The 16th Annual International Business Awards®, the world's top honors for achievement in the workplace, will be presented this Saturday, October 19 at the Andaz Vienna am Belvedere Hotel in Vienna, Austria.  More than 450 executives from organizations in more than 30 nations will attend to celebrate the presentation of the 2019 Stevie® Awards.

More than 4,000 nominations were submitted to the 2019 IBAs by organizations in more than 70 nations.  The nominations were reviewed and rated by more than 200 professionals worldwide on 12 juries.  Their average scores determined the winners of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevies.

Entries for the 2020 edition of the IBAs will open in February.

Here is the list of organizations that will be represented at Saturday's IBA gala in Vienna.

4C1H of Employee Experience, Istanbul, Turkey
A Data Pro, Sofia, Bulgaria
A1 Hrvatska, Zagreb, Croatia
ACTO, Toronto, ON, Canada
Aksigorta, Istanbul, Turkey
Aktif Bank, Istanbul, Turkey
Al Jazeera Media Network, Doha, Qatar
ALFEMO FURNITURE, Izmir, Turkey
Alternatif Bank, Istanbul, Turkey
Amanda Fisher - The Cash Flow Queen, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Amway, Ada, MI, USA
Anexa, Mexico City, Mexico
Angkas, Manila, Philippines
ARIIX, Bountiful, UT, USA
Arts Council Korea, Seoul, South Korea
Arvato CRM Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
ASDA'A BCW, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
ATREVIA, Madrid, Spain
AvivaSA / ATOS, Istanbul, Turkey
AXA Sigorta, Istanbul, Turkey
Ayala Corporation, Manila, Philippines
Bahrain National Gas Company, Riffa, Bahrain
Bahwan Cybertek, Chennai, India
Bej Events, Istanbul, Turkey
Better2Know, Lancaster, United Kingdom
Bilkom, Istanbul, Turkey
Binary Digital Advertising Inc., Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines
Bizim Toptan, Istanbul, Turkey
Blacklane, Berlin, Germany
BlueJeans-Networks San Jose, CA, USA
Borusan Holding, Istanbul, Turkey
Brains For Rent, Mexico City, Mexico
Central de Informação / Vodafone, Oporto, Portugal
Ceyhinz Link International Inc, Irving, TX, USA
Chongqing IFS/Chengu IFS, Shanghai, China
Chubb, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Cisco Systems Inc, San Jose, CA, USA
Cisco Systems, Bangalore, India
Dani Communications, South, South Korea
davero dialog GmbH, Erlangen, Germany
David Tye Brand & Marketing Communications, Bristol, United Kingdom
Dell Technologies - APJC ICSS, Bangalore, India
Dell Technologies Ltd., Bangalore, India
Deutsche Telekom Services Europe GmbH, Cologne, Germany
DHL Express, Muttenz, Switzerland
DIGITALLICA, Istanbul, Turkey
Diligent Corporation, New York, NY, USA
DP World Yarimca, Turkey
Dubai Economy, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai Health Authority / Dubai Thalassemia Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
ECi Software Solutions, Fort Worth, TX, USA
Egyptian Cement, Cairo, Egypt
Elita Gida, Adana, Turkey
Empire Eagle Food Co., Ltd., Taichung, Taiwan
Events DC, Washington, DC, USA
FedEx Express, Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Fortinet, Sunnyvale, CA, USA
Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited, Pune, India
Garanti BBVA Bank, Istanbul, Turkey
GBKSOFT, Kiev, Ukraine
GHESA Water & Art, Madrid, Spain
Glass of Learning, Toronto, ON, Canada
Global PEO Services (GPS), San Jose, CA, USA
Globe Telecom, Taguig City, Philippines
GSK, Istanbul, Turkey
HANAROADCOM w/ Kosha, Seoul, South Korea
HELLENIC PETROLEUM SA, Athens, Greece
HeyMo® The Experience Design Company, Istanbul, Turkey
IBM, Armonk, NY, USA
IDO, Istanbul, Turkey
ING Bank, Istanbul, Turkey
Involvement Packaging Ltd, Manchester, United Kingdom
Isbank, Istanbul, Turkey
Jasmine Norris Photography, Lafayette, IN, USA
Kannaway, San Diego, CA, USA
KC Inner Bella Cosmetics, Seoul, South Korea
KCDC, Seoul, South Korea
KCI, San Antonio, TX, USA
KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Company (KNF), Seoul, South Korea
Kira Systems, Toronto, ON, Canada
KÖNIGSKLASSE, München, Bayern, Germany
KT KBN, Seoul, South Korea
LAW Creative, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Life Insurance Philanthropy Foundation/KPR, Seoul, South Korea
LifeVantage Corporation, Sandy, UT, USA
