Ricoh unveils its first vegetable-based ink for graphic and packaging printing. The new product is designed to help brand and printer manufacturers reduce their environmental impact. The plant-based ink is a successor to oil-based ink and was developed by Ricoh in collaboration with Olbrich, a German-based equipment manufacturer, for the decorative printing sector. The focus was on high abrasion resistance and improved settling behavior on brown and white corrugated board as well as on cardboard.

Advantages of the new ink

The environmentally friendly vegetable oil-based ink has properties that are key factors in graphic and packaging printing. For example, the ink is fast-drying, so no heat is required to fix or dry the ink. The oil penetrates pore-rich materials and keeps the pigment close to the surface. This process eliminates the need for drying, thus reducing energy consumption, according to Ricoh. In addition, no monomers are used in the production of this ink. As a result, the ink is odorless and food-grade. Last but not least, the ink is biodegradable and contains no biocides to increase durability. Water is used as the solvent.

Sustainability: Big topic in graphic and packaging printing

The ink also has advantages for the printing machines: The print heads are easier to clean when using plant-based ink and clog less frequently because they are open longer. This increases their reliability, performance and service life. The low ink consumption ensures that the same optical density is achieved with 50 percent less ink. Graham Kennedy, Director Industrial Printing, Graphic Communications at Ricoh Europe, explains, "Brands and printers are increasingly focused on reducing their environmental impact and adopting sustainable practices wherever possible. Our new plant-based ink will drive changes in sustainability strategy without compromising print quality."

More information: www.ricoh-europe.com

She has been the face of Goba AG for years: Gabriela Manser. She has led the small mineral water producer from Gontenbad AI to new heights with the "Flauder" brand, which is now known throughout the country. Now it comes to the arrangement of the company succession. "Goba is a wonderful company and a piece of Swiss culture. We are pleased and proud to welcome Goba AG as the first company in the consumer goods sector newly under the umbrella of the F.G. Pfister Foundation," says Rudolf Obrecht, President of F.G. Pfister Beteiligungen AG, which is acquiring the shares as a company of the F.G. Pfister Foundation. F.G. Pfister Beteiligungen AG belongs to 100% of the F.G. Pfister Foundation. Together with Pfister Immobilien AG, it operates under the umbrella of F.G. Pfister Holding AG.

Goba AG: Successful SME in the beverage sector

Goba AG, Mineralquelle und Manufaktur, is one of the smallest mineral water producers in Switzerland. Gabriela Manser has been running the family business in the third generation since 1999. Under her management, as well as through exciting innovations, Goba AG has developed into a successful SME in the beverage sector. For a good five years, Manser and her entourage have been actively looking at viable succession solutions. "In the F.G. Pfister Foundation, Goba AG found the partner of choice who shares the same ecological, social and societal values. A return-oriented investor was ruled out. This step opens the next chapter in Goba's development. A traditional company and an entrepreneurial tradition preserved in a foundation are joining forces to continue writing the Goba story," says Gabriela Manser, who will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors and member of the Executive Board. She will be particularly involved as a driving force in innovation topics. The company employs 73 people and has three sites in Appenzellerland. The headquarters with the bottling plant in Gontenbad (AI), the logistics center and the manufacturing plant in Bühler (AR), and the "Flauderei" experience world in the village of Appenzell. In addition to mineral water, it is above all the Flauder line that has made Goba AG famous. The well-established Goba AG team will remain unchanged.

Partnership for long-term further development

Goba will remain Goba - and will be allowed to develop further in its own culture, according to the new owners. "A centrally organized conglomerate with huge synergies is not our goal. We believe in the efficiency and power of decentralized companies with their own corporate culture. What we can do is provide security and make our know-how and network available - if desired. The entrepreneurial freedom of the companies in which we participate is very important. The F.G. Pfister Foundation is committed to Switzerland. Our basic idea is: buy, hold, expand and develop," says Rudolf Obrecht. The expertise and large network of the companies belonging to the F.G Pfister Foundation will be able to support Goba AG in opening up new segments and markets in order to drive forward future-oriented projects. F.G. Pfister Beteiligungen AG will sit on the Board of Directors and thus see itself as a partner in the strategic development of the company.

