Second Edition "Unternehmenskrisen erfolgswirksam managen"

In the meantime, the 2nd edition of the book Unternehmenskrisen erfolgswirksam managen is already available, for which the authors have elaborated an even stronger reference to practice through a detailed case study. The 2nd edition provides decisive and feasible answers and solutions to the questions raised for corporate practice.

Was sind die USPs unseres Buches?

This book has the ambition to become a standard work on the topic of practical strategy in the German-language literature. So far, there is no comparable book in our language area in which strategy, strategy development and its implementation as a success factor for a successful corporate transformation are presented in such a comprehensive breadth on almost all essential aspects and instruments of strategies with a strong practical relevance. Current crises such as pandemic, energy crisis, inflation or location crisis are critically mentioned and explained. They are the starting point and reference points for respective core messages and possible core strategies. Examples from our own project practice repeatedly provide the reference to the requirements and lived challenges of the entrepreneurial day-to-day business.

The section on strategy development in practice is likely to be unique for the reader. Theoretical knowledge and practice are brought together here. All the building blocks and elements required for an effective corporate strategy and their practical implementation - by means of strategic planning - are explained and presented in a practical manner.

Quote from the authors:

"Our wish as authors is that with our book we can make others understand what effective leadership in a corporate crisis means: helping other people and the company to become sustainably better. Leadership always focuses on others. It's about nothing less than the future of business enterprises and people."

  • How can corporate crises, regardless of whether they are caused by external and/or internal factors, be managed effectively?
  • How do you become a sustainably successful company in the industry after excellent crisis management?
  • How can an underperformer become an outperformer in its industry?

Core message and thesis

The core message of the book is that only Strategic Business Transformation (see also: https://wirtschaftslexikon.gabler.de/definition/strategische-business-transformation-123559 ) with a clear focus on strategy development is able to solve corporate crises significantly and permanently and to find ways out of the crisis. However, strategies require anticipatory skills and clear decisions. Strategic transformation requires a fundamental change in the company in terms of internal and external conditions, relationships among employees, and the entire organization's relationship to its markets and business environment. With the strategic transformation approach, the authors present solution approaches that go far beyond traditional turnaround. A holistic approach is presented that involves stakeholders in strategy development and its implementation. In contrast to traditional turnaround, which essentially focuses on cost-cutting measures, the aim is to achieve a long-term profitable market position that is better than the industry average. To this end, continuous improvement measures are introduced in a best-in-class value creation architecture and implemented along the entire value chain. There is a strong focus on innovations in the megatrend product areas that generate sustainable profitable growth. Increasing corporate value through long-term and sustainable profitability as opposed to an organizational unit that is only viable in the short and medium term is characteristic - a holistic approach applies as opposed to individual measures in traditional restructuring.

As a starting point for strategy development, methods of market and company analyses are used effectively for success. Appropriate communication, best practice approaches, employee involvement, professional project management and the implementation of multiplier and promoter concepts are further presented success factors for a successful company transformation.

Special features - the industry - the business model

In addition to the crisis, its recognition and understanding as well as the necessary implementation of crisis early warning systems, the book establishes a clear practical reference to the business environment. In this context, particular importance is attached to the concept of the industry. Methods for analyzing industries are presented and typical development phases of industries analogous to product life cycles are explained. In the light of current events, the authors devote particular attention to stagnating, mature and shrinking industries in practice and present clear strategies for overcoming crises in each case. With diversification, a very important type of strategy is described as a solution in the face of currently shrinking and dying industries.

Again and again, one finds the term business model in the established specialist literature, which is usually used without reference to strategy. With the definition of the term business model, the book at the same time clearly differentiates and complements strategy. Resilient business models are indispensable for the VUCA world and for long-term profitable market positions. For the authors, unique selling propositions and competitive advantages are indispensable prerequisites for competitive organizations.

