Tiroler Wissenschaftsförderung to Dr. Teresa Spieß

During the festive ceremony for the Tiroler Wissenschaftsförderung, the research project of MCiT university lecturer Dr. Teresa Spieß, in cooperation with the Family Business Center at MCI, was honoured. The three-year project aims to support family-owned small and medium-sized businesses in Tyrol with new findings regarding their employer branding.

According to research on family businesses, they are usually perceived as more sustainable, long-term oriented and fairer than non-family businesses. On the other hand, family businesses are also said to be less flexible, more hostile to innovation and more conventional than other companies. With regard to employer branding, it can therefore be assumed that the communication of family involvement in the company already influences the perception and expectations of potential applicants during the application process. Especially for innovative family businesses, this may result in positioning conflicts. Therefore, the funded project will focus on the circumstances under which and how the communication of family integration influences the perception of the Y and Z generations as attractive employers for different industries.

The results of the study should enable Tyrolean family businesses to recruit and retain well-trained employees more successfully in order to remain competitive in the long term and especially in the context of increasing digitalisation.

Congratulations to our long-time lecturer and colleague for this award. We are already looking forward to the exciting research findings.