More information

With most of the Corona measures no longer in place, normality is largely returning to Swiss companies. And yet, for many companies, the working world today is significantly different than it was before the outbreak of the pandemic. Recruiting new employees is often more difficult than before Corona, and HR managers report lower employee loyalty. When it comes to the question of how much home office remains in the long term, there is a gap between companies' plans and professionals' desires. This is shown by a recent survey conducted by New Work SE among HR managers and professionals in German-speaking Switzerland. For this purpose, around 100 HR managers and 1000 professionals were surveyed.

Every second company plans for the long term with home office

Overall, around half of the companies surveyed (48 percent) plan to enable home office working in the long term. 28 percent say that even after the end of the pandemic, employees will be able to spend up to a quarter of their working time outside the office, while 18 percent will be able to spend up to half of their working time at home. The very fewest go further: only 2 percent plan that more than half of their working time can take place remotely in the long term. Just under half of the HR managers surveyed (48 percent) say there will be no home office option in their company in the long term. This includes companies with offerings that require a physical presence.

One in six would like to work permanently in a home office

With their long-term commitment to home office, many companies are accommodating the wishes of their employees, but not going as far as the professionals would like. Of them, 16 percent would like to be able to work completely at home in the future, another 16 percent up to three quarters and 22 percent up to half of their working time. 6 percent would be satisfied if they could work up to a quarter of their time outside the office in the long term. 34 percent say that home office is not an option in their job. There is thus a gap between the willingness of Swiss companies to offer home office on a long-term basis and the wishes of professionals. Companies that restrict home office options too much or do not offer them at all run the risk of diminishing their attractiveness as an employer. If companies are aiming for a high presence rate, the office environment should be designed in such a way that working on site also provides clearly recognizable added value for employees.

Home office does not necessarily bring more flexible working hours

From the perspective of HR managers, working life has changed in the wake of the pandemic, especially in terms of communication within the company (65 percent), the way people work together (63 percent), and new work concepts such as home office and remote work (63 percent). However, new work concepts do not necessarily mean more flexible working hours: Only 34 percent say that Corona has led to a freer arrangement of working hours in their company. And less than half (42 percent) say that the pandemic has had a noticeable impact on the management style in their company.

More difficult recruiting and more changes since Corona

Recruiting employees has become more challenging since Corona, according to more than a third of the HR managers surveyed (37 percent). Only 2 percent say that recruiting new employees is easier for them today than before the pandemic. According to the respondents, the frequency of staff changes has also tended to increase. 20 percent report more staff changes since the start of the pandemic, while only 10 percent note a decline.

Corporate culture is the top topic in job interviews

Asked which topics currently come up particularly strongly in job interviews, 77 percent of HR managers mention corporate culture. Other key topics in job interviews are job security (75 percent), salary (73 percent), work-life balance (73 percent), as well as good leadership (68 percent) and personal fulfillment of meaning in the job (66 percent). The figures illustrate the need of Swiss job seekers to find out what makes a company tick and whether they see their own values reflected in it.

Source: New Work SE

After the Acquisition of BrainCONNECT the Swiss IT company CM Informatik announces another acquisition: Campus Software AG, a provider of school administration solutions for elementary and music schools, joins the company. Campus was founded in 1995. The company previously offered a popular, web- and cloud-based school administration solution with a variety of additional modules. In addition, there are numerous interfaces to relevant peripheral systems. The customer base consists of cantons, cities, municipalities and individual schools - primarily in the cantons of Bern, Zurich, Solothurn and Graubünden.

Through this acquisition, CMI consolidates its market-leading role in the Swiss software market for school communities and accompanies Campus customers into a secure and sustainable future. The acquired software solution "iCampus" is almost identical to the solutions offered by CMI and is the best possible successor software for the newly acquired customers, according to the statement.

