A GLOBAL / COUNTRY STUDY AND REPORT ON “SWITZERLAND” Submitted to Gujarat Technological University IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT OF THE AWARD FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF KINJAL PALVANKAR DIRECTOR Submitted by (STUDENT NAME) [Batch : 2010-12, Enrollment No.:____] MBA SEMESTER III/IV ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PARUL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT (MBA 2ND SHIFT) Affiliated to Gujarat Technological University Ahmedabad MAY 2012 1 GROUP 1 SUMMARY Introduction It has been found that a lot of the area of Switzerland is covered with forests, lakes and mountains. Since Switzerland has no mineral resources, it was found that the country was always in a need to import the minerals. Not only had that but after receiving the minerals the country had to also process and resell them as products. "Services" are the most important part of the economy. This includes banking, assurances and tourism. Like India Switzerland’s also known as an agriculture country. Farming is also an important part of the economy. But the production by the farmers of the country was not sufficient and thus it is not sufficient enough to fulfill the food needs of the countrymen. So this is the main reason why Switzerland has to rely on imported goods from other countries. THE THREE SECTORS The economy in Switzerland is divided into three sectors: 1. Landwirtschaft ("Agriculture") 2. Industrie ("Industry") 3. Dienstleistungen ("Services") 1. Landwirtschaft ("Agriculture") It has been found out that less than 10% of the population is employed in the Landwirtschaft ("agriculture"). Yet it is considered as the primary sector for the GDP of the country. Although this sector has a larger gain as they have the support of the Swiss Government. 2 About 40% of the population are employed in the Industrie, Gewerbe und Handwerk ("Industry, Trade & Handicraft"), also considered the secondary sector. This sector includes the Maschinen- und Metallindustrie ("machine and metal industry"), Uhrenindustrie ("watch industry") and the Textilindustrie ("textile industry"). All of them export much of their products to foreign countries and suffer a lot because of the expensive Swiss Franc. The fact that Switzerland does not belong to the European Union additionally slows down the Swiss exports. More than 50% of the population are employed in the Dienstleistungssektor ("Services"), also considered the tertiary sector. This sector includes banking, assurances, tourism and so on. Banking is one of the most important businesses in Switzerland. Many of the banks have started to use the Internet for business purposes. FEDERAL SYSTEM OF SWITZERLAND In federal system Constitution of Switzerland the political structure of Switzerland consists of three different political levels i.e. the Confederation, the cantons and the local authorities. The Confederation only has authority in those areas in which it is empowered by the Constitution of Switzerland. All the other tasks are dealt with by the cantons. In some areas, the Confederation and the cantons share certain responsibilities in some of the areas. The Federal Constitution of Swiss is the legal foundation of the Confederation and It contains the most important rules for the functioning of the Confederation as well as it guarantees the basic rights of the people and the participation of the public. PARLIAMENT OF SWITZERLAND 3 The Federal Assembly is the Swiss parliament, is a bicameral one. It is composed of two chambers i.e. The Council of States and the National Council. The chambers of parliament meet normally for four sessions a year, each of approx. three weeks. In Swiss parliament both chambers are having equal rights and equal status in administration of country. ECOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT OF SWITZERLAND Environment of Switzerland Switzerland is consisting of lots of activities and services are the main part of economy. Industries, swarming, transport activities and other service activities are the main part of Switzerland and services are providing in such a way that they all are finding their space in the area. There is also adverse impact on the land of changes in climate and that brings about the threats of flooding as well as threats to tourism and transportation sector. Quality of Water The water of the Switzerland is used for various purposes. These are like drinking, power generation, transport, irrigation etc…… The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) is responsible for save the resources from the pollution and also from over usage. Swiss constitution also consist of the protection of waterways.. There is also eye on the water quality and proper control system is established to monitor water quality. The FOEN has two programmes to oversee this task. The National Long Term Investigation of Flowing Swiss Waters (NADUF) is responsible for rivers, while The National Network for Groundwater Quality Observation (NAQUA) monitors ground water. The purity of the water is good. It means the water which comes out from the taps is as pure and clean as bottled mineral water. 