Institute for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (IfM)

Medium-sized companies are considered the pillars of the German economy. The socio-technical development towards “Industry 4.0” presents companies with new challenges. All direct and indirect value-adding activities in the company are affected by the changes. In order to be able to support the digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and identify areas of action for policymakers, it is particularly important to first record the status quo of SMEs and monitor developments over as long a period as possible.

The aim of the digitalization index for SMEs in NRW is therefore to create a sound empirical basis for the current status of digitalization, and thus to create an analysis tool for corporate investment decisions and structural policy measures. In order to do justice to the diversity of SMEs, the overall digitization index is composed of three sub-indices for the sectors “industry”, “trade” and “industry-related services”.

The result of the project is a report on the digitalization status of SMEs and also a digital tool that allows a multidimensional presentation by digitalization category, size and sector of the companies as well as by economic sectors in NRW. The digitalization index also enables annual monitoring of the development status and further development of companies.
 

• Keywords: digitalization, industry 4.0, digital living environments, working in a digital world, SMEs, working world 4.0
• Download final report

The Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM) was founded by SMEs for SMEs and therefore consciously and consistently places the topic of SMEs at the center of its teaching and applied research. In Bachelor's and Master's degree courses as well as in academic continuing education, the FHM specifically qualifies specialists and managers for the SME sector. The research questions are diverse.

If “small and medium-sized enterprises” (SMEs) are defined as companies with an annual turnover of no more than 50 million euros and a maximum of 500 employees, there are currently 3.3 million SMEs in Germany. These employ 69.7 percent of all employees, they represent 99.7 percent of all taxable companies and they generate almost half of the gross value added in Germany.

Advancing globalization, the digitalization of the economy and the exponential increase in knowledge in the information society are just three examples of the challenges that SMEs have to face against the backdrop of limited resources. As part of its SME research, the FHM focuses in particular on SME management and develops strategies suitable for SMEs for dealing with the various challenges. Among other things, FHM identifies best-practice examples from SME practice and examines the extent to which concepts from large companies can be adapted for SMEs.

With the MBA program Corporate Management in SMEs and the Master's degree program in SME Management, the university ensures a direct transfer of knowledge in the qualification of managers and future managers from SMEs.

The enormous economic growth in China offers a different approach to municipal cooperation. What could be more obvious than setting a different emphasis on the level of political or social contacts and linking the locations to industrial developments?

Such an opportunity presents itself for cooperation between the Chinese city of Nantong and the district of Lippe because both regions are currently working on the designation and development of industrial sites. With the Tongzhou Economic Development Zone, the city of Nantong has created an industrial park of immense dimensions with all infrastructural facilities. Covering an area of over 300 square kilometers, it is home not only to a large number of branches of international companies, but also to spatially integrated leisure and educational facilities.

In the district of Lippe, the towns of Horn-Bad Meinberg, Schieder-Schwalenberg and Blomberg are planning to designate an inter-municipal commercial area as an industrial zone, which is primarily intended to facilitate industrial settlements for which there is no space elsewhere due to the associated emissions. Industrial areas are mainly home to commercial facilities that are not permitted in other areas.

This includes, in particular, businesses that are not even permitted in industrial estates due to their disruptive effects on other uses, so-called businesses that cause considerable nuisance. These businesses must characterize the industrial area. The linking of these two industrial sites focuses the regional interests in Nantong as well as in Lippe on the intended economic expansion. Such a new form of partnership between municipalities in China and Germany has never existed before and gives the cooperation a unique selling point.

Concept

Lippe meets China

The studies deal with the investment side of financial management. The Mittelstand investor study examines how SMEs invest liquidity on the capital market. The Depot A study for savings banks and cooperative banks sheds light on the same question. The studies on the changeover to SEPA in corporate payment transactions can also be found below. All studies are available for download below:

Finanzanlegerstudie 2015
Pressemitteilung Finanzanlegerstudie 2015

Finanzanlegerstudie 2014
Pressemitteilung Finanzanlegerstudie 2014

Finanzanlegerstudie 2013

Finanzanlegerstudie 2011

Finanzanlegerstudie 2010

Depot A-Studie

SEPA-Blitzumfrage (Juni 2014)
Präsentation SEPA-Blitzumfrage (Juni 2014)
Pressemitteilung SEPA (Juni 2014)

SEPA-Blitzumfrage (November 2013)

Verbund E-Learning Manager

Ever faster product cycles and high pressure to innovate mean that current knowledge is becoming obsolete faster and faster, forcing accelerated and systematic processes of knowledge acquisition, transfer and documentation. In order to anchor these processes in the company, employees must be able to manage the media-based transfer of knowledge themselves. To do this, they need the necessary media skills. The sustainable implementation of knowledge media to increase the efficiency of business processes also requires comprehensive change management.

The aim of the joint project “E-Learning Manager” was therefore to identify the necessary framework conditions for the sustainable implementation of e-learning in medium-sized companies and to develop the corresponding qualification process based on current needs.
 

