When Anette Klinger’s father phoned her 25 years ago with succession planning on his mind, it was completely in sync with the now-Managing Partner’s desire to work for her family’s company, IFN (International Window Network) Holding. The 100% family-owned business was established in 1931 by Anette’s grandfather, Eduard Klinger Senior, and had made a name for itself since, particularly for its Internorm windows.
Today, the IFN Holding umbrella is known for a diverse range of brands and award-winning products. These include Internorm, Topic, HSF, GIG, Schlotterer and Kastrup, and a range that encompasses windows as well as facades, doors and products that protect from the sun and insects.
It was while studying Business Administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business that Anette first worked for IFN Holding. However, she didn’t automatically join the company when she graduated. In fact, at school she toyed with the idea of studying medicine before deciding on the business administration path she ultimately followed. “I had a lot of different fantasies and ideas,” she says.
The advantage of teamwork
Anette started her career working for a bank, but found it failed to ignite her passion for business. “So I decided to change to a company which produces,” she explains. It was then that her father made his timely phone call and Anette returned to work in the family business. “When I returned to the company I did a lot of different jobs. My first management role in IFN was the head of the controlling department,” she says.
By 1997 IFN Holding was ready to make the generational change. “My 2 cousins and I replaced our parents on the Board of Directors,” says Anette. The older generation remained involved, shifting position to the company’s supervisory board.
It’s a time Anette regards as one of the major milestones in her 25-year history with the company; the 3 young directors joined a team of 3 experienced managers. It’s unlike a traditional leadership structure in that there is no CEO, instead, the directors share an equal partnership, something which Anette highlights as an advantage.
“For me, working as part of a team has one big advantage: different people have different skills. It is good to have some older people, some younger, some technicians, some people with financial experience, together they will come up with the best ideas and the best solutions.”
“Working as part of a team has one big advantage: different people have different skills … together they come up with the best ideas.”
Innovative partnering: the key to success
This ability is key to the company’s ongoing success as it faces fierce price competition in its traditional markets and looks ahead to targeting export markets. “Our strategy is to enhance service and innovate so we differentiate our products and keep out of sole price competition,” says Anette.
It maintains a high-quality standard, with many of its products crafted locally in Austria and its low-energy Internorm window systems, for example, designed at the company itself. And IFN Holding is constantly seeking to stand out through innovation.
“We invented an integrated fan with a heat exchanger that allows the user to introduce fresh air into a room without losing energy from it,” she says by way of example. “We also have smart windows that are integrated with your iPhone so you can open a window or operate your sun shields remotely.”
The company’s long-term partners are vital to its innovation strategy. “We have very strong values in our company and one of these values is partnership, not only with the people who work in our company, but with our suppliers.
We invent new products with them, and launch them together, and we aim to have joint success,” says Anette. “They know our strategic view, they know where we want to go and I think that is a way of working that can last not just a few months or a year, but for as long as a company lives, for generations I hope.”