Beat Röthlisberger is a member of the Executive Board of Röthlisberger Schreinerei AG and responsible for finance. He completed his double degree in business administration and economics in Perth, Australia in 2014. During his studies, he gained his first professional experience as a financial analyst at Credit Suisse in Switzerland and as a junior business analyst at a commodities group in Australia. After graduating, he worked for a consultancy specialising in the Australian resources sector. In 2016, he completed the Executive Master of Family Entrepreneurship course at Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen, Germany. During his studies, he worked as an advisor to the executive board in the family business and, as CFO, has been overseeing the business' finances since September 2017.
2023
Under the motto «Hidden Champions», three members of the management boards of traditional Swiss family businesses discussed the current challenges facing Swiss SMEs with moderator Urs Gredig.
It is an incredible gift that we can work here in Switzerland», Peter Jakob, CEO of Jakob Rope Systems with locations in Trubschachen and Saigon, Vietnam, emphasised right at the beginning of the panel. There is so much that is good here and so much complaining about the few bad things. Jakob mentioned the Corona pandemic as an example. While elsewhere numerous companies and individuals had lost everything, unemployment in Switzerland was already at a record low again shortly after the pandemic, Jakob expressed his gratitude.
The related shortage of skilled workers is again causing a lot of trouble for the Röthlisberger joinery in Gümligen, as CFO Beat Röthlisberger, a fourth-generation member of the management board, said. For the manufacturer of a premium furniture collection and provider of customised interior design, highly qualified craftsmen are essential. «It is a big challenge for us to keep and motivate people or even to attract new ones. »,
Meanwhile, Sandra Banholzer, CEO of the Kreuzlingen-based herbal shampoo manufacturer Rausch since 2021, is busy positioning Rausch's natural body care products even better. «With our products, we meet the zeitgeist perfectly; we have always produced sustainably. But that hasn't quite sunk in with the young public yet, » says the sales expert. Changing this is Banholzer's mission as the first CEO who is not from the family.
