Entrepreneurship

In order to exploit the full potential of the circular economy, companies need to develop holistic solutions and rethink their business models. With this in mind, a summer school entitled Circular Economy was organized by Merseburg University's start-up service in September 2023 with the aim of developing innovative ideas for new business models with a focus on circular models. Current trends in materials science were used as conceivable scenarios for circular forms of economic activity in the idea generation process. Entrepreneurship is an interface function here. Entrepreneurs not only want to run companies, they also want to bring about change with new products, services and business processes.

For many enterprises, an effective innovation management is an essential part of their sustainable corporate strategy. Without a doubt, creating product, process and business model innovations is necessary to survive the dynamic competition of the 21st century. Opinions differ regarding the question which modality is best to attain this goal. A universally valid model to increase innovation dynamics does not exist. However, the conventional approaches of the last few decades have something in common: They seem to reach its limits in the sense of Industry 4.0 and radical market changes. The use of corporate venture capital can enable corporations to not only react to the change, but also to shape it proactively.