Insights

To be successful in today’s competitive environment, companies must remain adaptable and work in an agile manner. “Leaders in particular are expected to model these skills,” says Wilhelm Goschy, CEO of Staufen AG. But companies know that many of their employees in managerial and top positions have catching up to do in this regard.

The German SME sector has been able to fend off the upheavals from the Corona pandemic. According to the current study “Restructuring 2021,” only a minority of companies see themselves in an phase of existential crisis; one in four companies has already left the crisis behind. Marking a noticeable change in strategy, 47 percent have repositioned themselves for the post-Corona era. For the survey, management consultancy Staufen interviewed more than 200 owners and top executives of companies with annual sales of at least 20 million euros.

In only one in five companies is collaboration anywhere near where it was before the Corona crisis/Lack of collaboration is already causing efficiency, cost and quality problems. Corona continues to test companies and their employees. According to the current study “Collaboration as the key to success,” only 22 percent of companies currently manage to maintain collaboration at pre-crisis levels. This stressful situation directly impacts companies’ key performance indicators. For example, poor collaboration noticeably reduces efficiency in 72 percent of companies. For the study, business consultancy Staufen, together with the Shop Floor Management experts from Staufen.ValueStreamer surveyed more than 300 companies in Germany.

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Weak frontline management and unsolid implementation of standards lead to unstable quality and output in the workshop. Supervisors and Managers frequently have to deal with firefighting cases, but they cannot blame the frontline leaders who seem hard-working and super busy every day.

There will be no back to “business as usual” after Corona, not even with regard to the topic of leadership. For it became clear in the crisis which leadership concepts companies need in order to react so that they are fit for transformations and changes. As a current market study by the consulting company Staufen shows, however, it is proving difficult for many companies to make insights gained in the pandemic into the “new normal.”

Köngen – as part of the renowned industry study by brand eins and Statista, the consulting company Staufen received the “Best Consultants 2021” award in nine categories. Underlying this success is a consulting approach that prepares companies consistently for transformation and adaptation. As in previous years, Staufen won over the trade experts and customers surveyed as an operations expert in its primary industries mechanical engineering and automotive, but it has also achieved recognition as an expert in the fields of supply chain management, restructuring, growth, and innovation and organizational consulting.

Köngen – disrupted supply chains keep compromising the production flows of German industry. Currently, for example, automobile manufacturers are suffering from massive resupply problems with regard to chips. Such external shocks suddenly increase complexity. In order to remain able to act and thus to survive in these situations, companies should take timely measures to ensure that the complexity drivers variety, networking, and change remain in a healthy balance with one another.

Köngen – The digital transformation of the economy is progressing worldwide. According to “Digitalization 2020”, an international study, many companies are especially convinced of the advantages of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). However, to date, only every fourth company has already implemented projects in the field of AI/ML as well. For this study, business consultancy Staufen together with experts from Staufen Digital Neonex, surveyed more than 1,100 companies. Participants came from Germany, USA, China, Brazil, Mexico, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Romania.