Geissler talks about business ethics

29 April 2011. In his lecture Dr. Geissler, a former German federal minister, focused on the ethical foundation of innovations. “New business models and technologies require a moral foundation in order to succeed in the long term”, said Geissler. As the nuclear disaster in Fukushima and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have shown, progress without ethical orientation constitutes a high risk for man. The evaluation of the potential impact of innovations is of great significance. Basically, risks should be limited and calculable. “The goal of entrepreneurial action must be an improvement in living conditions”, Geissler emphasised. The economy and politics must find sustainable solutions to problems with the help of a “compact intelligence” that takes all the factors into account.

Encouraging the spirit of enterprise

Prof. Dr. Dietmar Harhoff, Director of the Instituteof Innovation Research, Technology Management and Entrepreneurship at Munich’s LudwigMaximilianUniversity, focused on the innovation potential of established groups.“In an international comparison, enterprises in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are lagging behind in terms of the implementation of ideas in innovations”, said Dietmar Harhoff. Intrapreneurship, i.e. entrepreneurial action within the company, releases innovation potential in established firms. Groups in Germany, Austria and Switzerland ought to make better use of their employees’ spirit of enterprise in order to achieve lasting success.

Balancing act between competition and the provision of basic services

In his lecture on “Postal services in two worlds – physical and electronic”, Jürg Bucher, CEO of the Swiss Post, provided information about new business models of the traditional enterprise. Innovative services such as the connection of letter post with digital communication help manage the balancing act between the provision of basic services and competition in an entrepreneurial way. Joachim Schoss, the founder of Scout 24 and theinternetplatform MyHandicap, showed how young founders are able to develop pioneering innovations and what big groups and start-ups can learn from each other.

Awards for researchers
On the occasion of the Business Innovation Day, HSG researchers received awards for special contributions to the development of the Profile Area. Awards were given in the three categories of academia, practice and public relations. The young researchers Prof. Dr. Stephan Aier, Dr. Jan R. Landwehrand Prof. Dr. Christian Fieseler received a special award. An award for the project with the greatest public impact was given to Prof. Dr. Dietmar Grichnik for the Founders’ Garage at the HSG. Prof. Dr. Elgar Fleisch received the Rigor & Relevance Award , Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Stölzle the Managerial Impact Award.

Business Innovation at the HSG

The Business Innovation Day took place for the third time in 2011. The organiser of the discussion platform for HSG members and extramural guests from trade and industry, politics and academia is the Profile Area Business Innovation of the University of St.Gallen, in which researchers from different institutes and research centres create a close linkage between academia and practice.

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