Employees are taken over

The employees will be taken over by CMI or PolySol GmbH (former co-owner of Campus Software AG). In the future, PolySol employees will continue to take over orders in the area of maintenance and operation of the Campus solution. "We are pleased to have found a good solution for our customers with CMI. Together we will make sure that our customers are well supported and receive a sustainable solution with even more functionality from CMI", says Stefan Kale, Managing Director of PolySol.

Here's what's next for iCampus customers after the acquisition

The iCampus system will continue to run as usual and support will be seamlessly ensured, CM Informatik notes. Existing customer contracts will continue unchanged. In the medium term, iCampus customers will benefit from the successor solution "CMI School". "CMI School" is based on the CMI solution framework. Currently, the framework is being extended by the module "CMI LehrerOffice". This is completely web-based and integrated in "CMI School" and can be used on mobile devices (e.g. tablets) without installation in the future. Together with the communication app of the strategic partner "Klapp", CMI offers a robust overall solution for elementary schools.

Source: CM Informatics

Reports of successful hacker attacks, paralyzed companies or stolen data are almost the order of the day these days. The increasing number of attacks is accompanied by ever more sophisticated attack methods. It is no longer just large corporations that are being targeted by cybercriminals. More and more small and medium-sized enterprises are also falling victim to phishing, ransomware and the like. The assumption that SMEs are not worthwhile targets is deceptive. This is because attackers are increasingly focusing on automating their business in order to increase the range and chances of success of their attacks. The bottom line is that no company is too big or too small not to be the target of a cyber attack.

While large companies can counter this threat with extensive resources, for SMEs it is a matter of protecting their corporate network as effectively as possible with manageable resources. Whether you're a company boss, IT manager or network admin, these five immediate measures will help you improve the security of your corporate network quickly and sustainably:

• First: Use a Unified Threat Management (UTM) system as a central gateway. Such a central all-in-one cybersecurity solution enables reliable protection of networks and data against unwanted content such as spam, viruses or malware.
• Second: Segment your systems! Separating networks limits or times unauthorized access to sensitive company data.
• Third: If possible, use the current security standard WPA3 for your WLAN, but at least the security standards WPA2 or WPA2 Enterprise (802.1X).
• Fourth: Keep control over the software used on your work devices. Through central computer management, you can determine exactly what a user is allowed to install himself, for example, or whether certain functions are reserved exclusively for authorized administrators.
• Fifth: Protect your IT systems by deploying network access control. Network Access Control (NAC) technology helps defend against unauthorized access from the network. It also helps enforce endpoint compliance by checking all devices for policy compliance during authentication - for example, whether the installed virus protection is still up-to-date.

Network security is not rocket science. If you pay attention to a few basic things, you can significantly increase the protection of your corporate network and thus create the prerequisite for making digitization secure and profitable.

Would you like to learn even more? In a free hands-on webinar on March 22, 2022, experts Thomas Ehrlich and Steffen Unland will show you in just 30 minutes how to quickly and easily secure your corporate network and actively prevent cyberattacks. Click here to register.

Companies are meeting many current challenges - such as contact restrictions or the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions - with digital and, increasingly, smart technologies. These are the findings of Capgemini's IT Trends 2022 study. For this study, 195 business and IT managers from companies and public authorities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland were surveyed in September and October last year.

IT Trends 2022 study shows: Public authorities with pent-up demand

Greater alignment with customer needs is one of the three most important goals for more than half of those surveyed this year (54.9 percent). This applies even more frequently in public administration than in companies. However, public authorities have some catching up to do in many areas compared with the business community: while more than half of companies have digitized their ordering and payment processes, use customer journey analytics or base decisions on analytics findings, the figure for public authorities is only between 20 and 30 percent in each case. When it comes to building automated service offerings, business and government are roughly on par. "Companies have seen during the pandemic how important the user-friendliness of digital contact channels is for their competitiveness. They must assume that digital customer service will also be in high demand after the pandemic. According to the Online Access Act, public administration must have established user-friendly online services for its services by the end of 2022," comments Guido Kamann, Head of Capgemini in Switzerland.