4 Air Pollution – the matter of Concern There is also the question of pollution and especially Air pollution is considerable question. It directly affects to the environment and health of the human being. The main reason for the pollution includes nitrogen dioxide and other organic compounds and it come from a different sources, specially road transport and industry. Others are benzene, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and ammonia. But there are also remedies for that and technical improvements have helped to reduce the emission of pollutants in past two decades or so, but whereas industry is much less polluting than formerly, the increase in transport of all kinds has more or less cancelled out the gains made in this area by technical advances. Introduction to horticulture Definition: - High investment crop production using resources intensively for high value product. A new extension concept for horticulture in Switzerland A new model has been designed to address the demands of the horticulture sector and also for solving problems related to the sector. All these would be done on the basis of applied research activities. This model has been developed by the Agroscope Wadenswil extension. There are 5 major reasons due to which this new extension concept came into existence: 5 The factors responsible are as follows: 1) Horticultural research was experiencing downsizing in the 1990’s by more than 40%. 2) The pressure on the economic as well as political fronts, increased on the growers due to lack to a strong strategic orientation towards horticultural research. 3) The agricultural and horticultural researches were found mainly theoretical and were highly criticized by all the stakeholders associated with the business and the growth of the same. 4) There was a gap being found between the standards set and those that were achieved with reference to fund raising and like wise that were addressing the pressing needs of growers, with directly applicable research results. This model is mainly designed for the regional extension services and the growers as the clients of the Wadenswil crew. The main motives behind formation of this concept were 1. To apply the experimented results by demonstration and 2. Also knowledge transfer activities and 3. Most importantly providing solutions to the pressing issues of the growers. The solutions to the problems are provided on the prioritized evaluation of the problems of the growers. 6 This concept so far has proved to be a success due to the following factors. i) Stakeholders are happy with the new system, ii) There has been significant team development and increase in competency among the stakeholders. Although the above measures are inculcated in the new extension concept, there are certain loop holes that have been found: 1) A high degree of flexibility is required 2) A specific adoption concept for a specific commodity group is necessary. 3) A commodity group specific adaptation of the steering procedure is useful for the acceptance and success of the model, 4) A fair amount of “energy” and resources is needed to manage the pressure at the growers‘ front to which extension is particularly exposed It may be concluded, that an improved acceptance of horticultural research by policy makers has been achieved. INVESTMENT IN HORTICULTURE IN SWISS The Governments of Switzerland and Denmark both are investing in a joint project, aimed at developing the horticulture in Kosovo. In 2001, The Swiss Project for Horticulture Promotion, Kosovo (SPHPK) was launched with the overall goal being the creation of sustainable employment and income through the promotion of the horticulture-agribusiness sector and thereby helping to improve overall rural livelihoods and increasing the income of rural people with the help of horticulture. In initial period, the Project is implemented by Helvetas Swiss Interco operation, is a Swiss Foundation for Development and Cooperation - and is currently one of the two main projects in SDC’s Economy and Employment Domain portfolio. 7 Government of Denmark commenced a 5-year commitment to jointly fund the Project of approximately doubling the funding available in January 2008. Since then there is a substantial increase in activities and human resources – particularly in the areas of agri-business and environment (integrated production). It also made a change in the name of the Project to simply ‘Horticultural Promotion in Kosovo’ (HPK). The Project has been successful and it has been utilizing a combination of value chain and sector-wide approaches. Its involvement has covered field vegetables, greenhouse production, soft and top fruit, ornamentals and Non Wood Forest Products (NWFP). HPK project has introduced the Competitive Fund for Horticulture (CFH) which since the year of 2009 has proven to be a good tool for leveraging investments in horticulture sector thus generating income and employment in the country During two years of implementation of CFH, 54 projects were co-financed at a value of € 630.400, leveraging investment of over € 1.5 million.