Strategy. Culture. Mindset. 

Resilience is one of those buzzwords that we encounter frequently these days, yet it is rarely defined precisely. It is often used as a fancy synonym for resistance – yet the two terms describe the exact opposite of each other. Resistance is rigidity: adhering to structures that only work as long as external pressure remains controllable. Resilience, on the other hand, is flexibility, adaptation, renewal – the ability to react flexibly and not only return to the initial state after a difficult phase, but to emerge stronger. While resistance means passive defense, resilience is an active process. 

Crisis experiences – resilience as part of the HOERBIGER identity
The history of HOERBIGER is marked by moments in which courage, adaptability, and entrepreneurial spirit – in short, resilience – have determined its survival and in which the company’s ability to recognize opportunities in times of change has been particularly evident. HOERBIGER has never just survived crises, but has used them to its advantage. This is a pattern that runs through the entire history of the company. 

The founder, Hanns Hörbiger, had to navigate his company through times of crisis on several occasions: the devaluation of government bonds after the First World War and the hyperinflation of the 1920s brought him to the brink of financial ruin twice within a decade. Each of these crises forced him to rethink his approach – and made his engineering office stronger. His son Alfred continued this tradition when, in 1931, in the midst of the global economic crisis, he decided to set up his own valve manufacturing business. It was a risky venture that proved to be the cornerstone of the HOERBIGER industrial company. After World War II, it was Alfred’s wife, Martina Hörbiger, who led the reconstruction and opened new markets abroad – a courageous step at the time that made HOERBIGER an international company early on. Her conviction that customer closeness and local presence are decisive competitive advantages continues to shape the Group to this day. 

But resilience is not just a historical phenomenon at HOERBIGER. During the financial crisis after 2009 and the oil price shocks of 2015/2016, when markets fluctuated and entire industries were shaken, the Group benefited from its multi-pillar strategy. During the COVID pandemic, local supply chains and the global service network proved their worth. And in the summer of 2024, a cyberattack showed how quickly and reliably the global team can respond when it matters. These crises demonstrate that resilience is a living practice at HOERBIGER. And they make it clear that resilience is not a product of chance: it arises where structural strength, culture, and mindset come together.

Tangible factors of resilience: strong structure and strategic clarity
For HOERBIGER, resilience begins with the fundamental corporate setup. One piece of the puzzle is the global footprint, which is based on a deep strategic understanding of how much crisis resilience decentralized proximity can create. With 30 production facilities and over 80 service locations in 40 countries, the Group’s current structure enables it to mitigate problems in individual regions while remaining close to its customers and suppliers. This “local for local” principle ensures that markets are not only served but also understood – and that decisions are made where expertise is greatest. 

There is another stabilizing cornerstone: HOERBIGER has always striven for a leading position in its market niches. The ambition to be number one or two in each segment creates access to key partners and talent, increases innovative strength, and enables margins that in turn support investments in future projects. This positioning is a decisive advantage, especially in difficult times. Market leaders set standards instead of following them – and thus create a buffer against external shocks. Technological expertise, customer-focused innovation, and operational excellence are the keys to market leadership. HOERBIGER develops performance-determining components and thus opens markets that are characterized not by pure cost competition but by technological expertise. 

The Group’s ownership structure also contributes significantly to its entrepreneurial resilience. As a foundation-owned company, HOERBIGER can plan for the long term and has staying power, while publicly traded companies rush from quarterly report to quarterly report. The fact that HOERBIGER is unable to access the capital market is both a structural incentive and an operational necessity to deliver top performance. HOERBIGER finances its innovation and growth initiatives from its own resources. This leads to a very clear conclusion: only profitable growth is sustainable growth. The ambitious profitability targets are therefore not an end in themselves, but rather the foundation for the company’s independence and future viability. 

The structural strength is flanked by portfolio management that has been consistently geared toward the future in recent years. Business areas with better prospects outside the Group – such as Altronic or the reed valve business – were transferred to new owners; at the same time, HOERBIGER made targeted investments in future industries – from Safety and Rotary to hydrogen initiatives. By far the most extensive acquisition in the company’s history – the recently announced takeover of Physik Instrumente (PI) – and the associated establishment of the new Positioning Division is a major milestone in HOERBIGER’s transformation. It enables the Group to expand into new high-tech markets characterized by long-term, sustainable growth trends. 

