IHK Launches New Certificate Course to Strengthen SME Resilience Amid Growing Business Challenges

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany are grappling with a slew of challenges including cyberattacks, supply chain disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and the pressures of rising energy and infrastructure costs. These persistent risks have underscored the vital importance of organizational resilience for ensuring economic survival and competitiveness. Recognizing this critical need, the IHK Bodensee-Oberschwaben is launching a new certificate course titled “Organisational Resilience” starting in November.

This comprehensive training targets professionals from SMEs across diverse sectors, especially those involved in management, risk management, compliance, IT security, production, logistics, and supply chain management. According to Jürgen Schatz, head of the IHK’s training division, the course combines international standards with practical methodologies and best practices to equip participants with the skills to systematically identify risks, establish crisis management structures, and build customized resilience strategies. Delivered in a modular blended-learning format, the program enables participants to develop skills incrementally and apply them to create sustainable crisis resistance within their companies.

Tim Bartsch, a security and defense consultant at the IHK, highlighted the regional industrial environment’s relevance to the program, noting its strong connections to security and technology sectors. The goal is not only to qualify individuals but also to embed resilience as a fundamental business principle.

Parallel to resilience training efforts, a significant share of companies report strained business conditions—over one third rate their current situation as poor, with the trade sector particularly affected. High energy and raw material prices remain the greatest risks to economic development, leading many firms to invest only for replacement rather than expansion, and 30 percent of companies remain hesitant about adopting artificial intelligence technologies. These ongoing uncertainties further underline the necessity of proactive resilience training and strategic preparedness for German SMEs.

As Germany’s SMEs face increasing volatility, the new IHK course aims to provide them with the essential tools and knowledge required to navigate disruption and secure long-term viability in an ever-changing economic landscape.