer have an emotional attachment to their companies. In other words, they have quit internally. The cause of this is primarily bad managers. The failure of managers costs the economy millions every year and thus reduces the competitiveness of companies.

Leadership failure is not a question of IQ

What might cause managers to fail in their roles, and what can they do to improve their employees' opinions of their supervisors? A study by V. Jon Bentz - vice president in human resources at Sears during the 1970s - found that leadership failure had little to do with a person's IQ or personal attractiveness. Rather, it could be traced to the interpersonal skills of the leaders in question. And since personality is at the heart of interpersonal competence, personality procedures - such as those used by Hogan AssessmentsThe results of the study, which were developed by the Institute for Leadership and Development, can be used to identify eleven personality dimensions that cause managers to fail time and again.

The Hogan Development Survey

Hogan Assessments says it is a leading provider of research-based consulting and assessment solutions, such as the Hogan Development Survey (HDS), the Hogan risks describes. Developed in 1997 by psychologists Robert and Joyce Hogan, the HDS is believed to be the only personality assessment to date that identifies critical traits that can result in professional failure. It assists managers by providing them with insights into counterproductive tendencies - or "risk factors" - that inevitably lead to their failure. These factors can be amplified, especially during times of heightened stress, and can lead to poor relationships with employees and other key stakeholders.

Eleven possible pitfalls

For all-around successful leadership of a team, leaders must be aware of the following eleven personality dimensions or "pitfalls."

• Jump - People who have high expressions on the Jumpy dimension show a lot of energy and enthusiasm for new projects. However, they quickly lose interest if projects do not go according to their ideas. Volatile personalities are very emotional and tend to express their frustrations about people and projects in the form of public outbursts. This creates an uncomfortable work atmosphere where employees have to be constantly on guard for fear of upsetting or disappointing their supervisor.
• Skeptical - Highly skeptical leaders, behave suspiciously of others and believe that others will stab them in the back as soon as they let their guard down. While the leader with this approach may act in accordance with the sometimes ugly underbelly of organizational politics, this person is ultimately unable to gain the trust of his or her counterpart. This inevitably leads to a completely dysfunctional work environment where decisions are made in secret meetings and without open discourse.
• Careful - Cautious managers are constantly afraid of making a mistake. They are convinced that you can never be completely sure and always work with the worst-case scenario in mind. As a result, they are afraid to break new ground or make decisions regarding concrete consequences. Their subordinates try to steer around them when they really want to achieve something.
• Distant - Detached managers believe that first-class work can only be done in complete solitude and thus with absolute concentration. They keep personal interactions to a minimum, and they keep themselves distant once things get stressful. Detached leaders are also less sympathetic to other people's problems, which leads their employees to view them as cold, unyielding and unhelpful.
• Passive resistance - Leaders with high proficiencies in the Passive Resistance dimension show themselves to be polite and socially competent when leading a team, which is why they are often appreciated and respected in their company. However, after working closely with these individuals for some time, employees look behind this facade and notice many fatal weaknesses. When faced with real challenges, these leaders are seen as less productive and look for ways out to avoid and redirect responsibilities.
• Pretentious - Bumptious leaders are initially inspiring, bold and confident. While employees can learn a lot from these individuals about how to get to the top of the career ladder as quickly as possible, these leaders can quickly become real challenges in the workplace. They refuse to admit or take responsibility for their mistakes and failures - for fear of losing face - and so the blame will always lie with employees. But at the same time, these individuals are celebrated for their great successes and are incapable of recognizing and rewarding the hard work of their team.
• Daredevil - Daredevils love thrills and excitement and like to test their limits. Within this scale, leaders are seen as willing to take risks and spring into action, especially in times of stress. In a leadership position, this is definitely necessary, but being too strong within this scale can lead to challenges for employees. In relation to their employees, these leaders lack the consideration that ultimately creates the foundation for their success and is of greatest concern when taking on large, ambitious projects.
• Colorful iridescent - Colorful leaders like to be the center of attention and also thrive in stressful situations, but in different ways. While daredevil executives live for the rush of high-risk projects, variegated executives enjoy the fame and attention of such projects, but this can quickly have a detrimental effect on them. Employees often view these leaders as chaotic and unpredictable, and must always contend with poor organization and indecision.
• Imaginative - Imaginative people are very creative and love to brainstorm different ideas. They consider even simple problems to be extremely complex and demand highly innovative solutions. As managers, they are quickly bored by daily tasks and activities and are easily distracted by their own thoughts. As a result, their employees view them as unfocused and awkward in their actions and decisions.
• Pedantic - Pedantic personalities are perfectionists and have a hard time delegating work efficiently among their employees. As a result, they tend to do most of the work themselves - taking on more than they can handle - which in turn affects quality and turnaround. Working with such managers is particularly challenging because they slow down productivity and control their employees down to the smallest detail.
• Eager to serve - This type of leader lacks initiative and resourcefulness. Unlike pedantic leaders, these individuals rely too much on their team members and hope that they will lead the project to completion without taking responsibility or making risky decisions themselves.

