Praxis für teamorientierte Arbeitsgestaltung GmbH

		In September 2002 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, PTA GmbH founded an international consulting network together with other European management consulting companies. Members of the network are characterized by their complementary competencies and a shared philosophy. The goal is to provide reciprocal support and additional value to clients. More information can be found here.

		"Where people and methods meet" is our cooperation motto with KAIZEN Institute Consulting Group Ltd. The KAIZEN Institute is an organization that operates worldwide and is focused on the implementation of improvement processes, just-in-time, total productive management and improved efficiencies in administrative areas. The company is active in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

		awtec stands for technology and innovation. It gives advice to companies on the entire innovation process – from the development of a vision all the way through to the marketable product. As part of our cooperation, technical innovation meets leadership-driven innovation. Psychological aspects play a role in partnership projects as do professional project management and excellent problem solving.

		Management Circle is a leading specialist in work-related training for managers in all relevant subject areas. More than 40,000 participants from well-known companies have taken part in Management Circle events over the years. And Management Circle and PTA have been working together for a long time as well, particularly in the areas of employee management and continuous improvement processes (KVP).

		Martine Wissmann (hrmove) is a human resources manager and an associate professor at a technical college with advanced training in the area of human resources management. She has worked closely with PTA for many years. Besides consulting and facilitating people as they work towards their personal development, she designed and established processes for small and medium sized businesses. Besides these professional qualifications, she brings a wealth of experience and her fluent French to the PTA partnership.

		Quo’s creative Change Management Program includes a high level of economic smarts combined with innovative thinking, behavioral methodologies, and high-value assessment instruments. Companies gain a formidable competitive advantage in change management processes through these programs. The Quo Group offers “creative change” in the areas of human resources selection, training and development and also offers executive coaching. The company has 40 employees to serve clients worldwide.

		Yan Xiong, who was born and raised in China, first visited Germany and the surrounding region as an awardee of a German Pedagogic Exchange Service (PAD) and returned in 1988 with a grant to study economics. After finishing the university, she worked as a product manager for Dr. Oetker, Schwarzkopf & Henkel and GlaxoSmithKline in Germany and China. With more than nine years of international management experience, Yan Xiong knows first-hand the specific difficulties related to market development in China as well as the intercultural challenges to German-Chinese cooperation. By founding China-Insights – Cross-Cultural Management Consulting, Yan Xiong has made it her job to support German companies and organizations with their China activities. She can advise on the development and opening of markets, she leads intercultural trainings and prepares German-speaking managers and employees for their work in and with China. She also offers process consultancy support in the form of team development workshops or consulting to German-Chinese teams. Yan Xiong is married to a German academic and feels very comfortable in Germany. “China is my home, but Germany is where I feel at home.” In her daily work as an intercultural consultant, Yan Xiong sees herself as a bridge builder between German and Chinese culture. With her work, she wants to bring both closer together and carry out a small contribution to the success of German-Chinese cooperation. “Many conflicts could be avoided if both partners understood the cultural differences which exist.”

		i2s is a spin-off company of ETH Zürich and was founded in 1999 to offer innovative and sustainable solutions to business software clients. The company’s motto is “from idea to solution” or i2s. It wasn’t long before the company was carrying out many interesting projects both at home and abroad. Even today, i2s has an impressive list of references. The i2s team is made up of 15 employees from various fields such as information management, business administration, psychology, education, sociology and communication sciences.

Prof. dr hab. inz. Tomasz Koch, University of Wroclaw, Polen		Tomasz Koch is a professor at the Wroclaw University of Technology’s Mechanical Engineering Faculty. He holds M.Sc. in applied mathematics from Wroclaw University of Technology and a D.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the University of Krakow in the area of robotics. He also has international experience from Brunel University in London, the University of Stuttgart and Central Connecticut State University in the USA. He currently leads a research team in the area of manufacturing and quality systems and also in the area of robotics and programming for the Center for Advanced Manufacturing Technologies within the Institute of Production Engineering and Automation at the Wroclaw University of Technology. His main research interests are centered on lean manufacturing, quality management and programming systems. He is also the director for post-graduate study courses in the area of quality management and leads training and consulting projects in quality management and lean manufacturing for companies.

		Carmen Kobe, Dr. oec. HSG, Dipl.-Phys., founded 2008 Kobe Consulting as a spinoff of the ETH Zürich (technical university of zuerich). Dr. Carmen Kobe heads the research group about innovation and creativity of the autonomous systems lab at the ETH Zürich. As part of the research group she developed and implemented instruments and methods to foster innovation in organisations.

		e2m services takes care of projects (time limited or recurring) in the area of personnel management (e.g. Personnel selection, implementing new HR processes, personnel administration) and organisation & administration (e.g. Organisation of events, design and formulation of flyers, design of communication).