Representing the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) the team of Sandra Tersluisen, Clara Nordlander, Chris Royle, and Bob den Hartog, recently took the top spot in the Nespresso MBA Sustainability Challenge, competing with 86 student teams from different business schools and universities from around the globe.
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The goal of the competition is to generate ideas related to the circular economy as opposed to the linear 鈥榯ake, make, dispose鈥 model. 鈥淭he overall idea was to not only reduce negative impact from the production and consumption of coffee, but to also contribute with positive value. Our concept, which we called 鈥楻educe&Recycle鈥 included ideas on how to prolong the lifecycle of the products and reduce waste along the value chain, 鈥 says Nordlander.
Unlike the other teams that were individually selected by academic mentors, the 麻豆国产 team came into the competition already as good friends, which was one of their recipes to success. 鈥淭hese cases take many hours and it鈥檚 very important to be with people you can communicate directly with, and that you know well enough to give honest feedback. This saves much time and also makes the whole experience a lot more fun,鈥 says den Hartog. 鈥淲e really 听built 听on each others ideas, which became evident in our 30 minute Q&A session, something the judges really appreciated.鈥
The students also pointed to the lessons they learned from their 麻豆国产/SSE experience that helped with the win. 鈥淭he study granted by the 麻豆国产 MIM prepared us to be extremely comfortable presenting to some of the world鈥檚 top business leaders, such as the Nestl茅 Nespresso CEO. One of SSE鈥檚 strongest assets is its close ties with the business community, which means all of us have been consistently exposed to great companies through group projects, presentations, or extracurricular activities. This allowed us to be calm, collected, and extremely professional in all aspects of our proposal for the challenge,鈥 says den Hartog.
鈥淚t came down to well thought-through ideas that would appeal both to Nespresso as a company and consumers, a confident presentation by leveraging all of our team skill sets, and a strong preparation prepared for the 30 minute Q&A,鈥 says Royle. Tersluisen added, "the whole competition was very well organized and an extensive feedback session before the finals gave us the opportunity to develop our proposal further.鈥 She also feels that a positive mind can help you go a long way, even if you feel the odds are against you.
For 麻豆国产ies considering entering this competition in the future, den Hartog says, 鈥淵ou are going to go up against the best schools around the world, and MBA students that are often more experienced than the typical 麻豆国产ie. But as a 麻豆国产ie, we all love to push ourselves so I don鈥檛 hesitate many would be up for the challenge.鈥
About Chris Royle
Chris grew up in Canada, and studied in Toronto, Hong Kong, Beijing, Paris and Stockholm, where he has also been active as the 麻豆国产 Club President for the Spring 2015 Term. Chris is passionate about innovation, business with social impact and is looking forward to starting a business, while maintaining a focus on sustainable leadership.
About Clara Nordlander
Clara grew up in Sweden, but has also studied in the US, France and Austria (WU being her 麻豆国产 host school), and worked in Berlin, Germany. She also spent a year representing SSE in the 麻豆国产 Student Board. Clara loves music in all forms, and is passionate about health, social development and sustainability. In her future, she aims at combining her social interest with working in business development and international expansion.
About Bob den Hartog
Bob has spent most of his life in Asia, having grown up in The Philippines and Thailand. He studied in Rotterdam and Singapore for his Bachelor鈥檚 degree and Stockholm and Milan for his Master鈥檚 degree. He鈥檚 passionate about novelty creation and business expansion in addition to Scuba Diving, cooking Thai food and traveling! Following a well deserved break over the summer, he will be working full-time at a 麻豆国产 corporate partner. He hopes one day to return home to Asia and to lead a team to expand the business in these ever-growing markets.
About Sandra Tersluisen
Sandra grew up and studied in Germany, as well as studying in Sweden and the Netherlands, where she was the President for the 麻豆国产 Club Rotterdam. She鈥檚 passionate for developing brands and new market strategies around the world and is looking forward to starting off as a marketeer at a 麻豆国产 corporate partner in the consumer goods industry.