Limage Media Group, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Link4Media UG, Urbar, Germany
LLORENTE & CUENCA, Madrid, Spain
Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, MD, USA
Lora DiCarlo, Portland, OR, USA
Lotte Corporation, Seoul, South Korea
Maan Program, Ministry of Interior, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
Manatee Holdings, Courtenay, BC, Canada
MARCO de Comunicación, Madrid, Spain
MarketsandMarkets, Pune, India
Mastercard, EMEA
Maynilad Water Services, Inc., Quezon City, Philippines
Megaworld Corporation, Taguig City, Philippines
Meli Studio Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
MERALCO, Pasig, Philippines
Mercedes Benz Türk, Istanbul, Turkey
Microhealth, LLC, Vienna, VA, USA
Migros Ticaret A.S., Istanbul, Turkey
Ministry Of Infrastructure Development, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Ministry Of State For Federal National Council Affairs, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
mobile.de GmbH, Europarc-Dreilinden, Germany
Modis, Sofia, Bulgaria
MorrisCookies Science & Development OÜ, Kuusalu vald, Estonia
Mosaicoelearning, Ragusa, Italia
Mphasis Communications, New York, NY, USA
NIIMASH Ltd, Smolensk, Russia
NJMPF, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
NMC Healthcare, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Notice Media, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Oncuemedia, Inc., Pasig City, Philippines
Pan American Energy, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Paradigm Design Group, Houston, TX, USA
Pasaz Tesco Company, Warsaw, Poland
passcon GmbH, Hamburg, Germany
Pegasus Airlines, Istanbul, Turkey
PRecious Communications, Singapore
PT ANGKASA PURA II (PERSERO), Jakarta, Indonesia
PT Pembangkitan Jawa - Bali (PJB), Surabaya, Indonesia
PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) Tbk, Jakarta, Indonesia
PT Petrokimia Gresik, Gresik, Indonesia
PT PGN LNG, Jakarta, Indonesia
PT PGN Permata, Jakarta, Indonesia
PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur, Bontang Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia
Qulix Systems, Minsk, Belarus
Resolute Forest Products, Montreal, QC, Canada
RICO'S LECHON, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines
RTB House, Warsaw, Poland
Sanoma Media Netherlands B.V., Hoofddorp, Netherlands
SBI Card and Payments Services Private Limited, Mumbai, India
SeaLand Americas- A Maersk Company, Miramar, FL, USA
Sharjah Finance Department, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
SHELL Philippines - GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications Inc, Metro Manila, Philippines
Sleepm Global Inc., Markham, ON, Canada
SM SUPERMALLS/SM PRIME HOLDINGS INC., Makati City, Philippines
Smart Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
SolarWinds, Cork, Ireland
Solv by Concentrix, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Soohyun, Seoul, South Korea
Strategic Public Relations Group, Hong Kong
Super Star Group (SSG), Dhaka, Bangladesh
Swiss Post Solutions Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City
Switching-Time, Shanghai, China
Synchrotron Light Research Institute, Nakhonratchasima, Thailand
Taiwan External Trade Development Council, Taipei, Taiwan
TANAP Natural Gas Transmission Company, Ankara, Turkey
Tele2, Vilnius, Lithuania
Tesco Poland, Warsaw, Poland
Testa Communications, Warsaw, Poland
TH Food Chain Join Stock Company, Nghe An, Vietnam
Thai Life Insurance Plc., Bangkok, Thailand
The H Creative for The-H, BGFRetail, KoROAD , Gyeonggi Urban, Goyang City, South Korea
The Zone Creative, Seoul, South Korea
Total Oil Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Turkish Aerospace, Ankara, Turkey
Ulled Asociados C.R.P. S.A, Barcelona, Spain
Umbrella IT, Taganrog, Russia
Valor Global, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Viettel Group, Hanoi, Vietnam
Viettel Post Join Stock Corporation, Hanoi, Vietnam
VNPT VinaPhone Corporation, Hanoi, Vietnam
WNS Holdings (P) Ltd., Mumbai, India
XtremeLabs LLC, Redmond, WA, USA
ZEEP Medical, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Ziraat Participation Bank, Istanbul, Turkey
ZOOM International, Franklin, TN, USA

Awards to be Presented at Gala Ceremony on 19 October in Vienna, Austria.

