Rödl & Partner provides comprehensive audit, legal, tax, management and IT consulting services in 49 countries and a strategic partner for SMEs.
ELITE interview to:
Rita Santaniello, Partner
Paolo Peroni, Partner
Stefano Damagino, Associate Partner
What does “entrepreneurship” mean to you?
Entrepreneurship means above all innovative spirit, vision combined with concreteness. Rödl & Partner has been always standing by the entrepreneur's side, sharing his pioneering and pragmatic spirit and result-oriented approach, while respecting the values of ethics and social responsibility.
What are the values that distinguish Rödl & Partner in the SME approach?
There is a word that is typical of Rödl & Partner and that is distinctive: it is 'Kümmerer', which can only be translated into English with a periphrasis: the caring person. Acting as Kümmerer is what most characterizes us in our approach towards SMEs and means 'staying by the side' of the company, understanding its values and needs, relating to it as equals, in a relationship that is more like a partnership than the provision of a service.
What are the moments in which companies benefit most from your support (business changes, new product/service launches, ...)? And what are the most common resistance and difficulties you encounter?
Rödl & Partner has transversal and multidisciplinary skills that make us a strategic partner for SMEs. We are at the side of companies in the day-by-day management of business (in particular with our outsourced services, such as accounting, financial report, tax statements and payroll), in extraordinary operations (acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures) and in the change management towards new models of corporate governance as well, with particular expertise in sustainable development. Rödl & Partner proves to be the winning partner for SMEs also when a company goes global: thanks to our worldwide presence, with own offices all over the world, we are able to support the client in all phases of expansion abroad.
In approaching SMEs, we have often been noticing that they still have short-term vision that involves just one stakeholder: the customer. Our challenge is making them understand that only a medium-long term policy can guarantee sustainable growth over time. Pursuing immediate profit often exposes the company to risks that can sometimes endanger its own survival in an increasingly competitive global market.
Why is ELITE a distinctive network to be part of?
ELITE program is dedicated to the most ambitious companies, with a solid business model and a clear growth strategy. ELITE aims at spreading a greater managerial, financial and organizational culture, helping companies to increase visibility, productivity and efficiency.
In this ambitious context, it is extremely challenging for ELITE Partners such as Rödl & Partner to assist the companies in the program on the road to excellence and to conform to the continuous improvement process that underlies the ELITE philosophy.
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