Insolvency is a common phenomenon in the German "Mittelstand". Since
small and medium sized companies account for nearly 95% of all businesses
in Germany, the impact on the economy is massive. Besides the macroeconomic
effects, insolvency entails serious consequences on the individual level.
How can impending crisis and thus insolvency be prevented?
In his book, Bernhard Ollefs picks up this important question and identifies
effective comunication between management and the workforce as a strategic
instrument to prevent crisis and insolvency. By means of effective communication,
managers should "immunize" the company to enforce a long-term
crisis prevention. After a brief introduction, Bernhard Ollefs describes the phenomenon
of crisis in the German "Mittelstand" and how communication can
contribute to prevent insolvency. He analyizes exigencies for implementing
effective communication as a strategic instrument and describes factors that
could jeopardize this process. He then provides solution proposals that can
be implemented in order to profoundly improve communication between
management and workforce. In the last part of his book, the author investigates
the communicative environment of three insolvent companies and
compares it with the communicative environment of three successfully operating
companies. Based on the comparison, the author draws a final conclusion.