Winners were announced today in the 2019 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies, a feature of The International Business Awards®, the world’s only international, all-encompassing business awards program, which is now in its 16th year.

The worldwide public vote was conducted this summer, with the highest number of votes deciding the winners in a variety of industries. More than 44,000 votes were cast. All Stevie Award winners in the Company of the Year categories of this year’s International Business Awards were eligible to be included in voting for the People’s Choice Stevie Awards.

The crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards will be presented to winners at The International Business Awards banquet on Saturday, 19 October at the Andaz Vienna am Belvedere Hotel. Tickets for the event are now on sale. The winners of peer-adjudicated Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards will be presented with their awards along with the People’s Choice Stevie Awards. Stevie winners were selected from more than 4,000 nominations received from organizations and individuals in 74 nations.

The winners of the 2019 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies are:

• Advertising/Marketing/PR: Publicity Genie
• Automotive/Transport: Armormax
• Banking: Ziraat Participation Bank
• Business/Professional Services: Pontica Solutions
• Computer Services: Rimini Street
• Computer Software: XtremeLabs LLC
• Consumer Products: Georgio’s
• Consumer Services: Jasmine Norris Photography
• Financial/Insurance: Thai Life Insurance Plc.
• Food/Beverage: Rico’s Lechon
• Health/Pharma: NMC Healthcare
• Hospitality/Leisure: Kindersley Hospitality Endeavors
• Internet/New Media: SideChef
• Legal: Legally Shalini
• Manufacturing: Makers Nutrition
• Media/Entertainment: Link4Media UG
• Non-Profit/Government: Megaworld Foundation, Inc.
• Other: Zen Ecosystems
• Real Estate: Ashby & Graff Real Estate
• Retail: Migros Ticaret A.S.
• Transportation: Whale Logistics

Interested in winning a Stevie Award in 2020?

Grand Stevie Award winners will be presented with trophies at the Andaz Vienna am Belvedere Hotel, on 19 October.

The Stevie® Awards have announced the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards in The 2019 (16th Annual) International Business Awards®, the world’s premier business awards competition.

Nominees in the 2019 IBAs were not able to apply for the Best of the IBA Awards directly. Winners were determined by a points system based on the total number of awards won in the IBAs with a Gold Stevie win counting for three points, a Silver Stevie win for two points, and a Bronze Stevie win for 1.5 points.

This year’s Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners in The International Business Awards were announced on 14 August. The winners of the Best of the IBA Awards will be presented with Grand Stevie Award trophies at The 16th Annual International Business Awards banquet at the Andaz Vienna am Belvedere Hotel in Vienna, Austria on 19 October.

Winners of the 2019 Grand Stevie Awards are:

Most Honored Organization: International mail and logistics company DP DHL Group, with 86.5 award points earned by Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie-winning entries submitted by their offices and affiliates in 32 countries. This is the 11^th Grand Stevie Award won by DP DHL Group in one of the Stevie Award competitions since 2014.

Most Honored Public Relations Agency: LLYC, with a total of 69.5 award points earned by Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie-winning entries submitted on behalf of clients like BBVA, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks. The Madrid-headquartered global communications and public affairs consulting firm won a Top 10 Grand Stevie Award in 2018.

Most Honored Awards Consulting Agency: Melissa Sones Consulting, with a total of 36.5 points earned by Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie-winning entries submitted on behalf of numerous innovative clients in fields from consumer products, technology and filling board-level positions to best research paper and business book. The consulting agency is based out of New York, NY.

Most Honored Marketing Agency: Switching-Time, with a total of 20 points earned by Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie-winning entries submitted mostly on behalf of outdoor brand Columbia. The agency is based in Shanghai, China.

Most Honored Interactive Services Agency: The XD Agency, with 20.5 points earned by Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie-winning entries submitted on behalf of clients such as Porsche and Red Bull.  The Atlanta, Georgia USA-based strategic communications agency is hyper-focused on experience design. The agency also won the Grand Stevie for most honored interactive services agency in The 2019 American Business Awards®.

Top 10: These are the top Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners among all other organizations honored in the 2019 IBAs. They’ll also be presented with Grand Stevie Award trophies.