Knowledge in construction

Knowledge management is not only an issue for large companies, but is particularly necessary in companies that regularly work on projects and where an exchange of information and knowledge can make a significant contribution to avoiding duplication of effort and optimizing planning and business processes. In the construction industry, for example, this applies to all architectural and planning offices as well as to contractors. Systematic implementation of knowledge management contributes to considerable increases in efficiency, particularly with regard to supra-regional and international projects.

The pilot project “Knowledge management in cooperative networks - international mobility in the SME construction industry” aims to develop a viable approach to knowledge management for SMEs. The focus is not on technical systems and forms of knowledge management that concentrate on collecting data, but on establishing effective forms of internal corporate communication.
 

Survey on the use of new media in the skilled trades

The use of new media and the resulting acceleration of business processes is a competitive factor for the skilled crafts sector. Until now, no reliable figures were available on media usage behavior in the skilled crafts sector.

In October 2005, the FHM, in cooperation with the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Chamber of Crafts in Bielefeld and the Wittekindsland District Crafts Association, therefore conducted the first nationwide representative survey on the use of new media in the skilled crafts sector.

The results were presented at the Siegen SME Conference in September 2006 and met with a nationwide response.

The survey is divided into three sections: In the first part, the key figures of the companies were surveyed (e.g. sector affiliation, number of employees or the number of business trips). The second part asked which media are used in the various business areas (e.g. in project management/order processing, customer acquisition/marketing or cooperation with other trades). In the last part, the participating craft enterprises were asked to assess the importance of the media (including telephone, letter, e-mail, Internet conferences) today (2005) and in the future (2010).

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Facebook profile “Lippe-Land des Hermann”

The IfM is responsible for the daily maintenance of the Facebook profile “Lippe Land des Hermann”. The profile was set up by the IfM and already has over 560 “likes”. Information about and from the district of Lippe is shared on the profile and not only made accessible to interested parties, but also put up for discussion. The profile also announces events and reports on what is happening in Lippe through press releases. There are also links to the profiles of TBV Lemgo, OstWestfalenLippe GmbH and Teutoburger Wald Tourismus, for example.

Lippe-Land des Hermann

BAuA research projects

Innovative ways to motivate business founders in occupational health and safety - Fit for the job.

Against the background of the increasing number of state-subsidized business start-ups from unemployment and their need for competent support in occupational health and safety, the IfM is taking on the tasks of a competence center for prevention in business start-ups from unemployment as part of the BAuA project “self-employed and healthy”. By awarding this project, the “BauA” and the “sfs” are recognizing the previous activities within the framework of the INQA initiative. The objectives in detail:
 

• Conception and planning of a kick-off event and a results workshop in Lippe.
• Development, testing and evaluation of teaching units, materials and guidelines tailored to existing and tested target group-oriented transfer structures on the basis of modules that have already been created. A nationwide dissemination of the results is sought and actively supported.
• Development of best-practice examples of how the results can be applied in practice and how and in what ways start-ups can be motivated to do so (new “distribution channels)
• Feeding the results into the BAuA project F 2108 and actively supporting it
• Development of recommendations for a national concept for the prevention of business start-ups from unemployment
   

In a first step, seminar concepts, materials and guidelines are to be developed and tested on the basis of or using the existing modules from the INQA predecessor project “Health protection for the Ich-AG” and their nationwide dissemination actively supported (work package 1). The results are to be fed into the sfs project in parallel (work package 2) and the project is to be supported through marketing and public relations work (work package 3). Finally, a national concept for the prevention of business start-ups is to be drawn up (work package 4).
 

INQA Gesundheitsschutz fir die ICH-AG - Fit for the job
 

The aim of the project is to develop a set of instruments to survey and promote awareness of health and safety among the self-employed (start-ups in the form of the “Ich-AG”). The importance of this project can be seen from the fact that since the beginning of 2003, over 120,000 people have become self-employed from unemployment with financial support from the employment office. It is therefore one of the successful instruments of the labor market reform. With the target group of self-employed workers, it is to be expected that important aspects of health and safety at work will tend to be neglected due to the difficult framework conditions, particularly in the start-up phase of the Ich-AG (customer acquisition, financial situation, etc.). In this respect, there is an increased need for action to ensure that the desired labor market dynamics are not thwarted by negative occupational health and safety-related consequences. A project organization involving employment offices and craft guilds will ensure the transfer of know-how and the broad implementation of the results.
 

The results will be used in the context of existing findings and existing cooperation in this area (e.g. the current project on occupational health and safety for freelancers in the media sector) to further qualify the recommendation of the Council of the European Union of February 18, 2003 on improving the health and safety of self-employed persons at work in Germany.
 

Further information on this project can be found on the INQA Homepage.

International industrial park partnership between the district of Lippe and the Chinese city of Nantong.

Publisher:

• Landrat Friedel Heuwinkel
• Prof. Dr. Richard Merk
• Prof. Dr. Volker Wittberg
• Assessor Thomas Wolf-Hegerbekermeier, Mag rer. publ., Dipl.-Verwaltungswirt

Foreword:

• Landrat Friedel Heuwinkel
• Bürgermeister Eberhard Block

Articles by:

• Danger, Marc
• DeVol, Raphael
• Hartig, Nadine
• Kentsch, Marko
• Kruck, Frank
• Rager, Sonja
• Rocklage, Metje
• Schulte, Thomas
• Stückemann, Marius
• Swetlik, Ralf
• Wenzel, Felix
• Willebrand, Dr. med. Dagmar
• Winterling, Georg
• Wolbeck, Michael
• Wolf-Hegerbekermeier, Thomas
• Zachlod, Ilona
• Zimmermann, Sebastian

ISBN-13: 978-3-937149-29-5

There is only one future! A plea for more entrepreneurial sustainability

In times of global change, questions of sustainability are becoming increasingly important and are now of central importance in companies. The authors and editors - prominent entrepreneurs and experts from the world of associations, foundations, credit institutions and trade unions - advocate an eco-social market economy with standards and rules that ensure stable and sustainable development. They describe their personal experiences with sustainable business management and point out ways for change.

Contents:

• Corporate sustainability as a guiding principle in a new economic order
• Sustainability in corporate policy
• Sustainability in financial management
• Sustainability in human resource management

Authors:

• Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Krüger
• Prof. Dr. Bernhard von Schubert
• Prof. Dr. Volker Wittberg

ISBN 978-3-8349-2497-1

Research at the University of Applied Sciences (FHM) provides concrete help in the financial management of medium-sized companies

Never before has the disorientation in the field of financial services been greater than it is at the moment. The economic and financial crisis has caused fundamental confusion on the supply side as well as, in particular, on the customer side, which, due to the systemic problems of capital-market-oriented large companies, sometimes leads to a threatening standstill in some areas of medium-sized companies. On this topic, FHM Professor Volker Wittberg, together with his colleagues Oliver Kruse and Rüdiger Freiherr von Fölkersamb, has published a guide for medium-sized companies in the world of financial services. For this publication, the FHM draws on the latest research results. In 2008, it was the only university to conduct an extensive study of medium-sized companies' investors, the results of which received nationwide attention.

Regarding the publication:

Finanzdienstleistungen für den Mittelstand
Rüdiger Freiherr v. Fölkersamb/Oliver Kruse/Volker Wittberg (Hrsg.)
Preis: EUR 39,95
Erschienen am: 15.06.2009
ISBN: 3-7910-2866-9
ISBN: 978-3-7910-2866-8

Area of expertise: Financing / Investment

The textbook contains a collection of case studies on corporate governance, with a special focus on the management of medium-sized companies. All essential aspects of corporate governance are covered in the sense of a holistic approach using real-life examples. The case studies are aimed primarily at students in MBA programs or at participants in other postgraduate programs with a general management approach at a comparable level.
 

Editors:

• Prof. Dr. Oliver Kruse, Professor at the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM) and Director of the MBA Program in Corporate Management for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
• Prof. Dr. Volker Wittberg, Professor at the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM)
• With case study contributions from other professors, lecturers and research associates at the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM).

Gabler-Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-8349-0704-2

Continuing education as a driver of structural change (Part 1) - An internal analysis of the “Bildungs-Benchmarking” in OWL

Authors:

• Andreas Bonhoff
• Tanja-Vera Herking
• Alexander Pauly
• Prof. Dr. Volker Wittberg, Professor an der Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM)
• Wolfgang Wittwer

ISBN 3-937149-07-4

Practical Handbook for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: A Guide for the Management of Small and Medium-

What is a medium-sized company? The “Practical Handbook for Medium-Sized Enterprises - A Guide for the Management of Medium-Sized Enterprises” is the first work to provide comprehensive answers to the specific questions of medium-sized companies. It is the first compendium to cover the entire cycle of corporate management in medium-sized companies, including the specific problems and practical solutions. The practical handbook is aimed at owners, managing directors, specialists and managers of medium-sized companies of all sizes.

Publisher:

• Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Krüger, Professor at the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM)
• Prof. Dr. Gerhard Klippstein, Principal of the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM)
• Prof. Dr. Richard Merk, Managing Director of the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM)
• Prof. Dr. Volker Wittberg, Professor at the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM)

Gabler-Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-8349-0196-5

European Capital of Culture 2010 – A structural and media benchmarking of the candidate cities

Publisher:

• Prof. Dr. Richard Merk, Managing Director of the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM)

Authors:

• Stefan Dörr
• Alexandra Göpfert
• Sandra Grosse
• Sandra Siek
• Volker Wittberg

ISBN 3-937149-03-1

Sustainable Cost Management - Tracking down cost drivers

Efficient and consistent cost management is an ongoing issue in every company. How can the current company situation be analyzed and how can savings potential be identified? Which cost optimization measures make sense and which ones only incur additional costs? With answers to these and other questions, the authors provide concrete assistance for sustainable cost management. The reference book is aimed at business practitioners and includes numerous case studies, sample calculations and to-do lists.

Editors:

• Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Krüger, Professor at the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM)
• Prof. Dr. Volker Wittberg, Professor at the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM)
• With numerous contributions from other professors and lecturers at the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM).

Schäffer-Poeschel-Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-7910-2740-1