Review

Undersecretary Werner Gatzer, Federal Ministry of Finance, Berlin On 28 January 2013 the Entrepreneurial School® Management Center Innsbruck hosted another event in the MCI Alumni & Friends lecture series: Werner Gatzer, Undersecretary of the German Federal Ministry of Finance, had been invited to give a talk on the lessons to be drawn from the European financial crisis. The lecture was presented by Oliver Stock, editor-in-chief of Handelsblatt Online. In his introductory remarks the presenter described Undersecretary Werner Gatzer as a “tower of strength” in German financial politics, as in the course of his career as undersecretary he has worked with a number of different finance ministers and has been, and still is, confronted with politicians of all colors. Nevertheless Gatzer, a graduate of law school, has not yet tired of dealing with the intricacies of German budgetary planning on a day-to-day basis. In the course of the lecture it soon became clear that Werner Gatzer is an advocate of the EU and the euro. According to him, we are currently “not experiencing a euro crisis but a crisis of national debts,” and finding a way towards “more Europe” is vital in order to be able to take on the future together. Undersecretary Gatzer had no difficulty in identifying the lessons to be drawn from the financial crisis: we need to avoid excessive deficits, reduce national debts, create joint preventive and corrective financial market regulations, and improve the competitiveness of all EU member states. The word “together” was a key word in his lecture; in Gatzer’s opinion the lessons we have learned can only be put into practice by working together on a European level. “We can do it if we work together,” Gatzer said. He concluded his lecture by emphasizing again the importance of promoting “more” Europe, of vesting the European Union with more powers, rather than curbing its influence.{phocadownload view=file|id=3974}{phocagallery view=category|categoryid=690}

Stefan Baumgartner, Managing Shareholder, KapHag Beteiligungen GmbH, Berlin On 14 January 2013, as part of the MCI Alumni & Friends lecture series, Stefan Baumgartner, managing shareholder of KapHag Beteiligungen GmbH, was invited by Management Center Innsbruck to speak on the subject, “Go entrepreneurial! A wake-up call for universities and students.” KapHag Beteiligungen GmbH is a Berlin-based company that stands for innovation in the handling of real estate and represents a total investment volume of 3 billion euros. In his introductory remarks Baumgartner talked about his own educational career; drawing on his own experiences he developed suggestions and recommendations for universities and students. Collaborations between universities and business enterprises are of vital importance according to Baumgartner as they promote a practice-oriented approach and facilitate the creation of networks, two factors which may prove valuable assets in the students’ further careers. Additionally, some basic psychological knowledge and the “tools of the trade” of a salesman should be part of every education, given that all of us are faced with the need to “market” ourselves in our day-to-day professional lives. Mr. Baumgartner emphasized the importance of entrepreneurial thinking and suggested two approaches that might provide an opportunity also for young entrepreneurs in need of financial backing: first, to market ideas that contribute towards solving others’ problems, as a way to procure financing given that the partners would certainly be willing to make an investment in return for the solution of their problems; and secondly, to continue the ideas or life’s work of an entrepreneur who has no successor and would therefore be glad to find someone to “follow in his footsteps.” The lecture was chaired by Univ.Prof. DDr. Jürgen Huber, Head of the Department of Banking and Finance at Innsbruck University.{phocadownload view=file|id=3983}{phocagallery view=category|categoryid=689}

Celebrate with motivated people! Der Freitagabend des diesjährigen Alumni Weekends stand im Zeichen von Socializing & Networking: Beim Summerclubbing im Hofgarten feierten Absolventen/-innen, Studierende, das MCI-Team sowie Freunde und Partner des MCI bei Clubbing Sound und feinem Buffet bis in die Morgenstunden. {phocagallery view=categories|categoryid=730|imagecategoriessize=0}