Use of AI will continue to rise

Companies in particular frequently use intelligent technologies to implement their most important specifications, and their use has increased significantly in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, 35.5 percent of all respondents use artificial intelligence (AI) intensively or very intensively, compared to only 15.6 percent a year ago. The reasons for the increase include technological advances, but also new processes for development and operation. These have also led to a higher success rate: Last year, 30.4 percent of business AI users rated their success as high or very high; now the figure is 38.1 percent. The use of intelligent technologies will continue to rise over the next two years. Particularly large growth will come from users in recommendation systems (an increase of 142.9 percent after two years), personalization (120.5 percent), quality management (116.9 percent), supply chain optimization (109.6 percent) and day-to-day business analysis (105.6 percent).

More than 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions savings from IT

Smart technologies are also being used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Almost 71 percent of companies have the goal of reducing annual emissions by 2026; on average by almost 37 percent. The vast majority also consider this value to be realistic. The public administration's targets are less ambitious: it wants to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by just under 28 percent by 2026. Overall, around 42.6 percent of the reductions are to be achieved with the help of IT, the greater part of them indirectly. Intelligent technologies will be used primarily to reduce energy consumption and optimize routes and means of transport.

Almost half of all data not available organization-wide

Data in sufficient quantity and quality is the basis for using intelligent technologies. On average, however, only slightly more than half of all data is available throughout the organization. The other half is subject to legal restrictions for around 63 percent of respondents and internal restrictions such as data protection or security measures for around 62 percent. As a result, it is only made available to a limited number of users. "Breaking down data silos and standardizing formats and quality is not an easy task for many reasons. After all, while great progress has been made in recent years with regard to providing and processing large amounts of data, scaling in other areas has been neglected. This includes dealing with increasingly more data sources, use cases, users and market change. We recommend that companies and public authorities think about a paradigm shift to a scalable, decentrally organized data landscape," explains Guido Kamann.

Demographic change is gradually being perceived as a problem

Over the next ten years, an average of just under 23 percent of IT employees will retire. Last year, the shortage of skilled workers caused little concern. Now, the proportion of CIOs who fear negative effects has risen by almost 16 percentage points to just under 52 percent. The biggest concerns are the loss of expertise and an additional increase in the shortage of skilled workers, which is already high. At the same time, the participating CIOs predict that the strategic importance of IT will increase significantly and that the department will grow. It will employ slightly more specialists than generalists, as well as more people of different nationalities. Work will become more complex and agile, but also more often done in the home office and by software robots. The proportion of women in management positions will increase.

Which other IT trends will become significant in 2022 and later?

Following Capgemini's TechnoVision global technology trends, 30 technologies and methodologies were selected to measure their importance to organizations. This year, study participants assigned the highest importance to container technologies, the Zero Trust security concept, machine learning, protection against threats from Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled devices, and Open APIs. At the other end of the scale are virtual & augmented reality, distributed ledger technology, graph databases, decentralized applications and quantum computing. They currently assign the least importance to these technologies.
Mobile wallets for payment, ticketing and access control, natural language processing, AIOps, robotic process automation with intelligent decisions, virtual & augmented reality, and event stream processing have become particularly important. This year, a particularly large number of projects are planned in the areas of machine learning, robotic process automation with intelligent decisions, preventive and predictive maintenance, open APIs, low-code app platforms, and zero trust.

Source: Capgemini

The consequences of the pandemic are also putting pressure on the results of the IVF Hartmann Group, one of the leading companies in the field of medical consumables in Switzerland. This is evident from the 2021 annual financial statements just presented. Sales revenue fell by 16.7 % to CHF 144.1 million. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) decreased by 63.8 % to CHF 7.7 million. The EBIT margin decreased by 6.9 percentage points to 5.3 %. Net profit decreased by 65.2 % to CHF 6.2 million from the previous year's record high CHF 17.8 million (fiscal 2019: CHF 12.2 million). However, the IVF Hartmann Group said it continues to have a solid financial basis: the equity ratio increased by 2.2 percentage points year-on-year to 79.1 %. The Board of Directors will propose an ordinary dividend of CHF 1.90 per registered share at the 2022 Annual General Meeting. In the previous year, the company had paid an ordinary dividend of CHF 2.50 and a 150th anniversary dividend of CHF 1.00 per registered share.

