New guide on open source software published 6. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot The Pressetext news agency reports that the Confederation of information management, telecommunications and new media (BITKOM) published a guide on the utilization and application of open source software (⇒ Wikipedia) in business activities. According to the confederation this kind of software is often used in a thoughtless and legally doubtful manner. The guide is aimed …
New law bringing relief to German SMEs passed 6. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot The lower house of German parliament, the Bundestag, passed the so-called relief law for SMEs some days ago.
Expert comments on private equity 4. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot In an informative article published in today´s edition of the Börsen-Zeitung Mr. Walther Becker, who is an expert on the stock exchange, gives a description of the current situation of international private equity (⇒ Wikipedia). Major globally active investment trusts are swamped with funds by their institutional investors says Mr Becker. These trusts which can …
Bad reputation of self-employment in Germany 4. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot According to Mrs. Gundula Englisch, who is a journalist and film producer, in Germany company executives and senior civil servants have a higher standing than a clever self-made man. Entrepreneurship and self-employment currently have the worst reputation ever in Germany. This was a “consequence of a collective lack of independence, which was deeply rooted in …
MittelstandsBlog set up library of M’BlogDocuments 29. June 2006 by Thomas Jannot From today we provide our readers with even more valuable information. Renowned authors such as Dr. Kaack, managing director of the STZ Consulting Group, and Manuela Franzò, who is an economic adviser, publish comprehensive articles worth reading which are available free of charge for download in PDF format. These M´BlogDocuments are electronic brochures for small …
Worldwide telephone numbers for foreign customers 29. June 2006 by Thomas Jannot Not only global players have major customers abroad, but also quite a lot of global leaders among small and medium-sized entities manufacturing innovative niche products. Quite often, however, these companies cannot afford a branch in the countries of their customers. This is a fact which may rapidly become an economic disadvantage as compared to local …
Economic trends and expectations contradict each other 29. June 2006 by Thomas Jannot Willingness to buy has once again reached a peak according to the current consumer climate study prepared by the Association for Consumer Research (GfK). The consumer climate indicator for July will presumably rise by 0.8 points to 7.8 points. The main reason for this, however, seem to be expectations of higher prices due to the …
Chinese top executives are becoming scarce and expensive 29. June 2006 by Thomas Jannot For German small and medium-sized entities having to struggle with competition from the Far East it may be a reason for hoping that the price war may be less fierce in the future. For those, however, who are directly committing themselves in China the findings of a joint study by the Hewitt Associates management consultancy …
Progress made in the implementation of e-business solutions 29. June 2006 by Thomas Jannot Such is one finding of the “e-business barometer 2006/2007” which was published yesterday. For the study 6.000 e-business decision makers in German industrial and service companies had been surveyed in the spring of 2006. The study analyses the status quo and prospects of e-business implementation in the German economy.
There is still time for SMEs to take part in worthwile study 29. June 2006 by Thomas Jannot Until the 30th of June there is still time for small and medium-sized trade companies to take part in the “Internet and trade 2006” study organized by the e-commerce center for trade (ECC Handel). By this study the ECC analyses the use of the Internet particularly in small and medium-sized entities (SMEs). The study is …