The value of communication

Insolvency is a common phenomenon in the German "Mittelstand". Sincesmall and medium sized companies account for nearly 95% of all businessesin Germany, the impact on the economy is massive. Besides the macroeconomiceffects, 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 identifieseffective comunication between management and the workforce as a strategicinstrument to prevent crisis and insolvency. By means of effective communication,managers should "immunize" the company to enforce a long-termcrisis prevention. After a brief introduction, Bernhard Ollefs describes the phenomenonof crisis in the German "Mittelstand" and how communication cancontribute to prevent insolvency. He analyizes exigencies for implementingeffective communication as a strategic instrument and describes factors thatcould jeopardize this process. He then provides solution proposals that canbe implemented in order to profoundly improve communication betweenmanagement and workforce. In the last part of his book, the author investigatesthe communicative environment of three insolvent companies andcompares it with the communicative environment of three successfully operatingcompanies. Based on the comparison, the author draws a final conclusion.