Diversity and leadership: key factors in sustained business success (PHOTO)

Zurich/London (ots) -

Two renowned executive search firms have merged with the declared
aim of reforming the market in their core executive and board search
fields

Jauch Associates AG and Schulthess Zimmermann AG, two
well-positioned executive search companies with Swiss roots, merged
on January 1st to become Schulthess Zimmermann & Jauch. The
combination gives the new advisory and executive search firm
additional strength, especially for its international activities and
ambitions, for which it already has well-established business
operations in Zurich, Munich, London and New York.

Like its constituent predecessors, the newly-merged company has
its core competencies in composing executive and supervisory boards.
The new company is led by three managing partners: Reto Jauch
(formerly of Jauch Associates AG), Robert Zimmermann and Matthias
Schulthess (both formerly of Schulthess Zimmermann AG). And its
ambitions extend well beyond the usual scope of such a corporate
merger: the three experienced partners and their team intend to
transform the consulting services in their business field.

Diversity and leadership: tomorrow's key success factors

Managing Partner Matthias Schulthess questions the suitability of
today's usual executive search approach for the challenges of
tomorrow. "Search specialists focus far too much on a profit-oriented
and transactional performance of their search mandates," he explains.
"And what is lost all too often in this approach is the explicit
search for the specific qualities that a candidate will need to
possess if they are to meet both the functional requirements and the
cultural demands of the top management position."

Schulthess also notes that clients are coming more and more to
seek genuine diversity and pronounced leadership skills in their
executive appointees. "This clear desire often comes directly from
the strategic bodies of the companies concerned," he explains. "And
boards of directors and executive boards are being increasingly
required to demonstrate and document both a sustainable business
approach and their full compliance with all applicable regulatory and
legal provisions."

Top independent board members increasingly hard to find

Mirroring the trends in the USA, Managing Partner Reto Jauch, who
has been independently active in the executive and board search field
since 2002 (via his previous company Jauch Associates AG), notes that
it has become increasingly difficult in Europe as well to find
suitable candidates for board of directors positions at
internationally active companies. "Conflicts of interest of the kind
we have seen time and again in the last few years are becoming a
major consideration in appointments of this kind," he observes. "The
corporate governance provisions in Switzerland and elsewhere in
Europe are applied quietly and discreetly, but increasingly in line
with the demands and expectations of major US investors. Finding
excellently qualified and truly independent board members will be a
prime focus of our new merged executive and board search company."

Switzerland still home base

Schulthess Zimmermann & Jauch have established their head office
at the previous domicile of Jauch Associates AG on Basteiplatz in
Zurich (Switzerland). The further operating locations that the firms
bring into the new merged business are in London, Munich and New
York.

"We will focus on continued quality growth," stresses Managing
Partner Robert Zimmermann, formerly of Schulthess Zimmermann AG. "We
are an efficient, agile and exclusive service provider with
international business networks that extend across industries. And we
are united in making our top quality standards and our prompt and
timely delivery to our regional and international clients our
paramount priorities."

Note to editors: The CVs of the three managing partners of
Schulthess Zimmermann & Jauch will be found on the company's
www.sz-j.com website.

Pressekontakt:
Schulthess Zimmermann & Jauch Matthias Schulthess, Managing Partner Basteiplatz 7 8001 Zurich / Switzerland

Phone: +41 44 289 8880
Email: info@sz-j.com
www.sz-j.com

Original-Content von: Schulthess Zimmermann & Jauch, übermittelt durch news aktuell