Finally, HOERBIGER’s resilience is based on a clear strategic orientation: North Star 2030. This formulates where the Group wants to go – technologically, culturally, organizationally – and provides the guidelines that shape decisions. The combination of global presence, market leadership, long-term ownership, a forward-looking portfolio, and strategic objectives creates a foundation that is more stable than the sum of its parts. 

The cultural core of resilience: it’s the mindset that counts
As important as the right setup is for a company’s resilience, it only has an impact through the people who work there. And this is precisely where HOERBIGER’s real strength lies. The company is a Group with global reach, but with a culture that has remained mid-sized in the best sense of the word: personal, approachable, characterized by trust and responsibility. This combination makes the organization not only faster, but also more resilient. Decisions are deliberately made where the knowledge is: with the local teams, who know not just the technical requirements of their market, but also its economic and cultural nuances. This local anchoring strengthens the sense of responsibility and means that people do not delegate challenges away but accept them. 

Closeness – to colleagues, customers, and local partners – is much more than an emotional value. It is a functional success factor. It creates ownership and facilitates access to information that is often lost in centralized, anonymous structures. Anyone who arrives at a HOERBIGER plant in Europe, North America, or Asia always experiences the same phenomenon: an international community with a family-like core where you feel at home. This culture retains talent – and motivates people to take on responsibility.

The many personal stories of employees worldwide show that this is not a romanticized self-image: from production assistants who became global supply chain managers, to engineers who are driving new technologies forward, to young talents who are taking on leadership roles for the first time and receiving exactly the trust they need to do so. People who join HOERBIGER stay for an above-average length of time. Not because there are no alternatives, but because they realize early on that they can actually make a difference. The Group has removed silos at a remarkable pace and established a way of working that is cross-functional, international, dialogue-oriented, and approachable – something that cannot be taken for granted in a company of this size. 

The cyberattack in mid-2024 was one of the most difficult moments in the Group’s history. But it also showed the best: collaboration across all levels, creative problem solving, a can-do attitude. “You only really get to know people in a crisis,” said CEO Dr. Thorsten Kahlert in retrospect. “And rarely has the HOERBIGER Spirit been more visible.” People from all areas – IT, production, administration, field service – worked together successfully to restore operations and continue to support customers. 

HOERBIGER sees talent development and leadership as accelerators for the future: the HOERBIGER Way, 360° Feedback, the Voice for Excellence global employee survey, the Leadership Capability Toolbox, the Leadership Campus, and the international GrowtH Program – all of these have noticeably changed the corporate culture. Employees experience appreciation, feedback, further development, and genuine freedom to act. Promoting talent means structurally anchoring resilience. Such a culture fosters the optimism, fighting spirit, and hands-on attitude that characterize HOERBIGER: the glass is not half empty, not even half full, but a vessel that you can fill yourself. It is precisely this spirit that determines whether people remain stuck in crises or shape them. 

Die heutige Ausgangslage: stabil, zukunftsorientiert, wachstumsstark
Mit der Verbindung von Strategie, Kultur und Haltung hat sich HOERBIGER eine Position erarbeitet, die das Unternehmen für die Zukunft sehr gut aufstellt. Der Konzern hat in den vergangenen fünf Jahren kontinuierlich profitabel zugelegt und 2024 das erfolgreichste Geschäftsjahr seiner Geschichte gehabt – trotz geopolitischer Spannungen, schwacher Märkte und hoher Unsicherheit. Die strategische Ausrichtung ist klar definiert, das Portfolio zukunftsfähig strukturiert, die Organisation kulturell gewachsen.

Mit dem Nordstern 2030, den starken Divisionen und neuen Wachstumsfeldern, den gezielten Akquisitionen und dem globalen Footprint verfügt HOERBIGER heute über alle Voraussetzungen, um auch in einer Welt voller Umbrüche erfolgreich zu bleiben und Chancen aktiv zu gestalten.

Resilienz ist kein Zustand, sondern eine Haltung. Eine Haltung, die HOERBIGER seit 130 Jahren prägt. Eine Haltung, die das Unternehmen durch Kriege, Krisen, technologische Umbrüche und Marktveränderungen getragen hat. Und eine Haltung, die auch künftig der entscheidende Faktor sein wird, um im Wandel nicht nur zu bestehen, sondern auch stärker zu werden.