The ORGANISATOR: The established SME trade magazine celebrates its 100th anniversary

The publisher and book expert Max Friedländer (21.11.1879 - 6.2.1976) published the first issue of ORGANISATOR on April 1, 1919. In doing so, he performed pioneering work to a certain extent: now there was a publication in Switzerland that regularly offered practical help for companies. The ORGANISATOR has accompanied many managers over the years, and for quite a few the magazine has become an institution, as it were. This year, what is probably the most established SME trade magazine in German-speaking Switzerland is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Trends set and anticipated

Competent, practice-oriented and close to the target group: this principle applied then as it still does today. In each issue, ORGANISATOR presents essential topics for managing directors and executives of SMEs. The topics - it may come as a surprise - have hardly changed in the 100 years of the publication's existence: It is about organization, leadership, personnel management, marketing, customer relationship management, labor law and much more. What has evolved are the technologies: Whereas in 1919 a well-managed card file was the nerve center of a business, today CRM and ERP systems take over. ORGANISATOR has always succeeded in anticipating developments and trends or even setting them itself: For example, the SME trade magazine promoted the introduction of "Mit freundlichen Grüssen" as a greeting formula instead of "Hochachtungsvoll" at an early stage. Or with the magazine "Orgamatik", an additional publication was created in 1983, which was dedicated exclusively to office informatics. And the topic of "occupational health management" also found its way into the editorial section at an early stage and has since become a permanent feature with the "Fit im Job" column.

Corporate management yesterday - today - tomorrow 

The editorial team is using the anniversary year 2019 as an opportunity to look back into the past. In each issue, articles from the archive are published on individual topics. These are sure to elicit a smile or two from readers about the "good old days. Issue 1-2/2019, for example, will feature a Articles from the early 1920s which reports on the advantages of a business trip by automobile. Of course, however, in addition to "yesterday," the focus will continue to be on "today" and "tomorrow" in corporate management. In three issues, individual aspects will be dealt with in greater depth. For example, the April issue will deal with the topic of "Corporate management in transition. The June issue will deal with the topic of customer relationship management under the motto "From business letters to social media marketing. And in the October issue, a special section is devoted to employee management yesterday - today - tomorrow.

Deliver specialized information tailored to SMEs

Then - in 1919 - as now, companies are facing major challenges. What was the final breakthrough of industrial mass production and the beginning of mass consumption immediately after the First World War is today the digital transformation. The constant adaptation to changing conditions accompanies companies every day. This has hardly changed in the 100 years of ORGANISATOR's existence. Publishing manager Rolf Gubelmann concludes: "Then as now, executives in SMEs need specialized information tailored to them. This is what the founders of ORGANISATOR made their mission. We want to continue to fulfill this claim with our SME trade magazine - adapted to today's reading behavior."