Anyone who is no expert will have no idea about the pollination methods used in the seed industry. This was also the case for participants in the Business Administration elective module Market & Industry Analysis – until three months ago when they were commissioned to acquire this expertise in order to present concrete business opportunities to a start-up company.
Anyone who is not an expert will have no idea about the pollination methods used in the seed industry. This was also the case for participants in the Business Administration elective module Market & Industry Analysis – until three months ago when they were commissioned to acquire this expertise in order to present concrete business opportunities to a start-up company.
“It is one thing hearing from others what consultancy involves in the business world, but only when you have worked at it yourself, do you understand what all the talk is about,” says Roman Suleiman, summing up the insights gained from the elective module Market & Industry Analysis in the fifth semester of the Bachelor’s degree programme in Business Administration.
Together with Sabine Bantel and Florian Kaltenbacher, Suleiman (centre) developed the project “Milk cell analysis in developed and emerging markets” for the client Amphasys AG.
A second group consisting of Michael Weiser and Christian Diem analysed the business opportunities for the Lucerne start-up in the international seed market.
Finding markets for a new product
The background to the students’ analyses is Amphasys’s innovative cell-analysis process for which the company is now seeking appropriate markets. Amphasys, which was founded in 2012, has patented two processes that by measuring the electrical properties of a cell can analyse its quality in just a few seconds.
Amphasys CEO Marco Di Berardino is extremely satisfied with the quality of the students’ analyses: “I am very happy with the work, particularly in view of the short amount of time that was available to them.”
Such is the reality of the consulting business: in the shortest space of time, consultants must acquire a profound knowledge of a market or sector and present the client with usable results.
Little time – much data
Sabine Bantel, who worked on the dairy farming market analysis, enjoyed the Market & Industry Analysis elective module: “An important insight for me was learning that business in practice does not always follow the business models and that one has to adapt the models to the particular market and sector.” Michael Weiser from the “seeds” group agrees, adding: “We learnt hands-on how to work with databases and how to manage the sheer volume of information and complexity. This was a key learning experience for me.”
Christian Diem at the client presentation of the market analysis for Amphasys AG: “The Market & Industry Analysis module has been the most user-oriented subject in the degree programme so far.”
Dealing with clients
Lecturer Barbara Becker is delighted by the feedback from the students: “A central pillar of the Industry & Market Analysis module is to increase participants’ capacity for independent thought and their ability to view issues critically.” And of course to learn how to deal with real clients.
“I drew a lot of my motivation from the fact that it was a real project for a real client.”
Florian Kaltenbacher
This also appears to have been a success: Amphasys CEO Di Berardino has in any case invited the students to present their now finalized industry papers to his new head of sales.
After the client presentation: Amphasys CEO Marco Di Berardino (front left) together with the participants in the elective module Market & Industry Analysis (from left to right: Michael Weiser, Christian Diem, Sabine Bantel, Roman Suleiman, Florian Kaltenbacher)