The value of communication

Revision with unchanged content. 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? The author 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.