Online shopping is becoming more and more popular. In the year 2007 the number of Germans ordering goods or services over the internet amounted to 41%. In 2006 this percentage was 38%. Thus, in this respect Germany ranks 4th in the EU. This was announced by the German Association of Information Management, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM). more…

Researchers wishing to set up their own businesses are experts in their respective fields, but may lack the necessary business knowledge. In the course of the “Fraunhofer promotes management” programme which is supported by the Federal ministry for education and research (BMBF) the venture group of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is going to support research company founders with experienced managers. more…

The most important finding of a survey carried out by the Deutsche Mittelstands Barometer (DMB) is that small and medium-sized entities are optimistic about the year 2008 and expect more employment. Thus, the positive feeling among SMEs is to continue and will further boost the labour market over the months to come. However, this positive outlook is darkened by too much bureaucracy, high tax burdens as well as a lack of specialists. more…

A similar step has not been taken in 16 years: The US Federal Reserve (FED) in one go lowered the key interest rate by 75 basic points from 4.25% to 3.5%. Another lowering by 25 basic points next week is expected by many analysts. more…

Almost half of all German companies operating in the internet economy do without modern communication technology. Not even 7% of all customer enquiries are dealt with via live-chat, virtual counselling or dynamic FAQ systems. Instead, more than 80% of companies cling to personnel-intensive and therefore cost-intensive means of communication with clients such as phone, fax or email. This was revealed by the “Multichannel-Management” study conducted jointly by the novomind software company and the TeleTalk specific journal. more…

According to the grand coalition elderly unemployed people shall receive unemployment benefits for a longer period of time before they have to take recourse to the so-called Hartz IV welfare benefits. more…

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the production cost index for industrial products increased on average by 2.0% in 2007 as compared to the previous year. This increase is significantly smaller than that in 2005/2006 (+5.5%). In December 2007, however, prices were 2.5% higher than in December 2006. more…

According to the Federal ministry for economic affairs, the German economy is in a very good shape at the beginning of the year 2008. In 2007 Germany´s economy grew considerably. GDP increased by 2.6% after adjustments for price and calendar. Thus, the forecast by the German government was slightly exceeded. Employment increased by 649.000 people or 1.7% to 39.7 million on average. For the first time since the German reunification the budget of the public sector was in balance. more…

The year 2006 brougth surprising economic growth stimuli worldwide. This was also to the benefit of the German retail sale: Metro (ranking 5th) and the Schwarz group (rank 10th) once again made it into the global top ten of retail companies. Aldi came 11th, Rewe ranked 14th and Edeka 17th. According to the “Global Powers of Retailing” study carried out by the Deloitte consulting firm, local retailers, in contrast to long-term trends, grew faster than the global players. more…

The business of German small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) is booming. Companies from almost all sectors of the economy significantly raised their growth and profitability projections for the year 2008. As compared to a similar survey a year ago companies expect profit growth to double from on average 5.0% to 9.3%. Sales are forecast to grow from 7.6 to 9.8%. Thus, this growth of SMEs is four times as big as that forecast for the German GDP and twice the growth figure predicted for the global economy. more…