Project "Ulysses Contest" – Family Firm case study finalization

The project leader is the University of Szeged (Hungary), but partners include MCI (Austria), University of Vienna (Austria), Univations GmbH (Germany), Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy) and the marketing agency Agentur fundus GmbH (Austria). The competition is focused on solving family firm-related challenges, the so-called case studies, which would enhance students’ problem-solving skills and entrepreneurship competences.

Project partners are in the phase of compiling and finalizing the case studies for the competition. The process started one year ago, when the partners got in contact with multiple family firms across various countries (Austria, Hungary, Italy) to find the best cases for the competition. The partners created alliances with the family firms to establish a tight and trustworthy relationship. These connections facilitated interactions between the members of the Ulysses project and the family and non-family members involved in the firms. Working closely with renowned family firms across Europe assures to have a solid ground for the exciting case studies.

Once established alliances with the selected family firms, the Ulysses partners began a process of data collection by conducting interviews with multiple actors of the organization, including both family and non-family members. Moreover, field observations were useful to enrich interview data and to better understand the family and firm backgrounds. Based on the collected interviews and observations, the case studies were formed. In so doing, the partners also worked on how to effectively convey the content of the selected cases studies to future participants, by developing the project’s official case study template.

The team of the Ulysses Contest was able to identify the different challenges that family firms are facing, by directly engaging with family and non-family members. Ultimately, the case studies jointly developed by the partners stand on these challenges, which also represent the core of the competition.

Family firms truly represent the essence of the project. This has been demonstrated once again by the iterative process taking place between the Ulysses team and such firms. Once prepared the first draft of each case study, family firms got the chance to read and re-read their own case to provide feedback and validation. At this point, the partners are finalizing case studies to be ready for the competition.

Students all over Europe can now prepare to participate in the competition. Competition and application details will be available soon. To stay up to date with the news, make sure that you follow the social media sites of the contest and subscribe to the Ulysses newsletters on the project website.

The Ulysses Contest is funded by the European Union and its Erasmus+ program for a duration of 2 years. For more information, please visit our webpage, social media channels, or reach out to us via email.

Website: https://www.ulysses-contest.eu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ulyssescontest

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ulyssescontest/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ulysses-contest/

Contact:

Prof. MMag. Dr. habil. Anita Zehrer
Head of Family Business Center
+43 512 2070 – 7100
anita.zehrer@mci.edu