Early Warning Signals (EWS) project, as first of its kind in Luxembourg, aims to show organisations how strategic “surprises” are detected today & provide access to best practices to cope with the challenges ahead.
In today’s markets, the frequency of changes and the corresponding impacts on companies are constantly increasing. Thus, a reactive mode is no longer appropriate [...]
Support Executives
We support executives to identify market opportunities and risks
in advance
Support Companies
We support companies to achieve sustainable growth in highly competitive markets
Scientific knowledge
We develop applied scientific knowhow suitable for supporting corporate decision-makers
Competitive Advantage
We create a competitive advantage for companies in order to stay ahead of their competitors
In today’s markets, the frequency of changes and the corresponding impacts on companies are constantly increasing. Thus, a reactive mode is no longer appropriate. However, discontinuities do not emerge without warnings: weak signals can be used to anticipate opportunities, risks, or threats. This is why companies need to have structures, processes, procedures, and competencies in place to recognise, collect and use these weak signals.
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Launch of the Project
Research Phase
Final Findings
Business Application
The aim of our questionnaire was to investigate whether and how you are using Early Warning Signals (EWS) in your company/organization. All the data and insights have been collected into a white book about the best practices in dealing with Early Warning Signals (EWS). Discover below the summary of our findings.
The first phase of the EWS research project took place in the last quarter of 2021 and consisted in a series of interviews with leaders of Luxembourg renowned organisations. During these conversations, the team could see a first outline of the project.
Business managers had the opportunity to learn more about the final results of the EWS survey and to benefit from a wealth of advice on managing Early Warning Signals.
Today like never before, markets, technologies, society, and trends change at a rapid pace and with pivotal moments that define discontinuities or strategic “surprises”.
During the virtual event on February 22nd, 2022 at 5 PM, the EWS team presented the project to the public and reveal the initial results from the interviews conducted with the participating companies during the past few months.
Luxembourg School of Business and MindForest worked together with leading companies in the Grand-Duchy to develop a set of best practices for detecting and using weak signals to prepare in due time for any change ahead.
MindForest and Luxembourg School of Business have decided to partner together and work on developing guidelines to help companies understand the need to sense, seize and reconfigure early warning signals (EWS) as a part of their daily business.
The EWS project team is composed of leaders, researchers, consultants and faculty members from the consulting company MindForest and Luxembourg School of Business.
Jane BARTON
Prof. Dr. Dino DOGAN
Nico HOFFELD
Ivan D. DOGAN
Marion MALCHAIR
Prof. Dr. David W. VERSAILLES
Prof. Dr. Borna JALSENJAK
Prof. Dr. Goran OBLAKOVIC
If you would like to learn more about the research project and/or the use of early warning signals for your business...
Nico Hoffeld
As a managing partner at MindForest since July 2002, Nico is in charge of client and stakeholder communications whilst also bearing joint responsibility for the company’s business development. Nico has considerable experience in the field of project support and is specializes in internal communication audits. Before joining MindForest, he was co-founder with a group of national and international participants of “Venture & Capital Management” (VCM), a venture capital company active in the field of new technologies and life science. From 1995 to 2000 Nico was in charge of MbS a communication consulting agency that was the market leader in the ’90s. As a winner of innumerable international awards, MbS was one of the most reputable consulting agencies in the whole Saar-Lor-Lux area. Nico graduated in human science.
Managing Partner at MindForest
Ivan David Dogan, BA
Ivan David Dogan is a graduate student of philosophy at Zagreb University where he currently works as a student assistant at the Zagreb School of Economics and Business. He also translates books, hosts a podcast show, and is currently co-authoring a book on the metaverse.
Dr. Dino Dogan
Dr. Dino Dogan is an experienced executive and a professor of Management at the Luxembourg School of Business. He has extensive experience in the telecommunications and media sectors.
Dino has worked 10 years with Alcatel in their German subsidiary and in their Paris headquarters. In the Telekom Austria Group, he acted as the CFO of their Croatian subsidiary and as CFO of Mobilkom Austria, overseeing and implementing the merger with Telekom Austria to create Austria’s largest telecommunications operator – A1 Telekom Austria. For the successful integration, he was awarded the European Change Communication Award. Dino has also served as the CFO of Croatian Telekom (a member of Deutsche Telekom Group), CEO of the Croatian subsidiary of JCDecaux, and has worked as a senior advisor at the Boston Consulting Group.
Dino currently runs his own Business consulting and Design management company.
For years he was a visiting professor at the University of Stuttgart, Berufsakademie Stuttgart, University of Zagreb, and the Zagreb School of Economics and Management.
Dino received his MBA and Ph.D. from the University of Stuttgart.
Experienced Executive and a Professor of Management at the Luxembourg School of Business
Jane Barton
Jane Barton is a Management assistant at MindForest and Chairman of the Luxembourg branch of the International Management Assistants Association (IMA).
Jane has been working for MindForest since 2008, where she provides management support as well as leads the internal CSR committee and knowledge management team. On the EWS project, Jane coordinates and liaises with the different stakeholders.