As job dissatisfaction increases, the relationship between employees and employers becomes more important. To successfully lead a team and produce good results, leaders from all organizations must build meaningful bonds with their employees. Developing and maintaining awareness of these eleven pitfalls can help top management and team leaders foster closer working relationships with their employees. Only in this way will a manager be able to successfully support his or her team and achieve compelling results.

More information

Business travelers also have a lot of positive things to say about being on the road: Travelers from the Americas are the most enthusiastic, with 94 and 86 percent respectively, followed by travelers from the Asia-Pacific region with 93 and 84 percent, and European business travelers have scores of 89 and 77 percent, according to a study by travel management platform CWT. "Among the most exciting aspects associated with business travel, according to our findings, is discovering a new destination, meeting someone face-to-face for the first time, and networking with people who can help advance one's career and business, but also breaking out of routine is an important feature," says Niklas Andréen, executive VP and chief traveler experience officer at CWT. "It's important that we recognize the true value travelers find in their trips and identify what provides the most value when you're on the road."

Getting to know other people of great importance for business travelers

CWT's study also shows that for global travelers, building trust (38%), getting to know people better (32%) and increasing efficiency (31%) are among the top three benefits of getting to know people in person. For European business travelers, getting to know other people is the most important benefit (37%), with 36 percent of Americans ranking this as important, compared to 25 percent of Asia-Pacific travelers. Europeans also rate efficiency gains from meeting face-to-face the highest (34%), with Asia-Pacific travelers at 31 percent and Americans at 29 percent.

Bleisure trends

Another perk of business travel is the ability to extend a trip by a few vacation days. On average, respondents have extended their trip 2.4 times in the past twelve months. Here, Americans lead the way with 2.7, Europeans are right on average with 2.4, and travelers from Asia-Pacific are just below with 2.3. On average, business trips worldwide were extended by 4.3 days.

Another finding of the study is that companies are most supportive of Bleisure travel when employees handle their own personal expenses (76%), especially in Asia Pacific (79%) and then in the Americas (77%). Companies in Europe lag behind here at 70 percent.

Source: CWT

Organizational resilience or corporate resilience strengthens the ability of a company or organization to systematically prepare for current and future negative influences and to adapt to them in such a way that damage is avoided and future viability is maintained. This resilience is achieved through skillful interaction of diverse management systems. These include information security, compliance, business continuity, risk management as well as service management, quality management, human resources management and innovation management.

Arming yourself against challenges with business resilience

"Today, companies have to adapt to changes faster than ever. Globalization, digitization, ever shorter innovation cycles and many other influencing factors demand a high level of dynamism and flexibility. At the same time, the requirements for information security, quality, compliance, etc. are increasing. This makes it all the more important today to strengthen the resilience of an organizational or business management system," explains Ulrich Heun, Managing Director of the Limburg-based consulting firm Carmao GmbH, for example.

Organizational resilience aims to ensure that a company is resilient to the dynamic environment and associated negative influences. Through coordinated resilience measures, the company becomes more resistant because the immune system of the organizational organism is strengthened. This is not just about increasing efficiency through clever integration of management systems, but also about creating new forecasting capabilities for future challenges. This is the basis for avoiding a crisis or remaining capable of acting in a crisis.

