THE ROAD TO CASE STUDIES COMPILATION

During the Ulysses Contest, students will be asked to examine different cases pertaining various challenges that real family firms are facing. Do you know how we compiled these case studies? Let’s get down to reading our newsletter so you can find out more about this!

The Beginning: Approaching Family Firms.

Our partners got in contact with multiple family firms across various countries (Austria, Hungary, Italy) to find the best cases for the competition. The partners created alliances with the family firms to establish a tight and trustworthy relationship. These connections facilitated interactions between the members of the Ulysses project and the family and non-family members involved in the firms. Working closely with renowned family firms across Europe assures to have a solid ground for the exciting case studies.

The Development: Collecting Data to Compile Case Studies

Once established alliances with the selected family firms, the Ulysses partners began a process of data collection by conducting interviews with multiple actors of the organization, including both family and non-family members. Moreover, field observations were useful to enrich the data at our disposal and to better understand the family and firm backgrounds.

Based on the collected interviews and observations, the case studies were formed. By engaging with family and non-family members, and observing their behavior and facilities, our team was able to identify the different challenges that family firms are facing. These challenges are at the core of the case studies and the competition.

In this phase, the partners also worked on how to effectively convey the content of the selected cases studies to future participants, by developing the project’s official case study template.

The Ultimate Step: Finalizing Case Studies

            Family firms truly represent the essence of the project. This has been demonstrated once again by the iterative process taking place between the Ulysses team and such firms. Once prepared the first draft of each case study, family firms got the chance to read and re-read their own case to provide feedback and validation.

At this point, case studies received their final format, brand new and shiny for the Ulysses Contest! 

Sounds exciting? Follow our social media sites and check out our newsletters to learn exciting additional information about the amazing family firms that we partnered with!