Great to talk at the US Congress in Washington, DC, on June 6, 2022. The day organized by ICSB (International Council for Small Business) was an excellent opportunity to discuss the ingredients for an entrepreneurial revolution and why we need it. My focus was to talk about MSMEs and sustainability projects and how to integrate young, ambitious talents.
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is the leading international study on entrepreneurship. It is carried out every year in more than 60 countries with a view to analyzing the entrepreneurial activities and attitudes of the population over the past year. Download report here: GEM_Report_2022_engl
Digitalization is playing an increasingly important role in the growth of small businesses and is leading to strategic, structural and cultural transformations. For MSMEs which decide to engage internationally, the use of digitalization presents new opportunities to succeed in foreign markets, based on a new international value proposition. Digitalization – as the combination and application of digital technologies within an organization, economy and society – is applicable for many fields and creates opportunities. It is represented in three related phenomena: digital artifacts, digital platforms and digital infrastructures. Full article here: The power… Read More
2019 haben die unternehmerischen Gründungsaktivitäten in der Schweiz einen Höchststand erreicht. Die Rahmenbedingungen sind im Ländervergleich gut, und die gesellschaftliche Wahrnehmung hat sich gewandelt. Wie es um die unternehmerische Landschaft in der Schweiz steht, misst all-jährlich der internationale Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, der 54 Länder miteinander vergleicht. Der aktuelle Monitor zeigt, dass die unternehmerische Aktivität in der Schweiz so hoch ist wie noch nie seit Beginn der Messung. Deutlich höher ist diese aber in den USA, und auch in den Niederlanden bewegt sich aus unternehmerischer Sicht mehr. Auf dem ersten Platz… Read More
As internationalization and digitalization are becoming increasingly intertwined, the question arises whether digitalization is shifting the borders in such a way that new, borderless, internationalization concepts have to be developed. Similar issues involve whether the focus should be on cities rather than countries, and if or how the speed of learning should be put in the foreground. In this way, digitalization provides companies with new fundamental experiential knowledge, enabling them to conduct faster market experiments in more countries than before.
While the benefits of a board of directors are well understood for more established firms, the role of the board for new ventures constitutes a particular challenge. A new venture’s board of directors is highly consequential for its most important strategic and personnel outcomes. Based on the observation of multiple board meetings and several interviews with board members, this article reflects on how organization and strategy influence new venture boards. It summarizes key findings and identifies the most important limitations. It also explains how new international venture boards are impacted… Read More
Benoît Goncerut and Arnaud Cottet (Switzerland) with a master degree from the School of Management Fribourg (HEG-FR) and founders of Glacier Optics, have been published in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor on page 58. Glacier Optics makes sunglasses for climbers and mountaineers as well as for the modern urban fashion market.
GEM introduced the National Entrepreneurship Context Index (NECI), a measure of the ease of starting and developing a business. The NECI summarizes the assessment of Entrepreneurship Framework Conditions into a single composite score of the ease of starting and developing a business. In 2019, Switzerland tops these rankings, followed closely by the Netherlands and Qatar: https://www.heg-fr.ch This is testament to the investment done by Swiss cities and cantons, positive media coverage about entrepreneurship in the country, and an increase in corporate entrepreneurship. Many companies are investing in start-ups and this… Read More
Results for Switzerland from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018/2019 (GEM) Fostering entrepreneurial awareness and positive attitudes toward entrepreneurship is high on Switzerland’s policy agenda. Nevertheless, the intentions of Swiss inhabitants to start a business are lower (6.9%) than in 2017 (10.5%) and under the average for other high-income economies (17.1%). Moreover, only 7.4% of Swiss business people have plunged into entrepreneurial activities (total entrepreneurial activity TEA-rate), a founding rate that is below the average of compared countries (10.4 %). The results of the 2018/2019 edition also show that the Swiss… Read More
Digitization for small and medium-sized enterprises is on everyone’s lips today. There is no question that technological changes have a direct impact on an SME, whether positive or negative. In addition, not only do they determine future opportunities, but they also entail risks. A game on a digital keyboard can make a miniature staccato sound. That is to say: you develop a website with SEO support, place products on Instagram, work with an e-commerce shop solution or recruit employees with the help of social media such as Linkedin. Medium and… Read More