From protected data to sensitized personnel and innovations

To achieve corporate resilience, the relevant structures and processes must be designed accordingly. This is achieved through management systems that work together: Information security, compliance, business continuity, risk management as well as service management, quality management, human resources management and innovation management. These are the central building blocks whose implementation and interlinking lead to corporate resilience.

"Getting employees and business partners on board at all levels is crucial to achieving end-to-end resilience," explains Ulrich Heun, adding: "In the course of digitization and networking, it is also becoming increasingly important today how innovations and new business models are handled. For example, in terms of data protection, when several participants in a value chain are networked with each other. In all areas related to organizational resilience, we offer appropriate consulting and services for the seamless integration of the various sub-disciplines. This ranges from the analysis of linkages and the identification of problems to methodical implementation and accompanying training or education to enable employees to implement resilience measures independently."

Source: Carmao Ltd.

Against the background that Switzerland is currently at a crossroads in regulating its relationship with Europe, this year's congress theme is almost programmatically "Departure instead of demolition." The question arises: more proximity or more demarcation between Switzerland and Europe? The focus is also on thoughts about the further development of Switzerland and Europe in general: How can Europe find a way out of this narrowness - and what could be possible recipes for a new beginning? What are the priorities that decision-makers in business, politics and science must set, and what can each individual do? The Europa Forum wants to provide orientation in this discussion, promote dialog and provide new inspiration and impetus.

Europa Forum Luzern: A "fixed star" for 20 years

The Europa Forum in Lucerne offers - for 20 years - orientation in times of confusion. This year's event will take place on December 3 and 4, 2019 at the KKL Lucerne and is a must for all those people who are convinced of the importance of the topic. But the event should also be a fixed point for those who want to network and exchange ideas with high-profile personalities - also beyond the topic of Europe. As Sigmar Gabriel, former German Foreign Minister, puts it in a nutshell: "Europe needs a new departure. Because the global tasks ahead are so big that any one country alone is simply too small to solve them." The top speakers at this year's event promise much. Among them are: Ignazio Cassis, Federal Councillor; Doris Leuthard, former Federal Councillor/Federal President; Sigmar Gabriel, former German Foreign Minister; Jan Peter Balkenende, former Dutch Prime Minister; Flavia Kleiner, Co-President Operation Libero; George Osborne, former Chancellor of the Exchequer of the British Government; Aude Pugin, CEO APCO Technologies; Peter Spuhler, Chairman of the Board Stadler Rail; Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board Lufthansa, and many more.

Prominently staffed steering committee

The Europa Forum Luzern is also presenting itself in the KKL with a new face and wants to have an even broader presence in the future. With a new strategy, well-known personalities in the Steering Committee and Executive Committee as well as exclusive partners, the countdown for the first annual event under the new flag has started promisingly. In addition to the annual event, the Europa Forum is pursuing long-term issues along six so-called funding initiatives on specific topics such as education & research, Generation Future, SMEs/entrepreneurship. These are intended to deepen and cultivate the discourse beyond the actual congress throughout the year. The 13-member Steering Committee is chaired by former Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard and former German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. The Executive Committee, with 17 members, is headed by Marcel Stalder, Chairman (CEO ChainIQ), and Philipp Gmür, Vice Chairman (CEO Helvetia Group). Director Christof Wicki and his team have been running the office for 20 years.

www.europaforum.ch

Fiber optic modulators and building insulation, though multi-billion dollar markets, are "hidden" topics until devastating building fires or frustration from slow communications bring these important infrastructures to the public's attention. Two Zurich-based startups, FenX AG and Polariton Technologies AG, are developing research from ETH Zurich and recently received CHF 150,000 in pre-seed funding.

FenX AG: Fully recyclable insulation that maximizes fire protection and minimizes CO2

The modern construction industry faces the challenge of reducing its energy consumption and carbon footprint: residential and commercial buildings account for about 40 percent of global energy consumption and 36 percent of global greenhouse gases. Better and greener insulation can reduce total greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by one-fifth. Unfortunately, today's insulation either has a relatively high carbon footprint or is highly flammable.

