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Publikation Start-up incubators for refugees. Applying psychological methods to increase chances of entrepreneurial success(Universidade Portucalense, 2023) Hinz, Andreas; Nido, Miriam; Hell, Benedikt; Moreira, Fernando; Jayantilal, ShitalAn increasing number of start-up incubators offer programmes designed specifically for refugees. They provide entrepreneurship training and access to a closely-knit community for start-up development. Beyond that, they also support refugees in overcoming typical challenges, including a lack of language skills and required qualifications, an uncertain residence status, discrimination and psychological distress on various levels. While these incubators have already contributed to refugees’ social and economic integration, the number of successful participants is still relatively low. The question remains about what can be done to multiply the potential so that more significant numbers of refugees can benefit. To support incubators in achieving more significant numbers, this work presents a framework of methods and tools based on health and organisational psychology literature. More specifically, this work focuses on methods and tools to be applied during two critical phases of the incubation cycle, namely the selection process and the actual programme. First, suitable candidates may be overlooked and/or less suitable candidates admit-ted during selection. This work proposes approaches to improve the accuracy of assessment methods so that more significant numbers of candidates with good chances of success are admit-ted. In addition, these methods can help identify those candidates who may appear unsuitable at first sight but could likely get ready with a preparatory course before joining the programme. Second, participants may have difficulty keeping up during the programme for various reasons (often related to the mentioned challenges) and therefore drop out early. This work proposes science-based approaches which help to adapt and improve existing programme elements and/or implement new elements to increase the chances of successful programme completion. Overall, this work seeks to contribute to the academic discussion on innovative approaches to upscale the work of incubators for refugees. Further research will involve co-developing practical approaches with incubators for refugees, cooperating on the implementation, and measuring impact. The goal of providing incubators with relevant practical insights is to deploy more significant numbers of refugees as entrepreneurs and contribute to broader social and economic impact.04B - Beitrag KonferenzschriftPublikation Concept and impact of an integrated approach to entrepreneurship in higher education(2023) Birkenmeier, Beat; Köhle, Ivan; Moreira, Fernando; Jayantilal, ShitalStudies show that the intention of students at Swiss universities to become an entrepreneur has been showing a positive trend since 2013 resulting in a 18,8 percent rate in 2021. The first part of this paper documents the analysis of how the business faculties of the nine Universities of Applied Sciences belonging to the Swissuniversities Association take up the topic of entrepreneurship in their Bachelor- and Master-degree programs. This part is based on an analysis of publicly accessible module descriptions of the business administration curricula. The results show that three patterns can be recognized. Firstly, a group of universities that explicitly take up entrepreneurship as a focus subject in their curricula. Secondly, a group that deals with the topic in conjunction with the topic of "innovation". And thirdly, a group of universities that do not address the topic at all in their curricula. The second part presents the case study of the "Entrepreneurship Pyramid" which is an Integrated Concept implemented at the School of Business of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) which belongs to the first group of universities mentioned above. The concept divides the entrepreneurship education into four levels. At the lowest level, there are compulsory courses for all students in the bachelor's degree programs. The next two levels are optional specializations in bachelor's and master's courses, the latter of which can already lead to founding a company. On the fourth level, there are other, mostly post-graduate offers. For this purpose, the School of Business of FHNW has built up a network within a regional ecosystem, which supports graduates in their entrepreneurial activities even after completing their studies. Start-up competitions, financing and coaching are offered in cooperation with state institutions, associations, and private companies. This part includes the results of a study which analysed how large the number of startups founded by graduates from the School of Business of FHNW is.04B - Beitrag KonferenzschriftPublikation Linking effectuation logic with business model innovation. An investigation in the context of Swiss startups(2023) Kabous, Laila; Hinz, Andreas; Philippi, Stefan; Moreira, Fernando; Jayantilal, ShitalOver the last decades, business model innovation and effectuation have been widely discussed in the literature. While effectuation represents a behavioural approach for entrepreneurs using available means for founding a start-up, business model innovation represents an approach to creating a business model with long-term competitive advantages. Designing a business model requires to focus on four dimensions: customer, value proposition, value chain and revenue mechanism. A business model innovation is referred to when an innovative characteristic can be attributed to two of the four dimensions. Both effectuation and business model innovation are valuable for entrepreneurs who are pursuing growth in dynamic and uncertain business environments. This paper elaborates on effectuation and its potential effects on business model innovation. The addressed research questions are: Is the effectuation logic a facilitating aspect of business model innovation? And to what extent do entrepreneurs apply effectuation logic and design innovative business models? The underlying data consists of business plans of 25 finalists of a Swiss innovation competition with more than 100 startups from different business sectors every year. First, the chosen sample is reviewed on the extent of the application of effectuation based on selected behavioural criteria. Second, the sample is analysed for evidence of business model innovation based on the above-mentioned business model dimensions and their innovative potential. Third, the link between the two approaches is highlighted to gain insights into the potential influence of the applied decision logic to develop innovative business models, thus providing an understanding of how entrepreneurs could leverage the advantages of effectuation in the context of innovating the business model. Further research will focus on examining critical success factors of entrepreneurial behaviour in the applied business model types and their correlations with business performance.04B - Beitrag KonferenzschriftPublikation How applying the lean start-up methodology can affect business model innovation(Universidade Portucalense, 2023) Hinz, Andreas; Philippi, Stefan; Kabous, Laila; Moreira, Fernando; Jayantilal, ShitalStart-ups often apply entrepreneurial approaches like the Lean Start-up Method (LSM) and Business