Representatives of Suitable for Business
The creation and flow of knowledge and competences in Denmark is seen as a direct path to increased and sustainable growth, new job creation and better solutions to global challenges. Students at universities and other institutions of higher education will be the main source of knowledge creation and transfer in the future, including those from the humanities and social sciences. Initiatives such as "Suitable for Business" that aim to strengthen interaction between students and society are a very welcome and increasingly important way to ensure that the right competences and knowledge are available to both public and private sectors in Denmark. In that context, I support "Suitable for Business" and hope you will have a productive and successful conference.
Morten Østergaard, Danish Minister of Research, Innovation and Higher Education
I personally support Suitable for Business because it is driven by critical and creative students, who cooperate across, and who want something from their education, and the society
Hanne Leth Andersen, pro-rector at Roskilde University
Suitable for Business shows that students have passion, initiative and engagement to use their education to something, which can create value in society, and it demonstrates how students are a part of the greatest resources we have in the modern knowledge society
Maja Horst, Head of Department of Media, Cognition and Communication, Faculty of Humanities, Copenhagen University
To succeed in The Red Cross we have to focus on human relations concerning how people function and how you motivate people. This is where humanities and social science is important. I believe that people with a background in humanities and social science bring in the necessary knowledge about organization and motivation that is crucial in order to maximize value creation in an organization. That is why I support Suitable for Business.
Anders Ladekarl, General Secretary at Dansk Røde Kors, BA in History and Master in Economics
Business - or organizations - are a neatly patterned network of humans with intentions, ideals & quests to influence. A network that students from the humanities & social sciences can contribute to understanding. Student who are ambitious in their quest to understand this try to combine their theoretical knowledge with getting as much practical experience from different types of organizations a early as possible… and they are highly appreciated by most unusual business…
Henriette Divert-Hendricks, Partner in IMPLEMENT Consulting Group, cand.mag in Danish and English
To create value you need to understand the market. To understand the market you need to understand human behaviour. That is why business needs the knowledge of the humanities and social sciences more than ever. And that is why Suitable for Business is such a brilliant idea. When the brightest minds of the humanities and social sciences meet business it cannot avoid creating value for all.
Stig Kirk Ørskov, COO, Executive Vice President, JP/Politikens Hus.
Suitable for Business is a unique initiative driven by students to defend the relevance of educating humanities. Humanities is today used in all sectors in society as a resource in public administration, companies and the civil society
David Budtz Pedersen,PhD. in Philosophy at University of Copenhagen and Special Advisor at Ministry for Science, Innovation and Higher Education
CBS Students is proud to represent students from a variety of study programs that already explore and define the links between the business world and the humanities. Business and language, business and sociology, business and philosophy are just some of the many fascinating programs that CBS offers to students. CBS Students is happy to collaborate with such an agenda setting organization as Suitable for Business, as they bring to light the usefulness and vitality of the humanistic competences in the realm of business.
Niklas Frijs-Madsen & Philip Hardø, Presidents of CBS Students
The humanities can grow stagnant behind academic trenches - but Suitable for Business really puts the knowledge of human interactions to good use, right where it's needed: outside of the textbook, squarely in the middle of the real and lived world!
Mads Damgaard & Philip Winkel, Association of Students of the Humanities, Copenhagen University
more representatives...
Pierre Guillet de Monthoux, Head of Department Management, Politics and Philosophy, Copenhagen Business School
Sune Skadegaard Thorsen, CEO & Senior Partner, CSR Global
Helge Hvid, Professor at the Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change (ENSPAC), Roskilde University
Klaus Kvorning Hansen, consulent, chairman DANSK IT, mag.art. in philosophy
Adam Holm, Anchor man, Deadline, DR2, ph.d. in history
Maurice Biriotti, Chief Executive SHM Productions, BA (Hons) and MPhil
Hans Ubbe Ebbesen, Diversity consultant, Novo Nordisk A/S, Corporate People and Organisation
Vincent Hendricks, dr.phil. and professor in Philosophy, University of Copenhagen and visiting professor at Columbia University, Editor-in-chief of the philosophical journal Synthese, Radio- and TV-host at Danmarks Radio.
Henrik Hovgaard, futurist, Research Chief, Future Navigator
Pia Gjellerup, Political Chief at DJØF (Danish Association of Lawyers and Economists)
Henrik Skovby, Executive Chairman, Dalberg Group
Mikkel Trym, Director at Copenhagen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab (CIEL)
Stina Vrang Elias, CEO DEA
Steen Nepper Larsen, Associate Professor, GNOSIS Research Centre Mind and Thinking, AArhus University, cand.mag in history and society, ph.d.
Lars Frølund, Aarhus University, Center for Entrepreneuship and Innovation
Sara Gade Hansen, Senior Consultant, DI
Alan Irwin, Dean of Research at Copenhagen Business School
Thomas Hammer-Jakobsen, Partner at Copenhagen Living Lab
Francesco Avvisati, analyst of the Centre for Education, Research and Innovation (CERI) at the OECD
Ingrid Stage, President DM
Henry Etzkowitz, Stanford University
Snapshots from the winners experience
Suitable for Business 2012 was won by Anne Bech, Lene Wie Krog, Sofie Nielsen and Stine Ilum - four anthropologists from Copenhagen University. We have received some comments from the winner team, which we have permission and possibility to share.
Lene Wie Krog tells: “Suitable for Business was a very valuable experience, one that I will remember in the years to come. I learned a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of my own field of study and I enjoyed listening to the speakers at the conference. Furthermore, being part of Suitable for Business has opened new doors for me career wise and I can't wait to explore the new possibilities.”