Other

Corporate crises can be managed successfully if a strategic approach is followed, which includes the following steps as examples:

  • Identification and evaluation of crisis causes: In a crisis, the first step is to identify and assess the causes of the crisis. This requires understanding the nature and scope of the crisis, its potential impact on the organization and the affected stakeholders. A thorough assessment of the crisis helps in the development of an effective crisis management strategy.
  • Develop a crisis management plan: The first step in managing a corporate crisis is to develop a comprehensive crisis management plan that defines the roles and responsibilities of key employees, the communication strategy and the actions to be taken in the event of a crisis. This plan should be updated regularly to reflect changes in the company's operations and risk profile.

The book contains a three-phase model developed in practice, which helps to quickly create a common understanding of the crisis situation, challenge and goals to be achieved and to offer measures to be implemented based on this.

Reviews

"Due to the many simultaneous and accelerated transformation processes, the 'crisis' is becoming a permanent condition of companies and thus a structural and cultural challenge in organizations. Only those who understand it as a strategic task of permanent business model innovation will be able to manage it successfully. This book shows holistically, well-founded and at the same time concretely how this can be achieved and which methods and attitudes must be developed for this." 

-Prof. Dr. Henning Vöpel, CEO sop | Stiftung Ordnungspolitik, Director cep | Centrum für Europäische Politik)

 

Unternehmenskrisen erfolgswirksam managen" - the very title of this business compendium underscores the leitmotif of this book, written by practitioners for practitioners. In accessible language, supported by numerous diagrams and practical examples, tools and procedures are presented to cope with the inevitable, cyclically recurring evil of crises in companies. Didactically cleverly structured, the book leads from the recognition of crisis signals to their interpretation as well as recommended methods and tools for an effective strategy development to the desired transformation of companies to a sustainable better. Man and the imperfections associated with him and his environment are the natural self-understanding of this book.

The authors leave no doubt that mistakes and errors are part of a manager's everyday life and must be recognized as such and avoided. Experienced practitioners are painfully aware that mere knowledge of necessary changes in organizations is far from a guarantee of their effective implementation and, ultimately, success. It is essential to involve all employees, colleagues, managers, owners, works councils, customers. Suppliers, partners - simply all the people involved must be taken along on this path of change and the associated fears must be overcome. This book offers valuable thought-provoking impulses, methods and concrete aids for a required corporate transformation. A highly recommended read!"

-Cem Peksaglam, Ehemaliger Vorstandsvorsitzender der Wacker Neuson SE

 

"We are experiencing a period in which companies are facing a combination of externally caused uncertainties and structural and rapid change in their industries. These challenges will not always lead up to a traditional liquidity crisis. But strategic transformation under pressure can be implemented timely and successfully with the proven toolbox of turnaround. The experienced team of authors provides the conceptual basis and concrete implementation recommendations for this."

-Bastian Frien, Gründer FINANCE Think Tank Corporate Banking & Finance

The authors

Dr. Thomas Forster holds a doctorate in business administration. As a "CEO ad Interim" and CRO, he works in the executive bodies of international companies in the manufacturing sector of the upper mid-market. He has a wide range of practical experience in business transformation, success-effective strategy development and its implementation, corporate restructuring and corporate value enhancement. He has been a Senior Executive Partner of SEViX GmbH since 2017.

Rainer E. Ulrich has carried out numerous business transformations as managing director and manager of medium-sized companies and portfolio companies. He is extremely adept at successfully incorporating the ideas and insights of employees, colleagues, customers, suppliers and institutions into a new value creation architecture. Rainer Ulrich is the founder of SEViX GmbH, a company specializing in business transformation.

The co-authors

Prof. Dr. Immanuel Ulrich is a graduate psychologist (University of Bonn) as well as a trained trainer and business coach (Free University of Berlin). He has been working as a freelance personnel developer since 2009. In his award-winning doctorate, he designed and implemented a personnel development measure for young professionals at universities and demonstrated its sustainable impact both on the participants (competencies and behavior) and on the client level, i.e. their students (learning successes). In 2014 he received the Johannes-Wildt-Nachwuchspreis für hochschuldidaktische Forschung (best dissertation) from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hochschuldidaktik.

We help effectively

Contact us

Please contact us directly if you need concrete help in change management projects or a CEO ad interim, Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO), Business Transformation Manager and a well-rehearsed team with implementation competence with profound experiential knowledge require

Learn more

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *