The Competence Centre for Entrepreneurship supports small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in their entrepreneurial activity. We are a forum for exchange and expertise that brings together thought leaders from industry, academia, and government. Together we strengthen entrepreneurial activity in SMEs.
We take an inclusive perspective when defining SMEs, “Mittelstand” in the German or “KMU” in the Swiss context, by looking beyond traditional cutoff values in terms of employee count or revenue generation. We also consider ownership structure and company culture.
The Competence Centre for Entrepreneurship serves as its constituents SME owners and executives, students, scholars, and policy makers, by developing (1) actionable advice for practitioners, (2) the newest teaching material and research insights about entrepreneurial activity in SMEs, and (3) clear recommendations for policy makers. Specific fields of interest and subject areas of research include:
Through our research and outreach activities we understand and improve how SME owners, entrepreneurs, executives, and investors decide and act entrepreneurially. With intercultural teams now a given in most SMEs, and top talent frequently crossing borders, we aim to contribute also to intercultural cognitive sensibility.
We do so by leveraging the best of different decision making styles and entrepreneurial behaviors from the middle of Europe and the center of South East Asia. This puts the Competence Centre for Entrepreneurship at the forefront of knowledge creation to help SMEs succeed in growing and internationalizing.
The Competence Centre for Entrepreneurship at the St.Gallen Institute of Management in Asia develops research programs around its expertise and designs practice-oriented courses for students on all levels as well as custom-build executive training programs (open enrollment and in-company).
The person responsible for the Competence Centre for Entrepreneurship is Prof. Matthias A. Tietz, Ph.D.
Students who are interested in writing their thesis on topics investigated by Prof. Dr. Matthias Tietz at the Entrepreneurship Competence Centre of the St.Gallen Institute of Management are welcome to apply.
Prof. Dr. Matthias Tietz supervises thesis projects in entrepreneurial decision-making, and highly welcomes empirical research projects focusing on Asia.
In order to apply, students are expected to prepare a 1-2 pages proposal, submit a current CV, and their latest grade transcript, in accordance with the specific guidelines available to download on this page. Please send your complete application package to the person and email address detailed in these guidelines. Finally, these guidelines also provide further detailed information regarding the process and structure of the thesis project.
Assistant Professor