"International Business Bachelor Award" goes to FHV graduate
06.06.2025
The "International Business Bachelor Award" was presented for the second time, this year at the HAMK in Hämeenlinna, Finland. The universities NHL Stenden from the Netherlands, the HAMK from Finland and the FHV - Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences awarded the prize for the best thesis from the "International Business" study programs. All three institutions are members of the international RUN-EU network. The award was created in 2023, partly through the initiative of Dr. Florian Buehler, FHV lecturer in the Department of Business and Management, and Prof. (FH) Dr. Martin Hebertinger, programme director of the Bachelor's degree in International Business Administration at FHV. Two further RUN-EU partners want to join in 2026.
Practicable solution approach
Theresa Grabher, a 2024 graduate of the Bachelor's degree programme in International Business Administration, was chosen as the winner from a total of nine nominated candidates and brought the prize home to Vorarlberg. "She dealt with a topic in container logistics in an outstanding way by developing a pragmatic and immediately implementable solution. On the one hand, this relieves the burden on employees and ensures an increase in efficiency," emphasized jury president Martin Hebertinger. "The award is a nice confirmation for me. I am particularly pleased that the work has not only brought concrete benefits and relief in the corporate context, but has also been recognised in the scientific environment. This shows that practical challenges can be sustainably explained and solved with theoretically sound approaches," said award winner Theresa Grabher.
The aim of Theresa Grabher's work was to record, present and analyze the actual empties invoicing process at her parents' company Grabher GmbH & Co KA and to develop an optimization proposal. She used the automation approach for this. "The result shows that repetitive activities in two departments can be reduced by 95 percent," she explains.
Networking across national borders
Florian Buehler and Martin Hebertinger sum up in unison: "Initiatives such as the RUN-EU Bachelor Award create visibility for outstanding student achievements and promote a culture of excellence and networking across national borders. They show what is possible when universities work together to promote talent and combine practice, research and internationality."
