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by Isabella06/2020 – « Pros and cons of the home office »
Corona provides us with all sorts of new approaches – whether they can be maintained in the post-Corona era…here is a collection of arguments for or against it.
Without doubt, the home office is an ideal emergency solution and – to calm the German soul: the European neighbours have also discovered the home office.
However, the prerequisites for the home office are that technical requirements must be met, new incentive systems for employees must be defined, and employee motivation is not possible in the traditional form. Above all, reporting must be redefined, so that the question arises, is the home office workplace identical to the office office workplace?
The Home Office Employee mentions a number of relevant advantages, such as the fact that he or she prefers to work from home and, in particular, the saving of travel time to and from work.
Last but not least, the work-life balance is right, but recent experiences have shown that home office employees feel neglected, lonely, have little or no contact with colleagues and lack feedback on their performance.
This leads to the question: not every employee is or wants to be an efficient home office worker.
On the Management Side , there are also arguments for and against this:
With the introduction of the home office, there is less politicization all of a sudden and the work steps have to be divided up more in order to maintain a certain amount of control.
Also – over time – managers become frustrated because they cannot give direct / personal feedback to the employees, so that the leadership of the employees must be different.
The solution could be for the home office employee to come to the workplace once a week to ensure personal communication.
The demand for home office sounds simple and straightforward, but it is complicated in its implementation and depends on workplace to workplace or from employee to employee.
June 2020
by Isabella05/2020 – « The post-Corona-Scenario » (Corona-Part 2)
Contrary to what Chancellor Merkel said, thinking – even or especially – must not be forbidden in times of crisis: What is the exit scenario after the shutdown of the German economy?
Without getting into the ethical discussion:” what is more valuable: a functioning economy or X Corona death?”, a revival scenario could look like this:
– Prio #1
Businesses will be relieved of tax and VAT will be at least halved
– Prio #2
The companies prioritize the existing orders that have not yet been processed (or partially) in order to get production and sales going
– Prio #3
Company sales will be strengthened in order to realize potential orders or generate new orders: b2c will be easier than b2b
– Prio #4
Pre-marketing focuses on the domestic market, as the international markets have collapsed – here on those industries and functions that can be classified as “Corona winners
– Prio #5
After the domestic market, the Far Eastern market is served, as here the corona effects (in comparison to Europe and the USA) were successfully combated at the earliest
– Prio #6
Parallel to internationalization step #5, value must be placed on internal processes and systems, focusing on innovation within a pragmatic step-by-step approach: new digital systems (internal processes, such as artificial intelligence) are introduced and innovative products / services are developed to efficiently serve new sales channels
– Prio #7
The strategic margin policy will hardly change, as the German economy can temporarily use its competitive advantage until the international economy starts up
We assume that the German economy will be in a recovery period of at least 6 to 12 months before it is possible to cover costs again.
May 2020
by Isabella04/2020 – « Anyone can have good weather » (Corona-Part 1)
No matter whether you are a start-up, small, medium or large company: Corona has struck. There are comparisons with wartime – the news is received with interest and some people think: I’m glad to be in Germany – especially when you hear the horror news from abroad.
Nobody knows when the lockdown will end – but the time of the shutdown should be used to prepare “for the time after”: Which employees do I need, what do the warehouses look like, which new purchasing sources will I open up, which sales channels will be served first, what does the liquidity look like… Questions about questions that one did not ask oneself before Corona times, yes, were uninteresting.
Now some tough decisions have to be made: Supply chains are reorganized, payment terms are extended, credit lines are renegotiated, new methods, processes and paths (e.g. digitalization, artificial intelligence) are taken, efficient organizational structures are implemented…
After Corona will not be as before Corona
April 2020
by Isabella03/2020 – « The view into the glass ball »
Last year’s headlines – no matter in which press – concerning the economic outlook in 2020 were: – Economic worries are increasing – The economic crisis is coming – The economy is paralyzing – The economy is darkening – The recession is knocking at the door – The crisis is coming in giant strides There was hardly a – even serious – business paper that did not join the augurs from mid-2019. Comparisons have been made with the last economic crisis, and the forecasts for 2020 turned out to be even gloomier than the years before. So one can only be lucky that the “self-fulfilling prophecy” has not struck again – one can only “defend” the prognoses with “bad news travel like wild fire” – so they sell well. So why is it that economic forecasts can no longer be defined as accurately as they were 15 or 20 years ago? – The economy has become more global and thus the economic influences are greater, more significant, more numerous than in the past – economic cycles have become more short-term, more short-lived. An indication of this statement: Product launch cycles have declined by more than 50 % in the last 5 years – Politicians are using dramatic means to exert direct and indirect influence not only on the economic cycle of their own economy, but also on the markets with which trade relations are in effect – See the (unforeseeable) consequences of TRUMP’s punitive tariff policy – The measures of economic forecasts have become more sensitive and precise Does this mean that any future-oriented commentary on the economy is wrong? Absolutely not, but more work should be done with the “ceteris paribus” clause, also – to be sufficiently different from the statements of TRUMP’s Twitter policy. March 2020
by Isabella02/2020 – « Made in Germany »
The designation “Made in Germany” stands for reliability, precision, technological leadership, innovation, etc. Actually – from a purely historical point of view – “Made in Germany” was supposed to serve as a deterrent for customers, consumers and business partners – but the opposite has been proven: “Made in Germany” stands for quality and uniqueness.
Now that Germany has been politically mandated to introduce electric mobility, German automakers must make the transition from cylinder drives to electric motors.