FenX, a spin-off of ETH Zurich, is addressing this problem by converting industrial mineral waste into sustainable and high-performance insulating foam boards that also ensure safe fire protection in buildings. The market is large: worldwide, the construction industry spends around 22.4 billion Swiss francs on thermal insulation. "Our fully recyclable product minimizes CO2 emissions and maximizes fire protection. This combination is new to the market and is made from waste," says co-founder Etienne Jeoffroy, whose product generates three to 10 times less CO2 over its lifetime than current technologies.

FenX is focused on completing European certification for its insulation panels before developing pilot projects. The startup was recently accepted into the Business Develoment Accelerator of Swiss Prime Site, the largest listed real estate company in Switzerland. Jeoffroy and co-founders Michele Zanini, Enrico Scoccimarro, Alessandro Dutto, André Studart and Elena Tervoort plan to close a seed funding round of around CHF 1.5 million by 2020.
The CEO expresses his gratitude for Venture Kick's support and entrepreneurial education during the startup phase: "Venture Kick helped us a lot to focus and refine our business model. In particular, the Kickers Camp showed us how to improve our go-to-market path."

Polariton Technologies AG: the world's fastest and smallest electro-optical modulators

Our world is filling up with digital devices that need to communicate with each other, and modern lifestyles mean that people want higher volumes of data available quickly. Modulators, which convert electrical signals into light signals required for global transmission over fiber optic cables, are an essential part of our modern communications infrastructure. ETH Pioneer Fellow Claudia Hoessbacher and co-founders Wolfgang Heni and Benedikt Bäuerle use shorter wavelength plasmonics instead of normal light to shrink these components to the nanoscale. Polariton's modulators transmit at up to 500 GHz, ten times faster than the prevailing photon modulator technology.

Polariton used Venture Kick pre-seed funding to validate business assumptions and meet potential customers and suppliers worldwide. The team recently presented its nanotechnology - the culmination of six years of research - to international experts and hired its fourth team member. The Zurich-based startup has contacted initial investors as a seed round of CHF 1-2 million is planned for early next year. The capital will help the startup hire an experienced business development staff and refine its modulators for launch customers in the test and measurement space.

The startup also received financial support from Innobooster and was pleased to receive entrepreneurial training from Venture Kick: "The very concrete feedback helped us enormously. It's also valuable to be able to exchange ideas with founders at similar stages," says Hoessbacher, who is excited about her transformation from researcher to entrepreneur. "It's all about bringing research to market. This is our baby - I'd love to see it out there."

In 1993, the British physicist and software developer Tim Berners-Lee and the Belgian computer scientist Robert Cailliau publish the first website at CERN in Geneva. The reason for this is that CERN's laboratories are located partly on French and partly on Swiss territory. The two countries have different network infrastructures, which make it difficult to exchange information. Since 1989, the two scientists have been working on a project to simplify the worldwide exchange and updating of information between scientists. As a result, the two develop the HTML programming language, the HTTP transfer protocol, the URL and the first browser, WorldWideWeb. On April 30, 1993, the first website info.cern.ch goes live for the public. Impressively, the inventors of the World Wide Web have no intention of patenting their development. To this day, only patent-free standards are adopted.

First website in October 1997: "The SNV new on Internet".

In October 1997, the SNV headlines its Bulletin "The SNV New on the Internet". The article proudly explains that SNV is present on the World Wide Web with its first website. From the very beginning, a wealth of information about SNV and its products and services, including an order form, is available. What, as the first website more than 20 years ago, was still somewhat colorless and had few icons, developed over the course of the next 20 years into a comprehensive platform with important content relating to national and international standardization.

Today, our virtual visitors will not only find all standards in the SNV-Online store. You can also register on various topics educate further or for example via the Member area Helping to shape standards. It is important that companies keep their standards inventory up to date. They can take out an SNV standards subscription for this purpose. We also offer support in licensing the product portfolio.

"It was a transformative and formative time in which we were heavily challenged in standardization"

Peter Scheibli worked at SNV from 1986 until his retirement in 2001 as Head of Standardization and International Relations and as Deputy Director with the rank of Vice Director. In our interview, he recalls the beginnings of digitization within SNV.

During your time as Head of Standardization and International Relations, the World Wide Web came into being. How has this development influenced your work?
It was an upheaval and formative time in which we were strongly challenged in standardization. On the one hand, standardization work was completely changed by digitization. Exchanges increasingly took place electronically. On the other hand, the distribution of standards could also take place via digital channels.