Outlook: Robust sales development expected

After the two-year pandemic, the IVF Hartmann Group expects a gradual normalization of business in 2022. As the company has maintained or expanded its market shares in most areas even in the environment characterized by Corona, it can seize the opportunities that arise from a position of strength, according to the statement. High growth potential exists in particular in application areas that require in-depth specialist knowledge, special manufacturing know-how and a high level of familiarity with customers' needs, it said. The Group's intentions also include continuing to drive forward the digitization of services. New integral logistics solutions are also to be provided. Complementing the "Hartmann easy" procurement platform, the IVF Hartmann Group aims to significantly increase its sales generated online. With this goal in mind, cooperation with well-known online retailers will be intensified on the one hand, and the development of the company's own e-commerce platforms will be accelerated on the other.

For fiscal 2022, the Group expects a robust sales development and EBIT that will be higher than in 2021.

Change in the Board of Directors of the IVF Hartmann Group

Dr. Rinaldo Riguzzi, 75, has decided not to stand for re-election at the next Annual General Meeting on April 26, 2022, after 35 very successful years with the IVF Hartmann Group (including 31 years on the Board of Directors). The Board of Directors will also propose to the Annual General Meeting the election of Mrs. Cornelia Ritz Bossicard as the new Chairwoman of the Board of Directors. The Ordinary General Meeting will be held in accordance with the Covid 19 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council, without the physical presence of shareholders. This year, all shareholders have the exclusive option of granting an electronic or written proxy with instructions to the independent proxy (Dr. iur. Jürg Martin, Attorney at Law, Winterthur).

Source and further information

Practice-relevant teaching, namely on-site in companies: The Höhere Fachschule für Leadership & Management Zentralschweiz (HFLM) promises to offer an alternative to conventional learning formats by addressing concrete business and economic issues during the lessons and developing practical solutions.

Practice-relevant teaching is expected by more and more companies

The reason for this concept is obvious: students should learn in an action and practice-oriented way from the very beginning, as more and more companies and the market expect. Three factors play an important role here: the lecturers, who are all recognized experts in their fields, the partner companies where the lessons take place, and the real-life practical cases that the students work on in the company on site. "I am convinced that we are awakening the needs of the market with this novel concept. Of course, theoretical principles form the basis of our teaching, but much more important to us is the real-life implementation in practice, which we apply in each module," explains Sascha Güntert, head of school at HFLM. Another important plus point of this new technical school: the English language is part of every subject taught. Here, with the partner company academia, a "professional for teaching the English language could be brought on board," as Güntert continues.

Cooperation with partner companies

As the academia example shows, HFLM wants to work actively with partner companies. According to information on the website, interested companies can contact us at any time. But what does the "requirement profile" of such a partner company look like? "Simply a company standing in the market, which does not have its own human, financial or material resources for open questions of operational processes (QM, strategy, HR, PR, marketing, organizational development, leadership development, employee development, supply chain management, finance/accounting, etc.)", explains Sascha Güntert. And how can the partnership benefit? "As HFLM, we support the companies in their own corporate and value-added development," says Güntert. And this is precisely where the "on-the-job teaching" form of instruction comes into its own, as the educational institute's website puts it. "Theory flows directly into real projects, with all participants multiplying their knowledge directly." A company thereby benefits from the targeted transfer of knowledge into practice and an additional asset in its value creation. Specifically: "The big difference is that our partner companies, like our lecturers, provide actual cases to be solved, in which our students can develop their knowledge 1:1," Sascha Güntert explains further.

Three courses and more

HFLM offers three courses: Business Administration HF, Marketing HF and Digital Marketing. In-house training courses, for example in the area of leadership, expand the offering. Sascha Güntert is convinced of the new concept: "We see great potential here, because SMEs also have the need to develop their employees. With our customized courses, we guarantee that the knowledge gained is really relevant for the employees and the companies."

