A recent study on the future viability of German companies confirms that Stadtwerke Gießen is well positioned for the coming years. The resulting award is both praise and an incentive for those responsible.
An ageing society, climate change and other environmental issues and, above all, digitalisation - German companies will face numerous challenges and upheavals in the coming years. The F.A.Z.-Institut für Management-, Markt- und Medieninformationen GmbH from Frankfurt and the IMWF Institut für Management- und Wirtschaftsforschung from Hamburg have analysed the future viability of over 4,000 German companies from 294 sectors in a study and awarded prizes to the best. With a pleasing result for Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG): SWG was rated as a sustainable company.
"We are naturally delighted to receive this award. And it encourages us to continue along the path we have chosen," explains Jens Schmidt, Commercial Director of SWG.
Complex investigation
In order to find out how future-proof the companies are, the experts from the F.A.Z. Institute analysed data from social listening in combination with key company figures. Social listening reflects the areas of careers, digitalisation, innovation, new products, profitability, research and development and sustainability. To this end, the institute engaged highly specialised partners who compiled relevant contributions from 438 million sources on the internet and later analysed them in more detail using artificial intelligence. The institute calculated a score for both the company key figures and the results obtained from the social listening, which ultimately resulted in the judgement.
"We are proud to be one of the 477 companies to receive the 'Fit for Future' award," says Matthias Funk, Chief Technical Officer at SWG. But for him and his colleague Jens Schmidt, this great success is no reason to rest on their laurels. On the contrary. "We will continue to actively seek out new areas of business in the future, develop useful products for our customers and make ourselves an attractive employer for skilled professionals," announces Jens Schmidt. In addition, SWG wants to continue its fruitful cooperation with various research institutions - such as the Technical University of Central Hesse - and even expand it if possible. Matthias Funk puts it this way: "I am firmly convinced that we can decisively advance the energy transition in the region in this way."