When we had to decide to introduce standards downloading on the Internet, there were big question marks about copyright. Would revenues now drop because recipients could pass on the standards undetected? However, we were aware of the fact that we could not resist the march of technology and expected an increase in standards sales thanks to the simplified access for the many interested parties. At launch, we priced a downloadable standard higher than the paper version. As expected, the sale of standards increased. Very soon, the ratio of the number of downloads to paper versions tipped, and so we had to adjust the prices as well. Today, the paper version is slightly more expensive.

We approached the introduction of electronic standards downloading together with the German standards organization "DIN", which brought us considerable synergies.

When did you recognize the relevance of the Internet at SNV?
Since we worked intensively in countless international committees, we were aware of the need to promote IT-related topics very early on. I would say that we approached digitization from 1995 to 2000 and implemented it according to SNV's needs.

How should we imagine the work of your team before digitization in standardization?
Before digitization, our customers ordered standards by phone and asked our staff for advice because they often did not know which specific standard was applicable to their needs. Our team would look for the appropriate standard in a printed catalog, pick it up in printed form from the warehouse, and send it to the customer by mail.

Over time, the Perinorm research tool was developed, in which we were able to find the existing standards. Our customers could buy this tool in the form of a CD and use it to search for suitable standards themselves. Perinorm is still available today and contains over two million standards (www.perinorm.com).

What did the introduction of the standards download mean for you and your team?
This was an immense project. As already mentioned, we fortunately worked together with DIN on this project. In a first step, the entire stock of standards had to be digitized, i.e. scanned.

I have been interested in digitization from the very beginning and therefore had a seat on the committee of the World Standards Cooperation (WSC; editor's note: the WSC consists of the International Organization for Standardization ISO, the International Electrotechnical Commission IEC and the International Telecommunication Union ITU), which dealt with the digitization of standardization work and standards distribution. Thus, I knew the topics first-hand and was able to ensure the transfer of knowledge to SNV. The training of our team, including the experts, was costly and important so that the subsequent introduction in the SNV could take place smoothly. With the introduction of the electronic standards download, the demands on our employees shifted more and more from consulting to IT skills.

In the 1990s, various new technologies and thus new needs became established. Was the SNV involved in the development of IT-relevant standards?
IT standards tended to be developed outside the usual standardization process, and in particular the Geneva-based European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) was also involved. Its managing director sat on the IT committee of the SNV and kept us up to date on developments and standardization work in the IT sector. Switzerland itself was rarely actively involved in IT standards. One exception was the security-related standards for banks, in the development of which it played an important role.

What experience during your time at SNV remains in your memory to this day?
I was particularly moved by the farewell party that was organized for my retirement. Colleagues from all over Europe traveled to Switzerland to take part in my farewell. We met at the SNV headquarters in Winterthur, then visited the Oskar Reinhart Collection at Römerholz and rounded off the day with an exclusive dinner. I was extremely pleased by the illustrious company that had gathered especially for my farewell, and I feel honored to this day that I was given this personal recognition.

Would you like to learn more about SNV? Here it goes to the Image film.

Today, October 4, 2019, marks the end of the first edition of Business Innovation Week. The goals were ambitious: It was to be a major event in festival style, transforming the vibrant workplace of Zurich Oerlikon into an "inspiring, interactive forum for company-relevant innovations and business models". The focus was on digitization, new work, trends and the latest technologies for the modern working world. Whether the expected 10,000 or so trade visitors were actually reached cannot yet be judged. However, initial comments from exhibitors and visitors sound cautiously positive: the quality was good, but the audience could have been a bit larger.

Future SwAIz

On the opening day, the main focus was on Swiss innovative strength: At the opening forum "Zukunft SchwAIz," Dr. Peter Grünenfelder, Director of Avenir Suisse Business, made it clear that Switzerland should make better use of its economic potential. "We must finally break the reform logjam," he called on those present. In his view, artificial intelligence does not threaten the labor market: "Technology-related unemployment is a myth." New job profiles would compensate for that.

