Award competition looks for social entrepreneurs 27. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot The final sprint in the competition for the “Social Entrepreneur 2006” award has begun: applicants can still register until August 15th. The winner will be invited to the World Economic Forum 2007 in Davos. Up to now more than 100 companies have already been honoured and supported worldwide by the prize awarding foundation.
MittelstandsBlog presents after-work podcast 22. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot You worked hard all day long and now look forward to a well-deserved evening? Well then let us sweeten this pleasant part of the day. Close your email programme, put your feet on the desk, relax and take 20 minutes off before you hit the road and get stuck in the after-work traffic jam.
Companies have to be prepared for GDPdU 22. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot Although already effective for some years the GDPdU provisions are still unknown to some entrepreneurs, decision makers and experts in small and medium-sized entities (SMEs). This was found out in a flash survey carried out among readers and partners of the Mittelstandsblog. The abbreviation GDPdU stands for guidelines on data access and verifiability of digitalized …
Foreign companies dominate takeover business in Germany 22. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot As was reported by the Pressetext news agency a current survey by the Confederation of German consultants (BDU) carried out among 189 chief executives and managing directors of German management consultancies showed that the takeover business will continue growing in particular in the chemical/pharmaceutical, telecommunications and banking/insurance industry over the next year in Germany.
BITKOM is looking for Internet award winners 22. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot Until the 31st of August there is still time for small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) to submit applications for taking part in the German Internet Award competition. This year the prize is awarded for the first time by the Confederation of information technology, telecommunications and new media (BITKOM) in co-operation with renowned businesses and media …
Employees need to know their company´s business strategy 22. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot Knowing their employer’s business strategy is of high importance to German employees. More than two thirds of people questioned think that without knowing the company´s strategy they are not able to do their work properly. Only a minority believe that knowing or not knowing the plans was irrelevant to achieving business objectives. This is the …
New EU guidelines promise better access to venture capital for SMEs 20. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot The European Commission has adopted guidelines on establishing the compatibility of public grants aimed at promoting venture capital investment in small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) with the stipulations concerning grants laid down in the EC treaty (Article 87 (⇒ Wikipedia)). The objective is to facilitate the access of SMEs to financial means during their early …
Virtual Network Operator as a new business model for SMEs 20. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot Since the launch of Tchibo´s mobile communications business activities in 2004 several other companies called Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) have entered this market segment. Are activities of this kind only a method aimed at reaching new target groups by offering low prices or is the MVNO model a promising business model with real potential? …
From the 1st of July new standardized social contributions for so-called mini jobs 19. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot The Haufe Mediengruppe, which is a publishing house specialized on judicial literature, points to the fact that from July 1st employers have to pay standardized social contributions of 30 percent instead of hitherto 25 percent for employing so-called mini jobbers. According to Haufe the Taxpayers´ Confederation had found out through a survey in North Rhine-Westphalia …
Economic outlook deteriorates markedly according to ZEW 19. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot The economic forecasting for Germany by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) has been less promising for July 2006 with a fall of 22.7 points to 15.1 points on the rating scale as compared to the previous month (37.8 points in July). Above all economic development in Germany is put at risk by the …