2023-04-04, Wyss, Ananda, von Kutzschenbach, Michael, Meyer, Rolf

2023, Meyer, Rolf, Meyer, Dario, Schmutz, Therese, Moreira, Fernando, Jayantilal, Shital

Business 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.

2022, Hinz, Andreas, von Kutzschenbach, Michael, Meyer, Rolf, Michelini, Laura, Minà, Anna, Alaimo Di Loro, Pierfrancesco

Focusing on social business model innovation at the example of startup incubator programs for refugees, this research provides insights into how such programs can create social impact. With the importance of social integration in mind, the guiding question for this work is how social entrepreneurship in the form of startup incubator programs for refugees can create social impact by addressing key challenges of integration. Based on a literature review and interviews with refugees and integration experts, it appears that challenges primarily relate to language skills, professional qualifications, psychological stress and discrimination. While conventional standardized integration programs address some of these issues, gaps remain that slow down integration. This is where startup incubators can make a difference. For instance, they offer personalized coaching and mentoring to allow for individual needs and to empower participants to develop and deploy their potential. Further, they help participants build a strong personal network in the local ecosystem. Moreover, entrepreneurial skills are developed to prepare participants for self-employment as an alternative to the difficult job search. Overall, this work illustrates that social innovation of startup incubator programs for refugees can accelerate integration and create social impact.

2021, Al-Kilani, Mahmoud, Verkuil, Arie Hans, Meyer, Rolf

The fast pace of change brought on by advances of technology have led to significant pressure on companies to innovate to remain competitive and able to meet shareholders demands.

2023, Meyer, Dario, Schmutz, Therese, Meyer, Rolf, Moreira, Fernando, Jayantilal, Shital

The 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.

2022, Meyer, Dario, Meyer, Rolf, Knecht, Laura

2021-05-30, Meyer, Dario, Meyer, Rolf

2023, Schmutz, Therese, Meyer, Dario, Meyer, Rolf

Schwyz Next unterstützt und vernetzt Unternehmen und Institutionen im Kanton Schwyz, die sich für Zukunftstrends interessieren, Innovationen realisieren und Erfahrungen teilen wollen. In diesem Rahmen wurde 2020 gemeinsam mit der Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz die «Geschäftsmodellinnovations-Initiative» lanciert. Die vorliegende Evaluation betrachtet die 21 Webinare, 6 Makeathons und 4 Workshops sowie die Tools, Case Studies und weiteren Unterstützungsangebote auf der GMI-Plattform, um einerseits die vergangenen Veranstaltungen zu evaluieren und andererseits wiederum Erkenntnisse für die Zukunft mitzunehmen. Aus der Onlinebefragung und den 12 qualitativen Interviews geht hervor, dass Unternehmer:innen die Sicherheit schätzen, die ihnen die GMI-Initiative gibt, das persönliche Networking und den Input von aussen durch Expert:innen und andere Teilnehmende zu den aktuellen Herausforderungen des eigenen Unternehmens. Insbesondere das Format des Makeathons und physische Networkingveranstaltungen werden geschätzt und gewünscht.

2022, Al-Kilani, Mahmoud, Meyer, Rolf

Necessity entrepreneurship in the small ruminant sector plays a strategic role in the Lebanese agricultural economy despite its small size. The sector is underdeveloped and facing many challenges. This article proposes possible solutions to the challenges facing necessity entrepreneurs in this sector. The findings show that an “agricultural business hub” could consolidate the sector and address many of the challenges on an ongoing basis in order to increase farmer productivity and profitability. Such a Hub could exploit modern technology - in particular, mobile phones, internet and apps - to facilitate communication and dissemination of information to farmers and their markets. Besides reviewing existing literature, this study was conducted using a face-to-face in-depth interview with a field expert.

2021, Wyss, Ananda, von Kutzschenbach, Michael, Meyer, Rolf