The first HF course starts already at the end of April, the courses for the diploma "Digital Marketing Manager" already in February, there are also intensive courses during the school vacations. In addition to "on-the-job teaching," the training courses follow the framework curricula as specified by SERI (e.g. for Business Administration HF) or Swiss Marketing (Marketing Manager HF). Great importance is also attached to online teaching: Virtual sequences are integrated into every subject.

Source and further information: www.hflm.ch

A telecom service provider is getting serious about climate neutrality: On the morning of February 25, 2022, Swisscom CEO Urs Schaeppi posted a video on TikTok, which he claims is the first completely climate-neutral video transmitted on the Swisscom network. His message: "Our network is climate neutral. Not someday, but right now." So anyone who makes a call, streams or surfs on Swisscom will be doing so climate neutrally from now on - automatically and at no extra cost. "We are taking responsibility for our environment and will continue to expand our commitment," Urs Schaeppi further announces.

The remaining CO₂ of the equipment sold is compensated

Swisscom has been a climate-neutral company since 2020 and was named "Most Sustainable Company in the Telecommunication Industry 2020" by World Finance magazine. This was preceded by major efforts: For example, Swisscom has been operating its entire network with one hundred percent renewable energy from hydropower, sun and wind for over ten years. Now, the remaining emissions from the manufacture, transport and installation of the network components are also offset, according to the company. As a result, Swisscom now offers completely climate-neutral products. But the devices sold are now also completely climate-neutral: the CO₂-Residual emissions from production, transport, use and disposal are offset at no extra cost to customers. Swisscom's own products (Internet routers, TV boxes, etc.) have already been climate-neutral for years. To this end, Swisscom works with selected offsetting partners and focuses on projects that reduce the remaining CO₂ compensate.

Climate-neutral surfing and streaming is not enough

The fact that it is not only in the case of end devices that CO₂ but that you can now also surf and stream in a climate-neutral way, represents another milestone in its commitment to climate protection, according to Swisscom. However, the company does not want to stop there and is therefore continuing to work on reducing emissions. By 2025, it wants to be completely climate-neutral across the entire value chain - which means, for example, that employees' commutes to and from work will also be offset. Thanks to Work Smart services, IOT and other innovative customer solutions, the telecoms company expects to save over one million tons of CO₂ more than it causes. This amount would correspond to two percent of Switzerland's total emissions and contribute to achieving the international climate targets.

Source: Swisscom

The consulting firm Egon Zehnder has published a study that examined the presence of ESG issues in companies. This also addressed the question of ESG standards. For this purpose, 329 executives in 53 countries were interviewed. Among other things, the study looked at the environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals that companies and organizations have set themselves and the measures they consider essential for society as a whole. In addition, Egon Zehnder wanted to know what challenges executives face when it comes to sustainability and what roles CEOs, other leaders and leadership teams play in implementing a sustainability agenda. The study was conducted in cooperation with Sustainable Views, a newsletter of the Financial Times.

CEOs rethink their role

Two changes are shaping corporate culture in the process: growing demands for equality in the workplace and the call for more flexible, hybrid forms of work. CEOs around the world are therefore rethinking their role. How do they want to work with their teams in the future? In what ways do they want to develop the company - and themselves? How do they position the company for the long term? In the current complex business environment, it is crucial for CEOs to prioritize their own development while learning to better leverage the potential of their own organization.

C-Level shows responsibility for sustainability agenda

Who is responsible for ESG standards in companies in the first place? Most of the respondents (68 %) say that a single person is responsible for the sustainability agenda in their company. Sixty-six percent of them say it is the CEO, while 9 percent say it is the chief sustainability officer. About 27 percent of respondents said the responsibility is held by the top team: C-suite or board of directors, while 3 percent put the responsibility on everyone in the company. At the executive level, 82 percent believe their boards are well equipped to monitor sustainability threats and opportunities, but there are concerns about readiness, conflicting priorities and lack of sufficient or good enough data to make progress.

On the way to a new corporate culture

Another finding of the study is that to become a more sustainable company, current culture and goal setting may need to change. Indeed, more than half of respondents (56 %) say their companies need to change their collective mindset to achieve their sustainability goals. Recognizing that a shift in thinking is necessary is critical, but the real challenge is embedding sustainability at the core of the organization. For many, this means a big shift away from traditional business models. Some companies are already on this path: a full 37 percent of respondents describe their company's approach to sustainability as "transformative," while the next largest group (27 %) describes it as "innovative."

Topic on the agenda, but uniform ESG standards are lacking

Further, the study authors note that the lack of universal benchmarks is an ongoing challenge for most companies. Not all companies define sustainability in the same terms, and they often use different frameworks and systems to measure progress. But even for companies that have embedded sustainability into their core business, the question of measurable ESG standards to elicit progress remains. Committing to specific ESG goals is a commonly used way of measuring: about 86 percent of companies responding to this survey have committed to ESG goals. Those respondents that have not yet done so indicated that they are in the process of doing so. This high level of commitment is seen as a clear sign that the issue of sustainability is gaining momentum. However, much remains to be done in order to take effective action.

A CSO should no longer be a "nice to have

While most respondents believe the sustainability agenda is in the hands of CEOs, 60 percent believe CSOs are leading it. The study also found that most respondents find it challenging to link sustainability to overall business strategy, and that CSOs are often the missing link for organizations when it comes to linking business and sustainability goals. For them, there are four priority areas to address over the next 12 months: Incentive structures and culture, increased resources for staff and professional development, carbon emissions and internal work awareness, and alignment on the same goals and increased collaboration.

From "commitment in vagueness" to uniform ESG standards

The survey also provides insights from thought leaders across industries on the role of leadership in advancing sustainability, challenges, strategies, success stories and lessons learned. The survey shows that advancing a sustainability agenda is an achievable goal. Ultimately, it's about consistency and persistence, the survey authors said. According to Elena Rittstieg, of Egon Zehnder Switzerland, the study shows that commitment to sustainability requires decisive leadership, a clear vision and a solid strategy embedded in the overall business strategy. It is about delivering on promises made to oneself, the board of directors, investors, employees and stakeholders outside the company. This calls for managers who truly internalize the issue of sustainability.

For those interested, the study can be viewed here: https://www.egonzehnder.com/sustainability-survey

In the first quarter of 2022, the Euler Hermes Export Forecast is again well above the zero-point threshold at 0.69 points, which indicates the long-term average growth path of the Swiss export industry. Despite a decline of 0.26 points compared with the previous quarter, the indicator shows above-average export growth of around 10 percent. Over the past 20 years, it has only been higher in 20 percent of cases.

Industry remains under pressure

As before, the Industry due to persistent supply bottlenecks under great pressure. As a result, the Swiss economy is likely to get off to a rather modest start this year. Companies are holding back on major investments, and consumption is suffering from the current wave of omicron and the sharp rise in inflation. Despite these dampeners, thanks to strong growth impulses from the chemical, pharmaceutical, IT and financial services sectors, no renewed economic slump is currently expected, according to Euler Hermes. "The economic outlook is likely to brighten significantly again as early as spring," predicts Euler Hermes European economist Katharina Utermöhl. "Then both supply chain stress and, consequently, inflationary pressures will gradually ease. At the same time, accompanied by a slowdown in infection, private consumption will shift up a gear again. Accumulated private savings, the good labor market situation and high capacity utilization provide fertile ground for a robust recovery." Overall, Utermöhl expects global trade to grow by 5.4 percent in 2022 (2023: +4.0 percent). GDP is expected to increase by 3.0 % (2023: +1.8 percent). This would mean that economic growth would slow down compared with 2021, but the Swiss economy would still grow at an above-average rate.

