Management errors are bankrupt: an alarming trend!

Management errors are bankrupt: an alarming trend!

In Austria, almost two thirds of corporate bankruptcies go back to mistakes in corporate management. According to an analysis of the KSV1870, exactly 63.8% of the company bankruptcies were due to operational and strategic errors and personal fault in 2024. This represents an increase in six percentage points compared to the previous year, which illustrates the high susceptibility of many companies in a challenging economic environment.

surgical causes led largely to bankruptcies and show an increase of 5.2 percentage points. Important problems that companies plague are fundamental weaknesses, liquidity problems and sales difficulties. It is worrying that 40% of the company bankruptcies are due to insufficiently dissolved tasks in the "Daily Business". Central weaknesses are sales problems, rising costs, lack of planning and inadequate controlling. Karl-Heinz Götze, head of the bankruptcy department of the KSV1870, highlights the high demands on top management in crisis times.

strategic wrong decisions

Strategic wrong decisions played a crucial role in 11.5% of cases, which also represents an increase of 1.9 percentage points compared to 2023. The most common cause of this lies in a lack of or late adaptation to the market conditions. Personal fault of the management remained almost constant at 10%, even if this was 11.1% in the previous year.

Foundation errors remain a serious risk: 20% of the bankruptcies are due to this. Important influencing factors are the lack of industry-specific know-how (10.5%), inadequate business knowledge and a lack of personal suitability and insufficient equity. The KSV1870 recorded that in 2024 around 6,600 companies registered bankruptcy, which indicates the difficulties that many companies are confronted with.

external influences and challenges

While external influences such as natural disasters, pandemics or wars in 2023 were still responsible for 11.2% of bankruptcies, they fell to 6.4% in the current year. The decline in the so -called "uncontrollable circumstances" indicates that many companies reach their limits despite these challenges and that internal factors play a greater role than before.

The insolvency statistics show that companies in Austria are under growing pressure and the development of effective strategies for coping with problem and risk adapting is essential for their continued existence. “Unlinkable circumstances” are therefore no longer the main cause; Instead, the focus is on the classic management errors that will be overcome in the next few years.

The complete analysis and other details can be found on Leadersnet , Kleine Zeitung and Kurier .