Sonepar: Mr Mühlgassner, would you please tell us something about yourself?
Andreas Mühlgassner: Six months after completing my 4-year double major in technical mathematics and informatics I set up my own business. At the end of my studies, I went into business by starting up an IT company. Over the past 20 years, I have steadily deepened my expertise in the fields of management, customer and supplier relations.
Sonepar: As a highly-versed technical specialist to electrical wholesaling, what brought you to Sonepar and how do you see the future at Sonepar?
A.M.: Some of the areas in which I worked, e.g. industrial plant building, are partners and customers of the electrical wholesaling business, and therefore a market with which I am familiar. The key things for me are a good team organisation, the self-image of the company, and that all employees are thoroughly familiar with their areas of work. I found many of these strengths when I came to Sonepar. Together with my new team I will work to expand and strengthen the position of Sonepar in Austria.
Sonepar: Mr Mühlgassner, you aim to make Sonepar better known as a brand in Austria. How will you accomplish this?
A.M.: We will seek to establish our recognition value and uniqueness, the things that set us apart from our competitors. Sonepar stands for innovation and service. The greatest successes are always achieved when the self-image within the company is lived by its employees and transmitted to the market through their performance. In the next two to three years we will work together resolutely to bring our different regional images to a common denominator and work out the core values for which we stand.
Sonepar: How would you describe your style of management?
A.M.: All those who have worked with me in recent years know that I prefer a management style based on partnership. Openness and fairness are important to me. Everyone can and should play a part in decision-making processes. For me there is a phase of joint development work and a phase of implementation. Dialogue is important in order to get to the heart of things. And then follows the resolute implementation, where there should be no more discussion. One must possess the right amount of tact and instinct in order to act and respond appropriately and at the right moment.