1. MSL, worldwide (66.5 points)
2. IBM, worldwide (65)
3. ASDA’A BCW, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (59.5)
4. The Audacious Agency, Coombabah, QLD Australia (37)
5. PT Petrokimia Gresik, Gresik, Indonesia (35.5
6. (tie) Dell Technologies, worldwide (30)
Ooredoo, worldwide (30)
8. Dan Lok Education Inc., Vancouver, BC, Canada (29)
9. (tie) Jeunesse Global, Lake Mary, FL, USA (24.5)
Thai Life Insurance Plc., Bangkok, Thailand (24.5)

“Of all the outstanding organizations and achievements that were recognized among this year’s record-breaking number of IBA nominations, these 15 organizations stand out as the ones with the widest breadth of achievement,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. “The Best of the IBA Awards are intended to honor organizations that show an especially strong dedication to honoring the work of their employees, commitment to their clients, and a sense of innovation, and we look forward to celebrating these firms with Grand Stevie Award trophies at our gala event in Vienna on 19 October.”

The International Business Awards feature a wide variety of categories to recognize achievement in every facet of work life, including management awards, new product awards, marketing awards, PR awards, customer service awards, website awards, and more.
Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award placements in the 2019 IBAs were determined by the average scores of more than 250 professionals worldwide in the three-month judging process.

For more information about The International Business Awards, including a complete list of all Stevie Award winners in the 2019 competition, visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

Interested in winning a Stevie Award in 2020?

Like everyone concerned about equitable compensation in her home country, businesswoman Henrike von Platen eagerly awaited the first German Equal Pay Day in 2008. In some ways, the event—now held annually—delivered on its outsized expectations.

“The campaign ensured a great deal of attention was focused on the difference in income between women and men in Germany,” she says. “It wasn’t long before the causes of the pay gap had been well researched.”

Soon, however, that sense of optimism turned to frustration.

“Despite all the talk, almost nothing happened,” says von Platen. “In the meantime, the pay gap of 21 percent has narrowed by just two percentage points since then—far too slowly.”

Given that lack of tangible results, the finance and IT executive launched the Fair Pay Innovation Lab, or FPI, in 2017. Its goal: to assist companies and organizations in the practical implementation of pay equity, to create a space for dialogue, and to provide suggestions for the labor market.

Though FPI is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, the disparity in pay among the sexes is very much an international issue, especially in the West. Throughout the European Union, women make 16 percent less than men, and in the United States, women take in 15 percent less than their male peers, according to the Pew Research Center.

Von Platen insists there’s widespread consensus to even the economic scales. She points to the Berlin Declaration, signed in 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of the European Economic Community, as an example. The landmark document called for equality on pay slips, and it received widespread support in politics and in the private sector.

“Everyone wants pay equity,” says von Platen, who serves as the chief executive of FPI. “At the present pace, though, it will take a long, long time to reach that point—around 170 years.”

Developing Sustainable Policies

In order to reach the goal faster, the FPI Fair Pay Innovation Lab has offered companies concrete solutions about how to make salaries more equitable since 2017. Every day, it helps clients figure out how to develop sustainable compensation policies and to prepare for laws dealing with salary transparency.

“Despite many firms having had very good experiences with open salary structures, transparency still represents a daring venture for most people,” says von Platen, whose organization earned a Bronze Stevie® Award last year for Organization of the Year in the government and nonprofit category. “Among employees, too, the subject of salary is often a bigger taboo than sexual orientation.”

In addition to implementing best practices in the field, FPI also hosts “fair pay management circles” that encourage leaders to exchange ideas in a private, invitation-only setting.

“We invite experts and decision makers from the fields of industry and commerce, science, and politics to share their views in order to trigger new debates, including controversial ones.”

The organization isn’t just in the business of preaching pay equity, however; it’s also quite literally a laboratory for the ideas it champions. In order to provide a work-life balance, its employees all work from different places and have leeway to create their own schedules. Full-time positions at FPI are only 32 hours per week, so half-time work is 16 hours per week, and 40 hours per week would be a 125 percent post.

Plus, FPI provides employees with one of the tools it offers to clients: a wage calculator where staffers can look up the salary for virtually any job in the organization, even before applying. To determine the pay scale, FPI relies on an objective set of criteria, including relevant professional experience, project experience, and how much responsibility the person takes on.

“We advocate for openness, transparency, and fairness,” says von Platen. “We strive for these values in our own organization and personally test every instrument we promote.”

While closing the pay gap is an uphill battle, the CEO insists it’s one worth fighting.

“Fair pay is imperative to ensuring gender equality,” she says. “Without solving the money question, gender equality will not be reached.”

FPI Fair Pay Innovation Lab is a Bronze Stevie Award winner for Organization of the Year - Non-Profit in the 2018 Stevie Awards for Women in Business. 

Interested in winning a Stevie Award for Women in Business?