Management assistant at MindForest and Chairman of the Luxembourg branch of the International Management Assistants Association (IMA)
Dr. Borna Jalsenjak
Dr. Borna Jalsenjak is a professor and Vice Dean for Research and Faculty Development at the Luxembourg School of Business in Luxembourg. He also serves as an invited faculty member at St. Ambrose University in the United States, at Zagreb School of Economics and Management, and at the Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Studies, the University of Zagreb in Croatia. He is teaching courses on leadership, business ethics, critical thinking, and philosophy. His research interests are in business ethics and CSR and the cross-section between leadership and philosophy. Besides teaching and research, he dedicates his time to coaching.
Dr. Jalsenjak has a master’s degree in philosophy and religious studies from the Faculty of Philosophy of the Society of Jesus in Croatia and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Zagreb. In addition, he has taken professional development programs at IESE Business School in Spain and has finished the ICF-certified coach training at Erickson Coaching International in Canada.
Professor of Business Ethics and Vice Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Luxembourg School of Business
Marion Malchair
Marion is an expert in conflict, cooperation, and interculturality. After obtaining a Master's degree in International Business Law specializing in amicable dispute resolution (University of Lorraine), she began her career in 2013 on the African continent. From Cameroon to Morocco, Marion has been working as a lawyer on international investment and development projects; then as a commercial and investment mediator since 2015.
As investment disputes continue to multiply, Marion decided to contribute to the subject by completing a Ph.D. on the design of dispute resolution systems at the University of Lorraine (France). Her work was published by the World Bank and contributed to the reform of the investment dispute resolution system piloted by a United Nations agency (UNCITRAL), of which she is a member of the committee of mediation experts. She also teaches risk management and foreign markets, intercultural conflict resolution, and interest-based negotiation (ICN Business School, ENSMM, University of Lorraine Law School, IUT Nancy Charlemagne). She also worked as a design researcher in a service design agency in Luxembourg (Art Square lab). Marion is also certified in UX Design by Laptop in Paris.
Senior consultant at MindForest and PhD candidate at University of Lorraine.
Dr. Goran Oblaković
Dr. Goran Oblakovic, Associate Professor in Management and Strategy at Luxembourg School of Business teaches a variety of management courses at undergraduate, MBA, and executive levels. He serves as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and the Program Director of the Executive MBA graduate program at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management. Dr. Oblakovic completed his Ph.D. in management at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, with research focused on risk management in banks. He completed his master's studies in strategic finance (MSSF) and business administration (MBA) at Indiana University, USA, where he also completed a bachelor's degree in business administration (BS). His areas of scientific and research interest include risk, strategic, operations management: human-computer interaction, banking, and entrepreneurship. Dr. Oblakovic has extensive international experience working in logistics and consulting and has worked for corporations such as FedEx, Target, and the United Nations, Indiana University, and a couple of startups. Through seminars and consulting projects in Croatia, surrounding areas, and Luxembourg he continues working in the industry for many well-known companies: Cargolux, Ericsson, Kaufland, Sparkasse, Grawe, Novomatic, Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development, etc.
An Associate Professor in Management and Strategy at Luxembourg School of Business and an Associate Dean at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management
Prof Dr David W. Versailles
Prof. Dr. David W. Versailles is currently an Ord. Professor of strategic management and Research director at Luxembourg School of Business, and an Ord. Professor at Paris School of Business in Paris where he co-heads the newPIC chair (“new Practices for Innovation and Creativity”) with Prof. Dr. Valerie Mérindol. He holds a Doctorate and the Habilitation to supervise research in economics (respectively earned from University Aix-Marseille 3 and University of Nice). David is a Founding Partner in ISK Consulting SA (established in Luxembourg in 2017), and the managing director of this company. He develops a twin career as academic and consultant, with a specialization in strategic management, the management of innovation, the management of complex systems, and the methodology of social sciences.
David was first the chief scientist for the Directorate for Financial affairs in the French Ministry of Defense and for the Conseil économique de la Défense (reporting to the Minister of Defense). David was then the founding director of the multidisciplinary Research centre of the French Air Force, where he installed and supervised basic research activities (6.1 to 6.3), reporting to the Vice-chief of the French Air Force (GMG). In this period, David also served as the first Dean for research in the French Air Force Academy. After leaving the French Defense at the end of 2008, David developed a portfolio of activities in business strategy and in business modeling for consulting companies where he was also a partner: the Brussels-based Open Solutions SA/NV, and the Luxembourg-based Obizco Sàrl.
David is currently the program officer for the Strategic interest group (SIG) on Innovation at the European Academy of Management (EURAM), and one of the organizers of the standing track on Digital innovation at EURAM annual conference. David is the author of 30+ articles in scientific journals and in edited books, 2 book and guest editorships in internationally recognized academic journals (Revue d’économie industrielle, Economie et institutions, Management international). Forthcoming in Spring 2022: a special issue guest-edited for the International Journal of Innovation Management, and a book guest edited for Routledge). David contributes to peer-review processes for numerous journals in management, economics, and the methodology of the social sciences. He is regularly invited to sit in expert committees for European institutions (EDA, ESA, EP, etc.) on foresight and innovation in the Defense and aviation sectors. He also regularly delivers keynotes in international conferences in Europe and in China on the management of innovation.
Ord. Professor of Strategic Management and a Research Director at Luxembourg School of Business
MindForest is a Luxembourg-based consulting and training company that has been assisting management teams and managers for more than twenty years in all types of projects related to change (culture, modernisation, restructuring, etc.).
Luxembourg School of Business is an international graduate business school focused on delivering high-quality management education offering a part-time MBA, a full-time Master in Management, as well as specialized courses and tailor-made training.