Switzerland with world's highest purchasing managers' index

Despite good chances of a further recovery of the global economy, there are risks which could impact the economy: The Corona pandemic, negative indicators on the financial markets and the war on the Russian-Ukrainian border. The war is likely to put additional strain on trade flows, which are already impaired. "Of course, Switzerland could not escape additional stress on world markets," comments Stefan Ruf, CEO Euler Hermes Switzerland, "but Swiss industry is doing very well. This is indicated by the J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing (PMI), the most important gauge of industrial purchasing managers. Switzerland has 63.8 points in it. No other country in the world has a higher value. This proves Switzerland's strong competitive position. Also helpful is the portfolio of destinations broadly diversified by exporting companies." Globally, the PMI stood at 53.2 points. This is a decrease compared to the previous quarter (54.3). Growth rates in new orders fell. New business growth was the weakest in a year and a half. New export business contracted for the first time in more than a year in both the consumer goods and intermediate goods sectors. The overall outlook for global manufacturing remains positive. The growth outlook, combined with the clearing of backlogs following recent delays in supply chains, is also encouraging further job creation. Headcount increased in the euro area, the U.S. and Japan in January. In China and India, the number of employees decreased.

Above-average export growth, especially to the USA

In 2021, Swiss exports grew by 15.2 percent to a new record level, while imports increased by 10.1 percent. This boosted the surplus in the balance of trade to 58.7 billion Swiss francs. The Swiss export industry was able to sell more goods in all three major economic regions. Deliveries to Europe (+18.1 percent) and North America (+17.0 percent) showed double-digit growth. Exports to Asia rose by 9.0 percent. The USA replaced Germany as Switzerland's most important export country. Imports were boosted by increased purchases of chemical-pharmaceutical products (+7.1 percent), especially immunological articles, and food and beverages. The jewelry and automotive sectors, which had still been hit in the previous year, recorded increases of 2.8 percent and 2.4 percent respectively.

Source: Euler Hermes

What are the characteristics of effective leaders? Many books have been written about this, because: Regardless of whether employees are support staff or highly qualified specialists, or whether their company is currently going through a crisis or a successful phase, managers need certain characteristics or competencies in order to be genuine, i.e. effective, leaders.

1. Ownership: This includes, among other things: setting challenging goals for oneself, sustainably implementing corporate goals, developing creative space, identifying priorities, communicating intentions consistently and clearly, generating solutions and putting them into action, creating realities.
2. Self-orientation: This includes, among other things: being self-aware, asserting oneself in one's environment, taking a stand even on sensitive issues, dealing confidently with new and unknown things, having a broad, flexible repertoire of actions for differentiated situations, a clearly developed sense of personal values.
3. Entrepreneurship: This includes, among other things: developing and driving the business, the will to succeed, sensitivity to market signals and early recognition of business opportunities, thinking through and managing products, processes and behavior consistently from the customer's point of view, the ability and courage to break new ground if necessary.
4. Ability to effect behavior: This includes, among other things: Creating meaning and generating understanding, communicating credibly and authentically, mobilizing willingness to perform, having an encouraging effect on others, feeling for the effective forces in the organizational structure and recognizing the decisive leverage forces, creating clear responsibilities and transparent task structures in order to make others successful.
5. Successful relationship management: This includes, among other things: A convincing demeanor and open approach to others, the ability to shape relationships cooperatively and develop interfaces conducively, the ability to network and deal with heterogeneous interests, the ability to move effectively within the social organizational structure.
6. Emotional stability: This includes, among other things: Confidence in one's own abilities, remaining calm and reliable in stressful situations, understanding one's own and others' feelings and being able to respond to them, being able to deal with disappointments while remaining capable of taking action, demonstrating appropriate conflict resolution behavior.
7. Willingness to learn and develop: This includes, among other things: learning from experience, accepting challenging situations and seizing the opportunities they present, obtaining and processing feedback on one's own impact, acting with an eye to the future, developing a pioneering spirit, nurturing talent and developing employees by being tolerant of mistakes, providing support in the event of difficulties (coaching), but being consistent when performance is lacking.

The challenge is to continuously develop these leadership qualities - especially in a time characterized by rapid change and decreasing predictability.

To the author: Hans-Peter Machwürth is Managing Director of the internationally operating training and consulting company Machwürth Team International (MTI Consultancy), Visselhövede (D). www.mticonsultancy.com