Business Awards Program to Celebrate Excellence Worldwide at Vienna Event

High-achieving organizations and executives around the world have been recognized as Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie® Award winners in The 16th Annual International Business Awards®, the world's only international, all-encompassing business awards program.

Nicknamed the Stevies from the Greek word for "crowned," the awards will be presented at a gala event on Saturday, 19 October at the Andaz Vienna am Belvedere Hotel in Vienna, Austria. Tickets for the event are on sale now at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners were selected from more than 4,000 nominations received from organizations and individuals in 74 nations. All organizations worldwide are eligible to compete in The International Business Awards, and can submit entries in a wide range of categories, including management awards, company of the year awards, marketing awards, public relations awards, customer service awards, human resources awards, new product awards, IT awards, web site awards, and more. 

More than 250 executives worldwide participated on 12 juries this year to determine the Stevie winners.

LLYC, a global communications and public affairs consulting firm headquartered in Madrid, Spain won 17 Gold Stevie Awards, more than any organization has ever won in a single edition of the IBAs.

Among the other top winners of Gold Stevie Awards are MSLGROUP, USA with 10; IBM, USA (nine), ASDA’A BCW, United Arab Emirates (seven); Ooredoo, Qatar (six); Thai Life Insurance Plc., Thailand (six), Dan Lok Education, Canada (five); Jeunesse Global, USA (five), PT Petrokimia Gresik, Indonesia (five); The Audacious Agency, Australia (four), Makers Nutrition, USA (four), The XD Agency, USA (four), and Zeep Medical, Australia (four).

Deutsche Post DHL, with nominations submitted by affiliates worldwide, won eight Gold Stevies and 45 Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevies in total.

Other organizations with eight or more Stevie wins include Dell Technologies Ltd., worldwide; KocSistem Bilgi ve Iletisim Hizm. A.S., Turkey; PJ Lhuillier, Inc (PJLI), Philippines; SM Supermalls, Philippines; Strategic Public Relations Group, China; Switching-Time, China; Ulled Asociados C.R.P. S.A., Spain; Viettel Group, Vietnam; WNS Holdings (P) Ltd., India; and Yapi Kredi Bank, Turkey. The five nations that have the most winning nominations are the United States, Turkey, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines.

A complete list of all 2019 Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners by category is available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

During the week of 19 August the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards, five best-of-competition prizes, will be announced.  Winners will be determined by a tally of the total number of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevies won by organizations, and will be presented with Grand Stevie Award trophies in Vienna.

For high-resolution photos of the Stevie Award trophy or International Business Awards logo, visit http://stevieawards.com/iba/photos-and-logos. Other information and resources for press are available at http://stevieawards.com/iba/media-inquiries-news-service-list

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of The International Business Awards®, has announced that the final entry deadline in the 2019 competition is extended to July 18. The original final entry deadline was June 12. Recognized as the world’s premier business awards program, The IBAs attract nominations from organizations in more than 70 nations and territories each year.

All individuals and organizations worldwide -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to The International Business Awards. The 2019 awards will honor achievements since the beginning of 2018.  Entry details are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Juries featuring more than 250 executives will determine the Stevie Award winners. Results will be announced August 13. Stevie Award winners will be presented their awards at a gala banquet in Vienna, Austria on October 19.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Categories including, Management Awards, Company of the Year Awards, Customer Service Awards, Entrepreneur Awards, PR Awards, Web Awards, and many more.

There are many new and revised features of the IBAs for 2019:

• A variety of new categories, including the IT categories Best Technical Support Strategy and Implementation and Best Technical Support Solution. In categories for business-related media, there are many new Live Event, Publication, and Video categories.
• Entry fees have been eliminated for nominations to the Company of the Year categories. Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners in these 35 by-industry categories will again be included in the worldwide public vote called the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies.
• In the Marketing, New Product & Service, and Public Relations categories, nominees may now submit a video of up to five minutes in length, instead of the traditional written Stevie Awards essay or case study.

The Stevie® Awards has opened entries for The 16th Annual International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition, which attracts nominations from organizations in more than 70 nations and territories each year.

