The new software from the provider of cloud-based business management solutions enables the booking as well as reporting of digital currencies and allows the annual financial statement with cryptocurrencies. The solution is available as of April 25, 2018.

Advanced financial software

Sage has thus further developed its core product Sage 200 Extra to provide the growing number of crypto companies in Switzerland with accounting software for digital currencies. "Our offering primarily targets the growing market of digital startups that are planning or have just conducted their ICO," said Tobias Ackermann, country manager of Sage Schweiz AG. "Further, we address trustees who advise crypto companies and Swiss companies that enable their customers to make payments in cryptocurrencies and want to map this in their accounting."

Payments, bookings and financial statements with cryptocurrencies

The new version of Sage 200 Extra allows companies to make and post payments from customers or transfers to suppliers in cryptocurrencies. Financial statements with cryptocurrency are also possible. The transactions take place respectively between the wallets (virtual wallet) of the company and the customer or supplier and are automatically synchronized with the general ledger of Sage 200 Extra. By representing and processing any digital currencies, Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and co. can be managed in the general ledger. "We are in close contact with companies and trustees in the innovation-rich cryptovalley of Zug to further develop the solution in line with market needs," says Ackermann. The new version of Sage 200 Extra will be available in English, French, German and Italian on April 25, 2018. Prices on request.

Source: Sage Switzerland

Data security is more important than ever in the age of digital working. Documents in digital form can be exposed to manipulation just as they are in paper form if the corresponding security is not right. For this reason, the legislator requires compliance with certain regulations in relation to digital documents. The technical term for this is "audit security". But what does "audit-proof" actually mean?

This question is the subject of the second part of the blog series of the IT service provider Clavis IT from Eastern Switzerland. First, the term "audit security" is clarified and the legal basis is discussed. Furthermore, it is explained what role data integrity plays and what the most important points are for ensuring general due diligence when dealing with documents. How data can be kept available and thus remain audit-proof, as well as the use of permissible information carriers, are also explained. The relevant passages of the Business Records Ordinance GeBüV are also cited.

The next part then deals with the various types of documents that arise in companies and which hold particularly high potential in the area of digitization.

Here you can go to the blog

Last year, 59 cases of white-collar crime in Switzerland caused damage totaling CHF 426 million. Compared to the previous year, however, the volume of damage decreased significantly: from CHF 1.4 billion to CHF 426 million, whereby the all-time high in 2016 was primarily due to one case with a damage volume of CHF 800 million and three cases with a volume of over CHF 125 million each. Compared to the long-term average of CHF 512 million, the claims volume in 2017 is slightly below average.

Large damages in the case of acts committed jointly

The most common offenses in the area of white-collar crime in 2017 were commercial or simple fraud and embezzlement. The motivation for the perpetrators was often to finance a lavish lifestyle or to pay off debts. As in previous years, private investors were the most affected victim group. The damage here amounted to around CHF 162 million, which corresponds to an average damage of CHF 20.2 million per case.

Due to their special position in the company, managers still potentially pose the greatest danger. The analysis shows that managers were responsible for the highest total loss in 2017 (compared to other offender groups), at CHF 120.9 million. Employees had a total loss of CHF 117.4 million, but after deducting an individual case of CHF 100 million, the total drops to CHF 17.4 million, which corresponds to an average loss of CHF 1.7 million. In comparison, the average offense amount for management was CHF 11 million. In 2017, it was again evident that offenses committed jointly by management and employees have particularly serious consequences: The average damage in the three cases amounted to more than CHF 25 million.

High number of unreported cases

The "KPMG Forensic Fraud Barometer" records court cases that have been publicly heard and published in the media every year. It does not include crimes that are reported to the police but never lead to convictions. Moreover, experience shows that the majority of crimes are not even reported. "The reasons for this lie in the companies' fear of reputational damage should the offenses become public," Matthias Kiener, Head of Forensics at KPMG Switzerland, summarizes the problem. "In addition, the fact that in cybercrime, for example, the perpetrators cannot be identified with a reasonable amount of effort plays a decisive role," adds Nico van der Beken, Head of Forensic Technology at KPMG Switzerland.