Swiss innovative strength vs. caution

SMEs in particular are called upon to attend. Tuesday, October 1, started as a theme day on innovation culture, co-working, leadership, HR and new work. All topics that companies should keep in focus if they want to remain competitive in the future. "These topics affect every SME," said Lionel Schlessinger, owner and CEO of paint manufacturer Monopol AG. "How do I deal with Generation Z? How to deal with new markets? The Swiss gets up early and wakes up very late," Schlessinger told the media. Futurist Gerd Leonhard urges companies to leave their comfort zone. "Acceleration is increasing, and exponentially. However, people themselves are not exponential," he says, summing up the problem.

Diverse event format

The format of Business Innovation Week is a reflection of the complexity in which the business world must operate today. "Our vision is to offer different perspectives on issues," says Ewa Ming, who launched and created the event. "We want to bring different people together on different topics."

Whether this format works remains to be seen. The first day of the conference certainly deserved a bit more of an audience. But it's not just about papers and presentations, the organizers and speakers agree. "It has to be about experiencing and experiencing technology," said Gerd Leonhard. And that was certainly possible: for example, 25 humanoid robots made an appearance this week; this was the largest robot show in Europe to date. HERA, a new European robotics alliance, was also launched at the Business Innovation Week: the "Human Empowering Robot Alliance".

In any case, one can be curious about the future of the event.

www.businessinnovation.ch

The OverWatch team from CrowdStrike, a provider of cloud-based endpoint protection, has announced recent trends in cybercrime. A recently released report summarizes the OverWatch Threat Hunting Team's findings in the first half of 2019. Furthermore, it provides insights into common tools, techniques and procedures used by state-organized as well as criminally motivated hacker groups, with examples, and offers recommendations for effective protection.

Data basis: Two trillion incidents per week on end devices

The OverWatch team consists of interdisciplinary specialists and monitors more than 120 state-affiliated and criminal hacker groups that target CrowdStrike's customers' networks. This involves capturing, investigating and stopping more than two trillion security-related incidents per week on users' endpoints using the cloud-based and AI-powered Falcon platform. Using these massive amounts of data, intelligent algorithms can be used to identify threat patterns and attack trends and defend effectively. The 2019 OverWatch Report presents key trends and insights from these massive datasets and highlights effective defenses.

Key trends in cybercrime

Here are some of the key observations from the OverWatch Report:

• Massive increase in targeted, financially motivated attacks (e-crime): In the first half of 2019, unlike in the past, these activities accounted for the majority of observed attacks. This does not mean that nation-state motivated attacks have decreased, but rather that criminally motivated hacker (groups) are specifically looking for rewarding targets instead of driving widely scattered but easily fizzled attacks.
• Retail increasingly targeted by cybercrimeE-crime campaigns, especially with ransomware, are on the rise everywhere. While the retail sector moved under the radar of cybercriminal actors in previous years, it has emerged as a lucrative target in 2019. Overall, companies in the technology, telecommunications and financial services sectors were attacked most frequently in both 2018 and 2019.
• China remains one of the most active attackers: Similar to previous years, state-organized attackers from China were the most active. It was observed that almost all sectors were targeted - including chemicals, gaming, healthcare, industry, technology and telecommunications.

"Both criminally and nation-state motivated attackers are often well positioned in networks of their targets through stealth attacks. In the first half of 2019, OverWatch has consistently seen attackers leverage valid user accounts to penetrate compromised endpoints," said Jennifer Ayers, vice president of OverWatch and security response at CrowdStrike. "Attackers will continue to act brazenly and resort to sophisticated means. With ever-changing IT architectures and the use of mobile devices that often can't be protected by an enterprise VPN, it's essential for organizations to leverage cutting-edge threat mitigation capabilities."

End devices as gateways for cybercrime

The collected data shows that unprotected mobile devices are often the gateways for attackers and traditional protection mechanisms are no longer sufficient. It is necessary to protect against sophisticated threats that go beyond classic malware such as fileless attacks, zero day exploit attacks (ZETA) or other sophisticated techniques. Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) solutions that are cloud-based with intelligent algorithms focused on endpoint protection, combined with multidisciplinary threat hunting teams of experienced specialists can help quickly detect, analyze and disarm even the most sophisticated threats. CrowdStrike, for example, offers its customers Falcon, a platform for endpoint protection that has also been named a "Leader" by Gartner.

More information: www.crowdstrike.de

Switzerland is at a company formation high: For 136 years - that's how long the Swiss Commercial Register has existed - this high number of company formations has never been reached. The current year 2019 is on the home stretch to become the year of the founders.

The quarter with the highest number of start-ups in recent years

The year 2019 impresses with more company formations than ever. The analysis of the quarters shows that Q1 and Q3 / 2019 each record values. In the third quarter of 2019, with 10,109 start-ups, more than 10,000 new companies were founded for the first time in the statistically weakest quarter of the year. In the last quarter of the running year, the IFJ Institute for Young Enterprises expects more than 11,000 new start-ups. Thus, 2019 is expected to end as the year with the highest number of start-ups since the existence of the Swiss Commercial Register. The SOGC was first published on January 06, 1883.

The most popular legal forms

With 12,670 start-ups, the limited liability company (GmbH) is the most popular legal form for starting a new company. The GmbH has even recorded 3% more company formations than in the record-high comparison period Jan. to Sep. 2018. This is followed by the sole proprietorship with 10,724 formations (+3%), the stock corporation (AG) with 6,347 registrations (-1%) and the general partnership (KlG) with 997 new registrations (+3%). The analysis of the IFJ shows that 93% of all GmbH formations are founded with the legal minimum of CHF 20,000 share capital, while 85% of the public limited companies are registered with the minimum of CHF 100,000 share capital. The highest registered share capital of a limited liability company is also a record CHF 1.81 billion (Procter & Gamble International Sàrl, domiciled in Petit-Lancy GE). The highest registered share capital of an AG is CHF 425 million (company Central Real Estate Holding AG, domiciled in Zurich).

Cantonal differences in company formation high

The number of new startups increased in 15 cantons, while 11 cantons recorded declines; however, this was mainly the case in cantons with a low number of startups. Most cantons show a slight to strong increase in the number of startups compared to the previous year. The cantons with the strongest percentage growth are Appenzell Innerrhoden +34%, Glarus +15%, Nidwalden, St. Gallen and Thurgau each +10%, Bern +9%, Fribourg +8%, Vaud +7%, Aargau and Basel-Stadt each +4%, Zurich +3%, Solothurn, Graubünden and Geneva each +2% and Schwyz +1%. The cantons with percentage losses are Ticino (-8 startups) and Schaffhausen (-1 startup) with -0%, Basel-Landschaft, Lucerne and Valais -2%, Neuchâtel -3%, Jura -4%, Zug -10%, Appenzell Ausserrhoden -12%, Obwalden -14% and Uri -19%. From the perspective of the major regions, Eastern Switzerland (+7%), Espace Mittelland (+6%), Zurich and Southwestern Switzerland (+3%) in particular set positive accents. Central Switzerland recorded a decrease in start-ups compared with the same period of the previous year, with -5%.

Start-ups by industry

In terms of company start-ups, there are some sectors that are really booming in the current year. In particular, the sectors with the highest number of startups in absolute terms - trades, consulting, catering and accommodation, IT and ICT, healthcare, and architecture and engineering - are setting a very positive tone. Fewer companies will be founded in the trade, finance and insurance, and real estate sectors in 2019.

Source: IFJ Institute for Young Enterprises AG

The Forum ö is the annual meeting of the sustainable economy in Switzerland. Once a year, this event brings together leading Swiss companies and organizations with thought leaders from science, politics and consulting to discuss the opportunities and challenges of sustainable economic development. Under this year's motto "Sustainability of Business: People as Bridge Builders", thought leaders and lateral thinkers from business, science and society will discuss the opportunities and challenges of sustainable economic development on October 31. Visitors can expect exciting insights into successful, novel and sustainable business models as well as relevant topics for sustainable companies: From intrapreneurship and multistakeholder dialogues to sustainable supply chains, circular economy and reporting, sufficiency and societal innovation.