Model Innovation (BMI). LSM emphasises experimentation during product development and testing in close interactions with potential customers to get first-hand feedback. Lessons learned are implemented so that improved product variants go through further feedback loops and so on. Products are developed by rapidly getting closer to what customers really want. BMI focuses on altering existing or developing new business models to enable differentiation from competitors. Typical elements of business models include target customer segments, value propositions, value chains and revenue mechanisms. BMI is assumed to take place when at least two of these elements are innovated in conjunction. Going beyond typical product or process innovation in isolation, BMI suggests to holistically consider interdependencies within the entire business model. The need for a better understanding on connections between LSM and BMI is expressed in the literature and this work’s goal is to contribute to this discussion. More specifically, this work seeks to address the question of how the application of LSM can affect BMI. In search of answers, business plans of 25 finalist start-ups in the 2022 edition of an annual innovation competition in Switzerland are reviewed. While the evidence on the connection between LSM and BMI is not entirely convincing, reviewed business plans reveal insights into LSM-related factors at play that can support business model changes and trigger BMI.04B - Beitrag KonferenzschriftPublikation Effectuation and lean startup in Swiss start-ups. An integrative analysis(2023) Philippi, Stefan; Kabous, Laila; Hinz, Andreas; Moreira, Fernando; Jayantilal, ShitalFounding a start-up entails numerous risks and uncertainties. To minimise these risks and to deal with uncertainties, the popular concepts of Effectuation and Lean Startup, among others, are discussed in entrepreneurship research. Although both concepts are not new, they have gained importance in recent years. Effectuation focuses on dealing with uncertainty and contrasts with causation, which focuses on planning. The starting point for Effectuation is the resources available to the founders, which leads to different business ideas. The core of Effectuation includes four key dimensions: available means, affordable losses, exploiting contingencies and building partnerships. Lean Startup can be understood as a framework for decision-making in which direct interaction takes priority over extensive planning. The approach is based on three fundamental principles: experimentation rather than planning, focus on customer feedback and iterative learning. The core elements include a clear entrepreneurial vision, close contact with the customer, the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop and the Minimum Viable Product. The key dimensions of Effectuation and the core elements of Lean Startup also form the frame of reference for the empirical investigation. The article examines the extent to which these concepts are applied by Swiss entrepreneurs and whether a combination of the two takes place. The data comes from the business plans of 25 finalists of a Swiss innovation competition from 2022. The business plans are evaluated and analysed in a multi-stage process. The study provides insight into the behaviour of Swiss start-ups, whether they proceed according to Effectuation and apply the Lean Startup principles. Surprisingly, the study reveals that many start-ups proceed according to Effectuation, while relatively few start-ups apply the Lean Startup principles. We were able to show the extent to which the two approaches are used and how they relate to each other. We also found that the origin of the start-up (research-based or industry experiencebased) plays a significant role.04B - Beitrag KonferenzschriftPublikation Minority entrepreneurship in Switzerland. The challenges and needs of Brazilian women entrepreneurs(Universidade Portucalense, 2023) Meyer, Dario; Schmutz, Therese; Meyer, Rolf; Moreira, Fernando; Jayantilal, ShitalThe number of Brazilian citizens in Switzerland has risen significantly over the past decades by factor 24 compared to the total foreign population, which grew by factor 2.5. As with many migrant groups, integration into the labour market is difficult. This can lead to a higher number of people choosing to start their own business. Brazilians in their home country are more entrepreneurial than Swiss people and among Brazilian women, 17.3% are entrepreneurially active. This can partly be explained with less options on the labour market – a challenge that Brazilian women also experience in Switzerland. Therefore, entrepreneurship also became a viable career option abroad. Little is known about neither the businesses, the challenges, and the needs of female Brazilian entrepreneurs, nor of female entrepreneurs of other minority groups. This paper looked at these points to find out how they can be supported best to enhance their businesses. The findings will be of use for entrepreneurs themselves, as well as for supporting organisations to adapt their offerings. To get the required insights, we took a quantitative approach and surveyed 54 Brazilian women in Switzerland with an online questionnaire. The participants were members of a Brazilian women business club. The results were analysed using SPSS. The entrepreneurs came to Switzerland mainly for love and family reasons. The businesses are small, mainly targeting the Brazilian community and only a small minority can sustain themselves from their self-employment alone. While the financial success is rather low, the personal satisfaction of having a business is very high. The biggest challenges are finding customers, where also the biggest need for support is. The results show that the support structures are not accessible enough for founders from minority groups and that offerings need to be adjusted to have a broader reach.04B - Beitrag KonferenzschriftPublikation Do SMEs actually know what business model innovation is? Evidence from Switzerland(Academic Conferences International Limited, 2023) Meyer, Rolf; Meyer, Dario; Schmutz, Therese; Moreira, Fernando; Jayantilal, ShitalBusiness model innovation (BMI) has received increasing attention from academics in recent years and its positive impact on companies has been demonstrated in the literature. However, there is a lack of research though on whether the managers of SMEs actually know what BMI means and how to implement it. This study is looking at this gap and analysed the know-how about the term in the Swiss canton of Schwyz. It is based on a survey among 418 managers of SMEs and shows that there is lack of knowledge on what BMI is and how to implement it; however, the importance of it is well-known. This research contributes to the existing literature in three ways. Firstly, awareness is the first needed step in increasing the number of BMIs in Switzerland, as many companies do not know the term. Secondly, managers claim to have no issues in generating new ideas and know about the importance of BMI, but nevertheless, do not implement it. Thirdly, only a small minority of SMEs work with universities on innovation and miss out on a large support structure. The study closes with recommendations for companies as well as universities and other state organisations to support BMI in Switzerland through the steps awareness, empowerment, implementation.04B - Beitrag Konferenzschrift