Source: KPMG

Microsoft plans to offer cloud services for companies, government agencies and NGOs from data centers in the cantons of Zurich and Geneva. This will enable the company to guarantee data storage in Switzerland and help Swiss companies and institutions, including the financial services industry, drive digital transformation. The Microsoft Cloud - consisting of Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 - is expected to be available from Swiss data centers in 2019. "We aim to be the first global provider of cloud services from Swiss data centers, enabling companies and institutions of all sizes and industries to accelerate their innovation and increase their productivity. In this way, we are contributing to the digital transformation as set out in our commitment to Switzerland," says Marianne Janik, CEO of Microsoft Switzerland.

Meet regulatory requirements

Microsoft's global cloud services are based on the principles of security, compliance, data protection and transparency. The ability to store data in the new cloud regions of Zurich and Geneva provides another layer of control and helps companies and institutions meet regulatory requirements, according to the statement. The cloud services offered from Switzerland, such as Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365, are therefore of particular interest to Swiss companies and organizations that work with sensitive data, such as the financial or healthcare sectors, the public sector and the strong NGO sector in Switzerland, the software giant continues. The new services from Switzerland will offer the same high standards of security, service and quality that apply to all Microsoft cloud services.

Financial institutions benefit from cloud services

Microsoft has been working intensively with financial institutions and their regulators in Switzerland for several years. By investing in a cloud platform in Switzerland, Microsoft aims to enable financial institutions and other regulated industries to focus on their core competencies. By providing unique services tailored to the industry and region, including Blockchain, Azure's PCI Blueprint and the Financial Services Compliance Program, Microsoft aims to help accelerate existing collaboration with reference customers in the financial services industry and beyond.

More information: www.microsoft.com/de-ch

When parents, siblings or grandparents become physically or mentally ill or even die, childhood ceases to be carefree. Often, children and adolescents then shoulder tasks that adults normally have to take on: they worry and care for their relatives - and sometimes they even take on nursing tasks such as administering medication or setting infusions. In most cases, not even their teachers or instructors know what they do in addition to school and training.

Young Carers: Still Little-Known Area of Research

Caring children, adolescents and young adults - known in the jargon as "young carers" and "young adult carers" - have been the central research topic of Prof. Dr. Agnes Leu and her team since 2014. Agnes Leu heads the "Young Carers" research program at Careum Research, the research institute of Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences Health.

Until now, there have been no precise figures on how many children and adolescents are affected in Switzerland. Other countries have a head start in research. In the UK, for example, research on children and young people who are carers has been going on for over 25 years. Two large national online surveys now provide reliable data for Switzerland for the first time. Thus, 3518 professionals from the education, health and social sectors provided information about what they know about "young carers" and how often they encounter children and young people with caring responsibilities in their professional context. The survey showed that professionals are still (too) little familiar with the phenomenon of "young carers". However, after the terminology was explained to them in more detail, 40 percent of respondents said they had encountered young people who fit this description in their day-to-day work.

Hardly noticeable: When trainees care for relatives at home

This is not surprising: "Young Carers" are inconspicuous in everyday life. They perceive their situation as normal and hardly ever seek help - often out of shame. Thus, they are often only noticed in everyday school life when, for example, they suffer from a lack of concentration or sleep or their school performance becomes weaker. In general, professionals would like to see more information and specialized training courses so that they can become aware of affected children and adolescents at an earlier stage and respond to them in a targeted manner.

In another representative and nationwide online survey, children aged 10 to 15 were interviewed online at 230 schools. Previously, it was assumed that the proportion of children in Switzerland who were carers was around four to five percent. Now this figure has to be corrected upwards. Almost eight percent of children and young people are caring for or looking after relatives, with slightly more girls than boys.

Urgent measures required

These results are a first important step to draw attention to the situation of young carers in Switzerland. There is an urgent need for political and social measures to ensure that young carers are better supported at school, in training and at work in the future. Careum therefore intends to continue its commitment to this cause. In various national and international follow-up projects, further research is being conducted on this important topic, and possible solutions and assistance are being developed.

Learn more at: www.careum.ch/youngcarers

Jean-Claude Granges joins the team of the complete label supplier Selfix AG as a sales representative and will take over the sales region Western Switzerland as of 2019 in terms of a succession plan. In the meantime, Jean-Claude Granges is familiarizing himself with the company's headquarters in Otelfingen.

