Successful closure of first Aktion-project at the Department of International Business

A team composed of two teachers and seven students from Fachhochschule Burgenland and University of Economics, Prague, successfully completed the first Aktion project launched in February 2019.

The goal of the project, initiated at the Department of International of Business, was to engage in a joint research project on the topic of internationalization of small and medium enterprises. The Czech and Austrian partners met three times to design and conduct a thorough investigation on the subject, which resulted in a scientific paper that was published in early 2020 in a peer-reviewed journal. In total seven team members acted as authors to the paper, two members acted as idea givers and English editors.

The team was pleased to see all tasks completed in time and according to the funding programme’s standards. ‘At first it looked easy to meet the programme’s requirements, however, as the project progressed, it became quite a challenge to meet both the formal and the scientific criteria. Thanks to the team’s cohesion and commitment, we managed to achieve the goals we had set’, says V. Hinčica, a member of the department and initiator of the project on the Czech side. Due to the success of this first Aktion-project, the project partners decided to continue with their scientific endeavour on the topic and currently compose a new team of six members in total to engage in a follow-up project.

This follow-up project was submitted in late 2019 and approved in early 2020. It is expected to start in early spring and should be completed by autumn 2020. The Aktion-project is a unique opportunity for pre-doctorate students enrolled in both universities to work on real research and act as true partners of the academic staff. ‘I am so glad it all worked out’, said M. Věříšová, one of the team members.

‘Aside from the scientific learnings, the team members have a unique opportunity to work in an international team and experience first-hand what it means to collaborate in a work environment of various linguistic and cultural backgrounds – an experience that is invaluable for university graduates in today’s economy’, adds A. Baldwin, member of the department of Business Studies at the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland.