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The renowned Munich-based economic research institute ifo sees structural change and tariffs as brakes on industry and production potential

Pressure to decarbonize, digitize, and robotize at a time of demographic change, geopolitical uncertainty, and difficult financing conditions is weighing on the German economy. Bureaucratic and infrastructural hurdles are particularly burdensome for the manufacturing industry, which (still) plays a major role in the German economy and contributes significantly to employment and value creation.  This structural …

Insights from the DDIM Annual Congress 2025

On Saturday, I attended this year’s well-attended annual congress of the German Interim Management Association (DDIM), which—as has been the case for many years—took place at the Van der Valk Airport Hotel in Düsseldorf. The congress day was not only ideal for networking, but also provided me with many valuable insights. German industry is in …

Success factors for dealing with AI applications

Yesterday, in an expert interview, I was asked whether the success factors in dealing with AI applications differ from those that have played an important role in employees’ working lives to date. I found the question extremely interesting. I came to the conclusion that the success factors do not differ significantly, but that they have …

Focus on the Supply Chain Resilience

Once again, we are seeing just how vulnerable many companies are that pay too little attention to the issue of resilience: the export restrictions that China has decided on and introduced for rare earth metals in order to secure its own supply and as an incentive to relocate processing plants to China are hitting companies …

Rapid transformation of component manufacturers

For many decades, the German automotive industry was the technological leader in efficient combustion engines with low emissions and high-precision transmissions, which made it very successful economically. Could it be that this particular strength and the associated success have led to complacency and blindness to the shift toward electric mobility, which has been looming in …

How can my company cope with the new US-American tarriffs?

The US government is very directly linking political demands with trade policy measures. Companies that export industrial goods, in particular the mechanical and plant engineering and automotive industries, but also the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, are particularly affected by the additional US tariffs. The tariffs imposed by the US government on the import of goods …

Requirements toward Management Consultants

At the symposium of the Federal Association of SME Consultants, which took place on 26 and 27 June 2025 in Berlin, Dr. Boysen derived the requirements for management consultants from the economic developments and the resulting challenges for entrepreneurs and managers. Dr. Boysen differentiated between basic skills and technical skills. Among the basic skills, Dr. …

New publication: Sustainable corporate reorganisation

The German Federal Statistical Office recently announced the second year of a recession in the German economy, and the third is just around the corner. Many companies are deep in crisis or are already acutely threatened with insolvency. With my new reference book ‘Sustainable management of corporate crises. Immediate help for industrial companies and industry-related …

New Splendor for the German Industry

For many years, open global markets were a key driver for German industry. In the meantime, however, the forces are reversing and making it difficult for German industry to assert itself in global competition. Waiting and hoping, as is often heard, will certainly not be enough. We must act. German industrial companies face a threefold …

Upheaval in the German industry

The German economy is no longer growing. Our medium-sized industry is falling victim to the globalization that we ourselves drove decades ago. Other sectors will inevitably follow as soon as industrial value creation declines. Will other developed economies follow as well? The prosperity we have achieved with comparatively high wages and social benefits is now …