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 and medium-sized entities and decision makers. They give you practice-oriented background information and concrete guidance prepared by professionals for professionals. Some editions have already been published.

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 competitors. Quite an interesting solution to this problem is offered also to German companies by the South Africa based sipkom: users of their service are given the possibility to rent telephone numbers for little money in 38 countries. These numbers are then translated into local numbers and can be called in the respective countries at local rates from any telephone. more…

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 VAT increase at the beginning of next year, says Rolf Bürkl, a market researcher with the GfK in an interview with the Pressetext news agency. more…

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 and the VDI weekly newspaper may be rather a reason for concern. According to the study, salaries of executives and experts are strongly increasing in China. Furthermore, there is a lack of the kind of staff needed. more…

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. more…

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 supported by the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Technology, the principal associations of German commerce, several Chambers of Industry and Trade as well as by the Network of Electronic Business. All trade companies are entitled to take part in the study. During the first weeks since the start of the study more than 1.200 companies had already taken part in the survey. more…

All German companies employing at least 50 staff are invited to take part in a new round of the »Great Place to Work« competition which honours »Germany´s best employers« and is organized each year by the Great Place to Work Institute Germany in co-operation with the psychonomics AG research institute. Application deadline is September 30th 2006. more…

The Heise Zeitschriften Verlag is sending a call for papers to all practical people and experts in the open source community. From today you can apply for giving a talk at the »Open Source Meets Business« convention. This convention of IT and business decision makers is organized by the Heise Zeitschriften publishing house for the second time and will take place from January 24th to 26th 2007 in Nuremberg. Programmers and IT experts working in or with small and medium-sized entities should not miss this opportunity. more…

Abbreviations are something quite confusing to readers. Often one thinks to know what they mean. But then again, if somebody asks more detailed questions on abbreviations, one is not that sure any more on what they stand for. For that reason abbreviations are disapproved-of in editorial texts. At least they are often used only after having been written out upon first mention. In addition there are rules which are imposed by the German Duden, such as e.g. “that many abbreviations of technical terminology have to be written without dot”. Of course, all this applies to articles on MittelstandsBlog and Just 4 Business as well. more…

News aktuell (ots) reports: In May the »worldwidejobs.de IT job index« reached 177 points which is one point less than in the previous month. After a strong increase of job offers in April the IT job market currently seems to lose momentum. The number of vacancies published on the websites of the Top 500 IT companies decreased by 0.5 percent in May. However, compared to May 2005 the number of job offers has increased by 14.7 percent this year. Most IT jobs are currently offered by companies in Bavaria (29.5%), North Rhine-Westphalia (24.8%) and Baden-Wurttemberg (19.6%). Companies in the south of Germany offered 2.5 percent more jobs in May. In other federal states the number of IT job offers was declining during the same period. more…