All individuals and organizations worldwide—public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small—may submit nominations to The International Business Awards. The early-bird entry deadline, with reduced entry fees, is 10 April. The final entry deadline is 8 May, but late entries will be accepted through 12 June with payment of a late fee. Entry details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

Juries featuring more than 150 executives will determine the Stevie Award winners. The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced pm 13 August. Stevie Award winners will be presented their awards at a gala banquet in Vienna, Austria on 19 October.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Categories include:

• Management Awards 
• Entrepreneur of the Year Awards
• Company of the Year Awards
• Customer Service Awards 
• Human Resources Awards 
• Information Technology Awards
• Marketing Awards 
• New Product Awards 
• Public Relations Awards 
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

There are many new and revised features of the IBAs for 2019:

• A variety of new categories, including the IT categories Best Technical Support Strategy and Implementation and Best Technical Support Solution. In categories for business-related media, there are many new Live Event, Publication, and Video categories.
• Entry fees have been eliminated for nominations to the Company of the Year categories. Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners in these these 35 by-industry categories will again be included in the worldwide public vote called the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies.
• In the Marketing, New Product & Service, and Public Relations categories, nominees may now submit a video of up to five minutes in length, instead of the traditional written Stevie Awards essay or case study.

Stevie Award winners in the 2018 IBAs included DHL Express (worldwide), Dubai Health Authority (United Arab Emirates), GXEVER (China), iFinance Canada, Kia Motors Corporation (South Korea), LLORENTE & CUENCA (Spain), Megaworld Foundation (Philippines), NBCUniversal (USA), Net World Sports (Wales), Shinhan Bank (South Korea), Telkom Indonesia, and many more.

• Bewerbung per Video
• Keine Teilnahmegebühren für die Company of the Year Kategorien 
• Viele neue Kategorien
• Festliche Preisverleihung in Wien in brandneuem Hotel
  

Es ist wieder soweit. Die Stevie^® Awards loben die diesjährigen International Business Awards^® aus. Unternehmen und Einzelpersonen aus der ganzen Welt können sich jetzt wieder mit ihren geschäftlichen Leistungen aus allen Bereichen der Arbeitswelt bewerben. Prämiert werden Leistungen, die seit dem 1. Januar 2018 erbracht wurden. 

Frühentschlossene Teilnehmer profitieren dabei von reduzierten Teilnahmegebühren. Wer seine Bewerbung bis zum 10. April einreicht, spart dabei bares Geld. Die Teilnahmefrist zu den regulären Konditionen läuft bis zum 8. Mai. Und wer ein bisschen mehr Zeit braucht, der darf mit der Zahlung einer Nachgebühr seine Unterlagen auch noch bis zum 12. Juni einreichen. 

Für dieses Jahr haben die Organisatoren einige spannenden Neuerungen eingeführt.

Bewerbung per Video
In den Kategorien Company of the Year Awards, Marketing, Neue Produkte & Dienstleistungen sowie in den PR-Awards dürfen die Teilnehmer jetzt ein Video mit einer Länge von bis zu fünf Minuten, anstelle des traditionell verfassten Stevie Awards-Essays oder der Fallstudie, einreichen. 

„Gerade im Marketing und in der PR spielen (Bewegt-)bilder heute eine große Rolle. Die Bewerbung ihrer Kampagnen in Form eines Videos aufzubereiten, birgt für die Teilnehmer eine Vielzahl an Möglichkeiten, um die erbrachten Leistungen der Experten-Jury umfassender zu präsentieren und wirklich näherzubringen“ erklärt Michael Gallagher, Präsident und Gründer der Stevie^® Awards. „Auch neue Produkte und Dienstleistungen können durch ein Video dynamischer dargestellt und beschrieben werden. Wir sind sehr gespannt darauf, wie kreativ die Teilnehmer diese neue Einreichungsform nutzen werden.“ 

Kostenfreie Teilnahme in den Company of the Year Awards
In der Regel ist bei der Einreichung von Nominierungen bei den IBAs eine Teilnahmegebühr fällig. Nur einzelne Kategorien sind davon ausgenommen. In diesem Jahr verzichten die Stevie® Awards erstmalig auf die Teilnahmegebühren der 35-Branchen Kategorien in den Company of the Year Awards.

Die Gold-, Silber- und Bronze-Preisträger dieser Kategorien, nehmen dann automatisch an der öffentlichen Abstimmung des People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies teil. Damit haben Preisträger in diesen Kategorien die Möglichkeit, gleich zwei Preise zu gewinnen: einen von unseren Fachjurys verliehenen Preis und den anderen, der von der Öffentlichkeit gewählt wird. 

