Professional rating facilitates economic growth 16. May 2006 by Thomas Jannot The rating of the creditworthiness of companies on the basis of the Basel-II-criteria continues to divide small and medium-sized companies. The reason for this disagreement seems to be the sober subject of costs, but what the disagreement really reflects is the antagonism of the two business decision making philosophies – guts vs. head. Especially among …
When granting loans banks will have to apply Basel II rules 16. May 2006 by Thomas Jannot An image often associated with the provisions of the Basel II agreement is the three pillar model. This model describes the requirements put on commercial banks by the Basel agreement. The three pillars refer to the minimum equity capital requirement, the requirement on checking procedures as well as to the duties of disclosure and market …
Inadequate IT security leads to more expensive loans 16. May 2006 by Thomas Jannot In the middle of February the Federal Cabinet decided upon a draft to cast into binding law the provisions of the Basel II agreement regarding a bank´s equity capital. According to this agreement a company´s IT security forms part of the operational borrower risks to be taken into account when determining his creditworthiness.
Technology transfer important to SME 16. May 2006 by Thomas Jannot Experience has shown that, due to the fact that SME themselves do not dispose of the necessary technology and overestimate the cost for the purchase of know-how, certain products are not brought onto the market. Dr. Franz J. Beeler, Swiss consultant and expert on technology transfer, in his article „Technologietransfer – unrecognized chance for SME …
Commerzbank raises awareness for the needs of SME 16. May 2006 by Thomas Jannot “Economy in motion – challenges and strategies facing Germany” is the name of a major survey among 4001 German SME which forms part of a recent initiative called UnternehmerPerspektiven launched by the Commerzbank. Martin Blessing, member of the board of director and in charge of the Mittelstandsbank, presented the findings:
Virtual guide is to promote co-operation between SME 16. May 2006 by Thomas Jannot Researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have developped a virtual guide which is supposed to facilitate the co-operation between small and medium-sized entities (SME). The pilot provides SME with confidentiality agreements, online questionnaires, check lists, action plans and training guidelines. The service is the result of a joint project called “InVirtO” which was sponsored by the …
SME too hesitating about internet telephony 16. May 2006 by Thomas Jannot In contrast to major enterprises, SME are still doubtful as concerns „Voice over IP” (VoIP, telephoning via Internet). The main reason for this is the fear of the costs entailed by the implementation of such a new technology. According to a study of the outsourcing service provider Accenture and the Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (GfK), 43 …
For entrepreneurs wanting to sell their SME the time may be just right 16. May 2006 by Thomas Jannot The Handelsblatt magazine recently published an interesting article on the subject matter of mergers and acquisitions of small and medium-sized entities (SME). According to the magazine about two thirds of all transactions in the M&A business refer to the selling of a company. Seldom the market for the selling of SME had been that favourable …
SME in the United States rely on ERP and CRM 16. May 2006 by Thomas Jannot As was reported by the consultancy and market researcher Access Markets International (AMI) Partners in New York, the SME in the USA first of all rely upon software solutions for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
SME frequently use content management systems 16. May 2006 by Thomas Jannot The Austrian Computerwelt magazine has published an interesting article on Content Management Systems (CMS) and small and medium-sized entities (SME) on their website. The article´s author, Roland Kissling, presents a study carried out by Tekom and TC and more GmbH which examined the current situation on the CMS market for technical documentations by questioning 18 …