Jean-Claude Granges, 49, worked for 15 years at the Swiss company Panoval Label SA in Martigny (VS), where he gained in-depth experience in the complex label sector. Panoval manufactures various self-adhesive laminates for resale to printers on an international scale. It was here that Jean-Claude Granges was able to build up his very good knowledge and relationships with customers at national and international level. Previously, Granges was a merchant in a fiduciary and real estate business in Fully (VS) before he was given the opportunity to start his professional career in the label sector in 1992.

Now Granges is focusing his knowledge even more on the end application of labeling and is available to Selfix customers in Western Switzerland with his wealth of experience and know-how.

www.selfix.ch

An apprenticeship is the start of a promising professional future. This is also demonstrated by the ambassadors of the "From apprentice to boss" campaign. The foundation of their career is the vocational apprenticeship. After graduating from a university of applied sciences, they are now working in a management position. The campaign was launched with the delegates' meeting of the umbrella association of UAS graduates on March 9, 2018. As part of its 15th anniversary, UAS Switzerland made part of the event open to all interested parties. Over 150 participants exchanged views with the ambassadors at the Lucerne Exhibition Center (including Brigitte Breisacher, Company Manager Alpnach Norm-Schrankelemente and Stefan Schulthess, Director Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees).

UAS Switzerland as official education partner of SwissSkills

From 12 to 16 September, various UAS ambassadors and UAS guides will also be involved in SwissSkills 2018. At the "Treffpunkt Formation", a meeting platform for teachers and career advisors, proven leaders with their own VET path will offer guided tours. They will report on their experiences and create a very personal, direct approach to the occupational profiles and the associated requirements on site. With all measures within the framework of the campaign "From apprentice to boss", FH Switzerland is committed to promoting the dual education pathway. The campaign is supported by the FH Switzerland Foundation.

www.fhschweiz.ch

www.swiss-skills2018.ch

The tension among the approximately 1,000 guests in the Olma Hall was palpable as the representatives of the last two finalists stood on stage waiting for Andreas Gerber, President of the Swiss Venture Club (SVC), to open the envelope containing the name of the winner. Asked by moderator Marco Fritsche how he felt, Reto Zürcher, board member and CEO of HB-Therm, said: "It's wonderful that the first prize will certainly go to a company from the plastics industry." He had to admit defeat in the end to his fellow finalist Romeo Corvaglia, owner and CEO of the Corvaglia Group, which he stated with the words: "It does make you feel a little funny that it just wasn't enough for us, but congratulations to the winner."

Caps for global corporations

And this winner is Corvaglia Holding AG. The company, based in Eschlikon (Thurgau), supplies well-known multinationals with closure solutions for PET bottles. "From nothing, Romeo Corvaglia has built a company that has left our jury in awe. He and his team have succeeded in building a global company, with today 275 employees, 18 apprentices, with highly innovative products as well as production centers in Switzerland, the USA and Mexico," said jury president Professor Thomas Zellweger, Director of the Center for Family Business at the University of St.Gallen, in his laudation for the winner. The company covers the entire, fully integrated process chain, from closure design and development, mold making, closure production to application and technical support.

"Made in Eastern Switzerland"

The second-placed HB-Therm AG produces temperature control units for the injection molding process. The jury also considers this company to be a "hidden champion". The expert panel was particularly impressed by the "extremely committed team" and the "uncompromising focus on innovation and quality". It is particularly worth mentioning that the company produces exclusively at its site in St.Gallen and sees insourcing as a strategic cornerstone.

The third-place winner is Namics AG, also based in St.Gallen. Namics is one of the leading full-service digital agencies for e-commerce, websites & portals and digital communication. As a strategic partner in the digital transformation, the e-business specialist with around 500 employees offers strategic consulting, creative conception and technical implementation from a single source (see also our interview with CEO Bernd Schopp).

Evidence of the innovative strength of the Swiss economy

The other finalists and award winners of the evening are Büchi Labortechnik AG (Flawil), MS Direct Group AG (St.Gallen) and the timber construction company Uffer AG (Savognin). In a multi-stage process, the 13-member jury of experts nominated the six finalists from a list of around 150 companies. Companies from both Appenzell, Glarus, Graubünden, St.Gallen and Thurgau were available for selection.

All in all, the 2018 Prix SVC Ostschweiz awards once again showed that Swiss companies repeatedly manage to be among the world leaders in niches. All the companies honored in the various SVC regions are proof that Switzerland repeatedly occupies the top places in various innovation and competitiveness rankings, and not without good reason.

www.swiss-venture-club.ch

Despite the international orientation of many companies, Swiss firms prefer to look for employees domestically or in German-speaking countries: Only 16 percent of companies recruit in other European countries, and just 15 percent recruit globally. This is shown by the results of the HR Report 2018, for which the HR service provider Hays and the Institute for Employment and Employability (IBE) jointly surveyed over 1,000 organizations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This year's focus topic is "Agile Organization".

Swiss companies looking for employees outside their own national borders continue to do so primarily in German-speaking countries (46 percent) and in Western Europe (27 percent). In the German-speaking region as a whole, demand for specialists from northern and southern Europe has increased only marginally compared with the previous year. However, the importance of supraregional and international recruitment is increasing as the size of companies grows.

A high hurdle on the way to a agile organization are the management of new employees and the adaptation of the management culture. In this context, one in two respondents in this country complain about too little communication as the biggest stumbling block for managers - followed by difficulties in choosing the right leadership style and a lack of time for leadership tasks (both 42 percent), as well as a lack of reduction in employee control (40 percent).

Source: www.hays.ch

In the minds of many companies, the agile organization is already very important. At least, that's according to 51 percent of respondents to the HR Report 2018, which regularly examines key HR issues in organizations. Interestingly, the younger the respondents are and the higher their hierarchical position, the higher its importance is considered to be. Over the next three years, their importance will increase significantly to 69 percent.

However, the existing agile methods are currently used only sporadically: Just 19 percent of respondents use Design Thinking and only 11 percent use Scrum. This is shown by the results of this year's report, which Hays and the Institute for Employment and Employability (IBE) jointly prepared. Over 1000 organizations were surveyed. This year's focus topic is "agile organization".

Above all, their greater flexibility (55 percent) and speed (51 percent) speak in favor of the agile organization as opposed to the classic line organization. However, there are still major hurdles on the way there. The respondents primarily cite the clarification of responsibilities (31 percent), the realignment of existing processes and structures (28 percent) and the lack of trust (26 percent) within the organization as the greatest areas of tension between the two organizational forms.

Therefore, a lot needs to change, especially in the corporate culture. The top cultural issues that organizations need to work on are: Employees must take on more responsibility in the future (33 percent), develop a greater ability to organize themselves in teams, and deal with critical issues more openly (32 percent each).

Source: www.hays.ch

On the topic of "Agile Methods", you can also read our Report in ORGANISATOR 12/2017.

The latest schillingreport figures make it clear that the private sector must continue to pay close attention to the gender diversity pipeline. "In everyday life, I increasingly experience that women and men want to share family work. Men's demands for modern working time models are also becoming increasingly noticeable. It is becoming natural for both women and men to pursue careers. This will have an impact on the gender diversity pipeline and thus on the development of the proportion of women at all levels," says Guido Schilling. However, it is not only the proportion of women on the executive boards that is declining, but also that of foreign managers. Their share is falling from 45 % to 44 %. The proportion of foreigners among the newcomers is 38 %, down from 64 % last year. "If the baby boomers leave the labor market in ten years and neither enough women nor foreign managers are available as talent, we face an acute shortage of managers at the top of companies," says Schilling.

Gender diversity in management remains a generational project

Among the new Executive Board members, only 8 % are women, a major setback after last year's record 21 %. 11 women have left the executive boards, only 9 have moved up. This results in a decrease in the proportion of women in the overall sample from 8 % to 7 %. A closer look reveals that 59 % of the companies surveyed do not currently employ any women on their management boards. While 67 % of the new men have advanced to management within the company, only 22 % of the women have done so. "I remain convinced that better gender mix is a generational project. Companies are investing in sustainable programs that enable both genders to balance family and career. This is an increasingly important element of employer attractiveness and will lead to a broader gender diversity pipeline. I am sure that we will see the first measurable effects as early as 5 years from now," says Schilling.