As a visitor, you have the choice. You will have plenty of time to ask the experts questions and, if you wish, to get actively involved. There will also be plenty of time to exchange ideas with the other participants. Because it's high time we got down to work together and courageously built bridges. Between companies. Between people. And that goes far beyond the Forum ö. We expect over 200 participants at this birthday event at the inspiring Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute in Rüschlikon.

www.oebu.ch/forumoe-2019

The ability of Swiss companies to change has surprisingly declined over the past two years. This is the result of the second Swiss Change Readiness Index (CRI), which was published as part of the recently published study "Success in Change" by the management consultancy Staufen.Inova. The CRI was surveyed for the first time two years ago and provides information - on a scale of 1 to 100 - about the change capability of local companies. It covers the fields of action structures, processes, management and corporate culture, as well as employees and qualifications, thus translating complex interrelationships and multi-layered information into an abstract and thus comparable value.

Less well attuned to change

Since the first survey, the index has now fallen from 63 to 59 points. This slight decline clearly shows that companies are struggling to cope with technological and economic change and still have a long way to go in preparing for the challenges of tomorrow. One reason for the surprising decline in the ability to change is the unforeseen vehemence and dynamism with which change has occurred over the past two-year period. Whereas just over half of the companies in the last survey had expected to change strongly or very strongly in the next two years, now, in retrospect, over three quarters had to recognize that they had changed strongly or very strongly during this period.

Overconfidence, regression and potential

The companies surveyed continue to rate their efforts very highly in all the fields of action covered - and tend to overestimate themselves. This perception gap is particularly striking in the case of leadership culture: At 72 points, the companies rate themselves significantly better than the actual ability to change surveyed by the study (56 points). Many companies obviously still find it difficult to actually implement modern management methods in their day-to-day operations. But there are also comparable gaps in the fields of structures, processes, and employees and qualifications.

The surprisingly strong dynamics of change have now led to many good intentions falling by the wayside since the last survey: instead of agile and flat organizations, the focus is once again on the old hierarchical, metrics-driven structures, and instead of creativity and personal responsibility, on control. This development harbors a certain potential danger, as it additionally hinders the urgently needed transformation of companies.

Majority on a good path

However, a majority of the companies surveyed are still well on the way toward an open organizational structure. The study results also show enormous differences between the companies, between pioneers and hesitants. Nevertheless, they all have room for improvement. The best way to leverage this potential, according to the clear findings of this study, is to implement lean management: this method visibly increases a company's ability to change. Compared with the 2017 study, this positive effect has even increased noticeably in 2019.

Source: Staufen.Inova

What I always notice the most in companies is. the lack of a real perspective. When I ask my typical question "what would you change immediately if you had magical powers and that change was guaranteed to work?" most have no answer at all or a very operational answer.

When big ideas are missing...

Almost no one comes up with a really great idea. At the same time, most of them work for many years in the same company and also have various suggestions for improvement (mostly for the others). What is missing is a real perspective that is worth fighting for.

The good news: we all have the ability to develop great perspectives. Most people have simply been taught it over many years. "Cobbler, stick to your last!"

Learn to dream again

To put it more theatrically, we have forgotten how to dream. And not of any castles in the air, but of achieving great goals. I wrote about this in the penultimate Success Impulse ("Why you should fly to the moon").

The good news: What you verlearns, you can also again helearn And that is one of your core tasks if you want to move anything positive together with others, especially as a leader. How to do it? Here are three ways to help:

1. Life perspective. Do you have a vision for your life or at least the next five years? Who do you want to be? What do you want to change in the world? With whom? Why? And so on. Such a vision is your north star, your direction. It guides your decisions. The less developed your own perspective is, the more you will stick to what exists, even if it is not good.
2. Awareness. Most people today are so strongly controlled by others that they no longer have an anchor point for developing a perspective that stands on solid ground. We are so busy and exhausted by all the tasks that we often simply lack the energy to develop a perspective.
3. Exercise. What you have forgotten, you have to practice to regain it. You can practice this every day. And especially with your team. Practice answers to questions like my example above. Or, "If we were starting from scratch again, what would we do differently? And why?"

So: Create perspective!

An important effect of a strong perspective is the significantly increased attractiveness on the labor market, especially for young talent. This is becoming increasingly important for most SMEs. But beware: You must also live this strong perspective credibly within the company. Lip service only does harm.

To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch