"The pandemic offers an opportunity for companies"

Although the end of the pandemic is not yet in sight, Winterthur's companies are generally positive about the coming year - this was revealed by the results of this year's House of Winterthur company survey. This year, House of Winterthur was supported in the survey by a research team from the ZHAW School of Management and Law. Project manager Dr. Jennifer Sparr sorts out the results of the survey for us.

Dr. Sparr, how did the collaboration between the ZHAW and House of Winterthur come about and what attracted you to it?
Jennifer Sparr: The request to collaborate with House of Winterthur as part of the company survey came to us via a colleague from another area of the ZHAW. This speaks volumes for the collegial cooperation at our university in the interests of our partners and customers. What attracted us to the project was the opportunity to use scientific methods to contribute new insights into the attractiveness of Winterthur as a business location. We are delighted about the valuable collaboration with House of Winterthur, which was supported by Innosuisse with an innovation cheque .

What are the key conclusions you were able to draw from the results of the survey?
Jennifer Sparr: From the recurring part of the company survey, it can be concluded that - unsurprisingly - the pandemic is still clearly noticeable, but the majority of companies expect positive developments in the coming year and are working towards them.

Jennifer Sparr, together with a team from the ZHAW, provided scientific support for the company survey.

What do Winterthur companies see as the biggest challenges for the coming year?
Jennifer Sparr: The three biggest challenges that companies cited for the coming year were the pandemic situation, the shortage of skilled workers and the order situation. The shortage of skilled workers was mentioned more frequently than in the last survey, while the order situation was mentioned less frequently. This confirms the overall picture that companies are still struggling with the pandemic, but are positive about the future.

This year's company survey focused on the topic of "coopetition". What does this term mean?
Jennifer Sparr: The term "coopetition" is made up of the two words "cooperation" and "competition". By coopetition, we mean cooperation between competitors.

You investigated the question of whether measures to promote cooperation between competitors would make Winterthur more crisis-resistant as a business location. What answer did you receive to this question?
Jennifer Sparr: The survey confirmed that coopetition can be an exciting topic for location promotion. We also learned that this form of collaboration appears to be crisis-proof; there was little discernible impact of the pandemic on coopetition. In the supplementary interviews, we were able to gain an insight into interesting forms of coopetition between organizations in Winterthur. Some examples are emergency services in the medical field, or companies that help each other out with personnel or infrastructure, or also work together in the area of purchasing and logistics. These examples can serve as a model and inspiration for companies in Winterthur. A good third of the companies surveyed agreed that cooperation with competitors contributes to Winterthur's attractiveness as a business location.