Viele neue Kategorien
Den Teilnehmern stehen wieder eine große Auswahl an Kategorien zur Verfügung. Beispielsweise die 

• Management Awards  
• Entrepreneur of the Year Awards-
• Company of the Year Awards
• Customer Service Awards 
• Human Resources Awards 
• Information Technology Awards
• Marketing Awards 
• New Product Awards 
• Public Relations Awards  -
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

Auch in diesem Jahr gibt es in den einzelnen Award-Bereichen wieder eine Vielzahl an neuen Kategorien. Komplett überarbeitet wurden etwa die Kategorien der Live Event Awards. Hier stehen den Teilnehmern nun eine viel größere Auswahl an Kategorien zur Verfügung, die thematisch gruppiert wurden. 
Auch in den Video-Awards finden sich viele neue Einzelkategorien, wie beispielsweise zu den Themen Corporate Social Responsibility, Fashion & Lifestyle oder Science & Education. Die IT Awards zeichnen ab diesem Jahr auch die beste technische Supportstrategie und -implementierung sowie die beste technische Supportlösung aus. Eine komplette Übersicht finden Sie hier. 

Preisverleihung in brandneuem Luxushotel ANDAZ Vienna am Belvedere
Die Preisträger der Stevie Awards werden ab Juni von spezialisierten Jurygremien mit über 150 Fachjuroren ermittelt. Die Ergebnisse werden am 13. August bekanntgegeben. Die Stevie Awards Trophäen und Medaillen werden den Preisträgern in diesem Jahr in dem brandneuen Luxushotel Andaz Vienna am Belvedere in Wien verliehen. Dazu findet am 19. Oktober ein exklusives Gala-Bankett statt. 

Wenn Sie jetzt loslegen möchten, um Ihre Bewerbung optimal aufzubereiten, erhalten Sie hier Ihre Teilnahmeunterlagen und registrieren Sie sich direkt auf der Awards-Webseite.   

Sehen Sie hier ein kurzes Video mit Michael Gallagher über die International Business Awards® 2019. 

Ask executives about their biggest priorities, and you might hear plans to grow sales, to generate efficient systems, or to develop new product lines.

Jillian Hamilton’s mission is to remind corporate leaders they should also focus on threats that seemingly come out of nowhere: an expensive fine from regulators, a large-scale cyberattack, or a costly workplace accident.

For Hamilton, founder and managing director of Australian risk advisory firm Manage Damage, organizations tend to be under-invested in certain areas. The reason? It’s hard to put a dollar amount on the potential damage an incident will produce.

A corporate safety officer and risk manager by background, Hamilton decided to change that dynamic. She launched Manage Damage in 2016 with what she calls a “risk dollarization” approach, in which nonfinancial risk is translated into a financial cost.

“Our method provides senior management members with risk information in language they understand,” says Hamilton. “It enables businesses to see where issues lie and where true associated costs are located.”

Monetizing Risk

By putting a dollar value on risk, she says leaders are more likely to act on the threats most likely to cripple a business. As an example, she points to a client whose workers’ compensation premiums were so high the entire business was on the brink of shutting down. In an industry where workers’ insurance normally accounts for 6.5 percent of an operating budget, the company was paying more than 16 percent.

After working with Manage Damage, which is based in Brisbane, Australia, the company was able to significantly curtail its expenses and improve profit margins.

“We often find the businesses we help are not even aware of how much they are paying,” Hamilton says. “More importantly, they are not aware that what they are paying is far too much.”

Hamilton will sometimes hear people object to putting a monetary value on a human life, but for her, there’s a simple way to think about this dilemma.

“Each person who works at a business is valued,” she says. “Today, you are costed at your business, and you are part of a line item in a budget.”

That number, she says, includes salary, taxes, retirement contributions, and insurance payments made on your behalf. However, she believes monetizing a potential accident only makes the workplace safer for workers.

“It’s vital we create this financially savvy safety approach precisely because I care deeply about minimizing work-induced harm,” she says. “A pragmatic approach that effectively translates safety risk into terms business and financial people can understand has the best possible chance of delivering that outcome.”

Though it only launched a couple of years ago, the company is quickly winning converts, and Manage Damage now has clients in five continents. At the 2018 Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards, the company won a Gold award for Innovation in Human Resources Management, Planning, and Practice. They also won a Gold in The 2018 International Business Awards®.

The company is certainly benefiting from a rising tide concerning risk awareness. A 2017 survey by risk management association RIMS found that nearly three-quarters of businesses have either a complete or partially integrated enterprise risk management solution in place, up from about half in 2013. Hamilton, though, sees her company’s approach as a particularly effective solution.

“Money talks,” she says. “When you start talking about the costs of safety, people listen. They listen when it is in the newspaper—that is, when it's far too late. We aim to capture people’s attention before incidents and workplace disasters. Follow the money, and listen to where business risk truly lies.”

