MIPd – Managing International Partnerships digitally

29.10.2021 A management model to support Swiss companies in maintaining their foreign distribution partnerships is being developed as part of an Innosuisse project at the Institute for Data Applications and Security IDAS at Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH.

If Swiss SMEs want to tap into international markets, most have to rely on foreign distribution partners. However, these partnerships require a lot of maintenance – a task that many SMEs fail at in the long run. Now, a new, digitally supported management model will soon be able to help them. It is being developed and tested as part of a research project supported by the funding organisation Innosuisse. Besides researchers from the Institute for Data Applications and Security IDAS at Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH and the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons, the Swiss export promotion organisation Switzerland Global Enterprise and the five internationally active companies Amberg Technologies, Emsodur, Hydroliq, Ifanger and Lanamatic are also involved in the project.

The MIPd (Managing International Partnerships digitally) management model covers four central tasks in dealing with distribution partners: selection, qualification, motivation and evaluation. It will show how best to structure the processes for accomplishing these tasks and which digital technologies can support their implementation. In this way, the project will make a significant contribution to the future success of export-oriented companies.

In addition to being used in companies, the model is also proposed as the basis for the development of an expanded range of advisory services for the promotion of Swiss exports and used to train students at Swiss universities of applied sciences in the field of international management.

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