But Germany would not be Germany if we did not create a problem for ourselves here:
– Instead of replacing the whole battery – when it is empty – you have to fill up with electricity
– Instead of a standardised charging station, there are X different charging systems, which are also not compatible
– Instead of a standard plug for the charging cable, there are X different incompatible plugs
– Instead of placing a standardised socket in/on the car, the creativity of the engineers flourishes: sometimes in the front left, sometimes in the back right, sometimes in the front right, then in the bottom left – the charging process becomes a supply-related brainteaser
– Instead of a uniform, standardised calculation of the “tanked” amount of electricity in KWatt, there are X different ways of calculating electricity: times according to
time, then according to standard amount of fuel, according to time spent – there is nothing that does not exist
– And then comes the payment – here are again X different apps, which are also not compatible
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
And then the automotive industry wonders, then politicians wonder why car drivers find it difficult to decide to buy or lease an e-car…
February 2020
by Isabella01/2020 – « How does that fit together? »
Scenario I:
On the one hand, the German press warns companies that
– the good old days are over
– the recession is coming
– the crisis is taking giant strides
On the other hand
– the US unemployment rate amounts to 3.5%, while in Germany the figure is fluctuating around 5%.
– the stock markets in Germany and the USA are developing more than splendidly and reaching record levels
Scenario II:
On the one hand, we Germans have a “belly rumbling” towards the Chinese, because the Chinese’ data collection rage in combination with “social scoring” makes the citizens transparent and educates them to “political correctness”.
On the other hand, we Westerners tolerate that the “Tech 5” (AMAZON, APPLE, FACEBOOK, GOOGLE, MICROSOFT) succumb to the same data collection rage and that the users of social media become more and more transparent.
Scenario III:
On the one hand, the Germans are responding to the call for concentrated action to herald climate change by defining and putting together a whole package of measures to reduce CO2 levels.
On the other hand, we close our eyes and “wash our hands of it” when, for example, tons of CO2 are produced in South America or in China during the extraction of lithium for the manufacture of batteries.
We are actually not much further than Pippi Longstocking in the village of Bullerbü: “I make the world as I like it…”
January 2020
by Isabella12/2019 – « A look into the future »
“Everything used to be better” – you knew what you had. The former DM stood for stability, was the emblem for reliability – and today disruption and agility are preached – nothing remains as it is (or was).
What’s right?
It is often said that digitalisation, that “computers” are the augurs of a wave of mass redundancies – but is this true? In fact, 2019 was marked by an overheated labour market – the skilled workers, the managers (at all levels) could choose their new workplace. However, the “ghost” of the automotive future is coming around the corner (according to the alarmists), but in step with the new tech / high tech freaks, who finally see a mental opening towards the fuel cell or the interim e-mobile solution.
Here, too, the old saying “one man’s joy is another man’s sorrow” (or: “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”) applies.
But also the studies of the Institute for Employment Research clearly show that in Germany since 1993 an average of 9.5 jobs have been lost out of 100 (as a basis), but 9.7 new jobs have been created in the same period.
So confidence!
The TMC Group wishes you a Merry Christmas and a successful New Year!
December 2019
by Isabella11/2019 – « The Imbalance »
Of course it is much more interesting for the press to deal with big companies like AMAZON, FACEBOOK, MERCEDES and BAYER: – The respective CEO always has news of general interest – even if it is to announce the number of employees that are put up for disposition – The “latest news” from the C-Suite are of course of special interest to all recipients of information – and when it comes to the million-dollar compensation of board members – of course the success of the CEO’s must be reported, even if the stock market value of BMW under the chairman of the board has fallen by 42% There is news that a small company – has established a branch in China – has signed a partnership agreement in Israel – in Germany is struggling with the introduction of a change process of minor importance – even if one considers that the “big” companies have also started “small” at times The SME feels strengthened in its misunderstanding on the part of politics, especially when the Minister of Economics, Peter Altmaier, still speaks of the big “group champions” as a strategy of the German economy and forgets the majority of German business enterprises.November 2019
by Isabella10/2019 – « Agility and tradition – a contradiction? »
The vocabulary agility has established itself in the economic language and stands for disruption, change, rigidity, digitalization, new processes, etc.
New thinking is required – but not remaining in theory, but rather on the implementation, on the implementation is what counts! And this causes unrest, change, new tasks in companies – no matter in which functional area, no matter on which organizational level.
Is this drama agreed with a well-oiled, traditional company? Do employees who have been doing their job 100% for years have to worry about their future? Will the company remain as it is at present – everything is going well… Solid companies have a conservative set of values, the employees can identify with the company, and long periods of employment are not uncommon. And now comes the change?!
It’s nice and still comfortable to work in a comfort zone, you know your colleagues, you accept the routine – but is this how paradise will look in the future? Will it stay that way or do we have to be open for change?
Agility and tradition are not mutually exclusive – perhaps traditional values and characteristics provide a framework for change.
strong>October 2019
by Isabella09/2019 – « Afraid of the future? »
– In the context of a global economy, are there other / new countries that set the tone?
– What role will Germany / the German economy play?
– Digitalisation takes away jobs, are companies changing?
– Are there new functional areas / will old functional areas be dropped?
– Will my job / task remain or will it be replaced?
Are such questions superfluous or even necessary? At all times mankind has been faced with challenges due to exogenous changes. The external ring of data has always changed and people had to constantly adapt to new challenges:
– a different, new climate
– a new social order
– other dominant countries
– new, revolutionary ideas
– the discovery of new continents / celestial bodies
– etc.
Thus the fear of the future is actually nothing new for humans – it is rather part of everyday life that humans always have to adjust to something “new”. Whereby it is actually the same whether the “new” has positive or negative influences on people – it depends on how people meet the future and how they deal with the future development.
As the saying goes: “Nothing is more constant than change” and closing one’s eyes to future developments certainly does not help to master the future.
September 2019