Proportion of women on boards of directors on a promising path - but greater efforts still needed

There are 25 % women among the new board members, an increase from 17 % to 19 %. "This is positive, but the efforts are not enough. In the coming years, the business community must increase the percentage of women on the board of directors by at least 3 percentage points annually to meet the policy demands of 30 % by 2022," says Schilling. He continues, "It is necessary for companies to set clear targets, define measures and monitor the impact. Business and politics must realize that on average, a board of directors is in office for more than 10 years before it steps down. Any renewal must therefore aim to invite women, in particular, into the nomination process alongside men. If the business community pursues this consistently, I believe the goal of 30 % female board members is achievable within the required timeframe."

Comparison of SMI and DAX - women's quota in Germany shows effect

Since 2016, listed companies in Germany have been obliged to have a quota of women on their supervisory boards. Accordingly, the proportion of women on DAX supervisory boards is also significantly higher at 32 % (30 % in the previous year) than on SMI boards at 23 % (21 % in the previous year). The proportion of women among the newcomers is 48 % in the DAX and 30 % in the SMI. The proportion of women on the DAX Executive Board climbed from 10 % to 13 %, while the proportion of women among the newcomers was 30 %. In the SMI, the proportion of women is still significantly lower. There are 10 % female managers among the newcomers, which is why the proportion of women on SMI executive boards only rises from 8 % to 9 %.

Public sector demonstrates what politics demands of business

The public sector is developing encouragingly with 16 % (14 % in the previous year) female top cadres. This results thanks to 27 % women among the newcomers. What does the public sector do better than the private sector? "The public sector offers the right framework conditions such as sensible working time models and more regulated working hours, which promotes the compatibility of family and career. At the same time, it benefits from a broader gender diversity pipeline than the private sector," says Schilling. Permeability between the private and public sectors continues to increase: 49 % (47 % in the previous year) of top executives have professional experience from the private sector.

Gender Diversity Pipeline

For the gender diversity pipeline of the schillingreport 2017, 113 of the 250 most important Swiss companies provided their data. These figures will be collected every two years, the next time in 2019. In this sample, there are 10 % women in the private sector on executive boards, 14 % in top management and 21 % in middle management. These women form the pipeline for future top positions. The Public Sector has a broader gender diversity pipeline with 22 % women in top mana- gement and 24 % in middle management. The 2018 schillingreport covers Switzerland's 118 largest employers, as well as the federal government and all 26 cantons. Accordingly, 882 executive directors, 816 board members, and 1034 public sector executives (heads of offices, secretaries general, secretaries general, and secretaries of state) were included in the survey.

www.schillingreport.ch

According to research by the Business Engineering Institute St. Gallen, over 90% of respondents consider blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) to be highly relevant and sustainable. However, relatively few companies have yet begun concrete implementations and well under 10% have ready-made solutions. Mostly, activities take place at the level of individual, siloed prototypes or concepts. The reasons for this are: Uncertainty in assessing the potential of individual use cases, the lack of internal know-how, the high complexity of the technology, and the lack of corresponding collaborations in ecosystems. It is precisely these challenges that the competence center addresses.

Blockchain implementation is more than building prototypes

The aim of the Blockchain Ecosystems Competence Center is to shape the systematic and successful long-term use of blockchain and DLT in companies. The focus is on the development of new business models, the development of use cases, strategies and roadmaps for dealing with Blockchain in companies and the introduction of participants to the technologies required for implementation. Concrete implementations enable the "tangible" transfer to the participating companies.

CC Blockchain Ecosystems - Community for successful implementation

The Blockchain Ecosystems Competence Center brings together practice-oriented scientists and selected companies in a cross-industry and long-term community. In the first cycle (2018-2020), a comprehensive set of methods for establishing blockchain-based business models and innovations will be developed. For the purpose of know-how transfer and impulse generation, joint as well as dedicated PoC's (Proof-of-Concepts) accompany the activities.

The overarching objective of the competence center is to equip community participants with all the tools they need for the sustainable and successful implementation of blockchain/DLT in their own companies. In addition to well-founded expertise and consistent overall models and POCs, this also includes a constantly updated overview of new trends and developments and an intensive exchange within the community.

More information about the competence center: www.cc-blockchain.com