In our interview, Manuela Teinert introduces the management consultancy nachhaltig unternehmen, which she founded and which currently supports medium-sized companies in applying for subsidies during the Corona crisis.

1. Can you briefly introduce yourself?
I am Manuela Teinert, a certified economist. After almost 20 years of working in large and medium-sized companies, I founded my own management consultancy two years ago with "nachhaltig unternehmen". We are usually called in when companies get into financially difficult waters. What makes us stand out from many other consultants: Our restructuring concepts, tailored to the specific company, go far beyond the usual acrobatics of numbers. In our view, financial solidity is closely linked to sustainability, corporate communication and the working atmosphere. Like good doctors, we take a holistic view of a company's situation. And we prove with our work: Every crisis holds opportunities. This approach is particularly relevant at the moment.

2. What was the best experience in your professional life so far? The greatest project?
I would like to pick out one that fits in well with the situation that many companies are currently facing in the face of the pandemic. We were asked to restructure a medium-sized mechanical and plant engineering company. The company was operating in a volatile market, investors had withdrawn, and insolvency was imminent. Naturally, we pulled out all the financial stops to avert the worst. But above all, we relied on the people in the company, their innovative spirit. We had a lot of discussions far beyond the management level - after three years, the company had regained its profitability and competitiveness. Of course, the example cannot be applied one-to-one to the situation of companies in lockdown, which is often much more difficult. But it is good to think now about unconventional ways out of the crisis, perhaps even about a sustainable realignment.

3. What made you decide to become a member of the IDZ?
I am fascinated by the way aesthetic and functional, emotional and social aspects merge in design. I see many parallels to my work in this combination of very different components. As a management consultant, you can go and say 20 people have to be laid off and then the finances will come back in line. But you can also look at what potential these people bring with them. How can you use that to make the company profitable and sustainable without driving your employees to the brink of exhaustion and making environmentally harmful returns? But let's get back to design: I enjoy it, I also like to surround myself with beautiful things in my private life.

4. What inspires you at the moment?
"Agony of Eros" by Byung-Chul Han impressed me very much. How Han describes love and feelings as "victims" of our consumption- and digitalization-driven behavior is very touching. In the end he tells us: start payi
ng more attention to your intuition again, listen more to feelings and interpersonal relationships. And the virtual Steiermarkhof exhibition "Weg-Kreuz" is great, and very timely.

(from the May 2020 Newsletter)