After raising more than $40 million in January during a series D funding round led by Al Fahim Group, a Berlin, Germany-based, automotive and travel conglomerate, 2018 was going to be a make-or-break year for Blacklane GmbH as it continued its expansion.

Jens Wohltorf, CEO and co-founder of Blacklane, highlighted the high-end chauffeur service’s vision and ambitions, declaring that “this investment accelerates Blacklane’s ability to bring end-to-end peace of mind onto the road and into airports around the world.”

Blacklane GmbH is taking an alternative approach to capital-intensive transportation start-ups, such as Uber and Didi. While those companies target growth and demonstrate scant regard for losses, Blacklane aims to create a highly efficient back-end system for managing rides and customer care. The system is a proven success, winning a 2018 Gold Stevie® Award for Technology of the Year. The system will ultimately allow Blacklane to beat its competitors on utilization rates and, therefore, prices.

While its funding levels and recorded losses pale in comparison to larger rivals, frugality and efficiency are of great importance in its domestic German market. By emphasizing these characteristics, Blacklane offers an attractive alternative to investors who are eager to give money in the transport innovation sector but are wary of the all-or-nothing strategies of other start-ups.

With its emphasis on ensuring sustainable growth, investors expected tangible deals and value-adding investments from Blacklane. The company delivered on this while demonstrating its potential. It earned the aforementioned Gold Stevie Award for its back-end technology, as well as a Gold Stevie Award for Transportation Company of the Year and a Bronze Stevie Award for its carbon-offset program in the Corporate Social Responsibility category in April. The company, however, did not simply rest on its laurels. In May, Blacklane announced its integration with the SummitLink booking tool provided by SummitQwest. This put Blacklane at the disposal of the platform’s corporate clients, who even have the option to choose it as a preferred service provider.

The company’s official goal for 2018 was to expand its services to 300 cities worldwide. It achieved this in early September when 32 more cities were added to its roster. According to Blacklane representatives, Limerick, Ireland, became the 300th city the company served. The remaining 31 cities were located in countries all over the globe, including France, Germany, Switzerland, India, Japan, and Malaysia. The careful selection of targeted regions again speaks to the company’s discerning approach, underscoring that Blacklane enters markets suited to its service rather than entering them simply to boost growth rates.

An August announcement swiftly followed wherein Blacklane introduced a “Green Class” to its services. Tesla BEVs became available for booking in 20 cities the company covers, including locations in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

“We welcome battery-electric, chauffeur-quality vehicles from all premium automakers to our fleet,” Wohltorf says. “Supporting business and leisure travelers with green travel options is essential to a healthy planet.”

While unlikely to generate significant extra revenue alone, the availability of a green option is of great importance to the company’s reputation in its domestic market, as well as any other markets that value environmental sustainability. As more people and countries grow concerned about the impact of climate change, a green transition is inevitable. By considering environmental concerns early on, Blacklane puts itself in a prime position to take advantage once that tipping point is reached in any given market.

In November, Blacklane then reached an agreement with the Shangri-La, an Asian luxury hotel chain. The agreement stipulated that members of the hotel chain’s Golden Circle loyalty program would receive incentives, including fare discounts and extra loyalty points for using Blacklane. This news coincided with the announcement that Blacklane opened an office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Following the significant investment made by the Al Fahim Group in January, Blacklane then announced Emirates Airlines had selected Blacklane to provide its complimentary chauffeur service to first-class and business-class passengers in Bangalore, India; Bologna, Italy; Chennai, India; Delhi, India; Hyderabad, India; Milan, Italy; Mumbai, India; Rome, Italy; Stockholm, Sweden; and Venice, Italy. Both deals seem likely to give a significant boost to the company’s revenue.

In reflection, 2018 was a very successful year for the multiple-Stevie-Award-winning company. The funds raised at the beginning of the year were deployed gradually and strategically, and the company rigorously followed its strategy of sustainable growth. Investors are happy to see the funds allocated to Blacklane are being used to grow revenue and market presence, as well as to bolster the company’s green credentials. It remains to be seen whether Blacklane can manage to reduce its losses—or even to turn a profit—in 2018, let alone gain the upper hand over its larger competitors.

However, by seeking to differentiate itself from and to improve upon their rivals’ business models and by consistently pursuing its strategy of sustainable growth, day-one efficiency, and strategic partnerships, Blacklane certainly created an impressive foundation upon which it can build.