Anne Bech says: “It was a really nice opportunity to meet students from other "soft" disciplines who are also interested in getting hands on experience with case solving and private business. It was nice to meet the jury, the real life businessmen, and to solve a real life case. I got a kick out of presenting our case solution the 2nd time for the entire jury and audience. It was really nice and funny to present our ideas and find out that they were actually really cool. The pep talks we got along the way were extremely helpful - the guys from venture cap are really talented!”
Sofie Nielsen also had a positive experience: “I learned a lot about the business world and what it takes to enter it as a social scientist, met a lot of interesting people and listened to some really exciting speakers”, and she continues “it is hard to point out one thing that was the best at Suitable for Business. If I have to, I would have to say, that I was very inspired by meeting so many other students with the same goal and the same wish as me: to show that human and social sciences are valuable for the business world. But then again, it was also very inspiring to hear all the different speakers, who made me reflect upon what I myself can do, to show the business world, that I have skills to offer.”
Anne Bech hopes to use the winner check from Unibrew for a trip to Berlin. The team also received the audience price, which included concert tickets from Nordisk Film and Pumpehuset.
Testimonials from organizing committee 2012
“From participating in the case writing at Suitable for Business, I learned a lot about how to apply my competencies from my education in practice. The interaction I had with people from ‘the real life business world’ made me more aware of how to interact within this area and how to use my skills. I now both feel more comfortable with dealing with people from business life and more aware of what I can contribute to in this context. Besides this I’ve learned a lot about how to manage a big event and how to handle the process leading up to such an event plus how to work within an organisation that only relies on volunteerism. Working within SfB has learned me a lot, and I have gained a lot of experience and new competencies from this.” Cecilie Bisgaard-Nøhr
“I have learned a lot about working in autonomous groups, united by a single goal, and the importance of continuous debate, motivation and focus on the goal.
I have gotten a really good network, consisting of fun, willfull and determined people. I have had a chance to practice my skills within marketing. I have been introduced to a lot of suitable IT-solutions.” David Pedersen
“Being part of Suitable for Business has been a very rewarding experience and I have grown much more confident in my abilities to clealy express myself in English. I was very glad with the level confidence shown in me (and everybody else) and I was allowed to assume specific responsibilities, such as composing and sending out the newsletter, which made me feel a strong sense of ownership and attachment. What I enjoyed most about SfB 2012 was getting to know the rest of the committee and seeing everyone grow throughout the year. While we were divided into separate committess there was no sense of isolation; everyone was very help and good at contributing when needed.” Christine Ebert
“Seeing our work of the last months finally materialising in the Suitable for Business week was an incredible experience. As a member of the case development team, I found it in particular interesting to see the case we wrote interpreted from a variety of different perspectives during the competition. Furthermore, it was a unique chance to meet and network with new people - coming from a completely different academic background then my own.”Valentina Cullmann
“Upside down, around and about - organizing a conference and case competition requires one to use all sorts of different skills. Most of all, it requires cooperation, communication and coordination. The six months we have spent on Suitable for Business has not only been a process of creating a program which would show how students of the humanities and social science can contribute in the world of business - it has also been a concrete setting in which to take our skills and create a functioning organization. The vision of Suitable for Business is important in our time, the experience of creating Suitable for Business is important for me as a student.” Josefine Bill
"Being a part of the organizing committee of Suitable for Business 2012, and more specific Academic Interaction, was rewarding for us in many ways. First the work with deciding on themes, events, content and booking speakers is of course practical work for a good part, but also it is a great process of reflection on general humanistic and social scientific competencies - and in relation to this a very fruitful reflection on our own skills. Also a big positive surprise and eye-opener was the experience that people you normally consider out of reach for student interaction, like ministers, business leaders and internationally known scholars, are often only an email or a phone call away as long as you have a good case that they want to support and be a part of." Simon Sadolin, Jonas Aaen & Catja Nilsson, Academic Interaction
“I learned how to organize a grand conference, especially in regards of funding. I learned how to contact and communicate with sponsors on "a business" level, plus I have gotten experience on how to arrange the finale at the case competition and composite a jury. It has very inspiring and energizing working together with the other students of the organizing committee. It has been great "thinking big" and making it all happen. As an anthropology student I have had a lot fun trying to learn how to navigate in the business world and try on the role of networking.” Ida Marie Lind
A word from case participants 2011
"Participating in Suitable for Business was literally an eye-opener. To convert theory to practice is a huge challenge but for humanities and social sciences, the dilemma is to convert intangible, qualitative knowledge into quantitative value on the bottom line. SfB showed me that the humanities and social sciences are indispensable in a society were innovation and creativity are the future competitive advantages."
Maja Maria Nielsen, Århus University, Case Participant 2011
"Being a case participant has been an unique experience and an eye-opener. It has helped me explore and define my competencies and I am now better able to identify how I can add value to the business community. Suitable for Business 2011 was a creative space that induced out-of-the-box-thinking, and I therefore encourage fellow students to apply and explore the many dimensions of businesses!."
Cecilie Bisgaard-Nøhr, Roskilde University, Case Participant 2011
“Participating in the Suitable for Business case competition 2011 was without a doubt one of the most exiting challenges I have met so far during my time at university. It was a great pleasure to get the chance to apply my academic skills for solving an actual case, and prove, not only to myself, but also to an audience and a jury how social science can contribute to business life. I cannot recommend this event strongly enough."
Rasmus Brun Hansen, Købenahvns Universitet, Case Participant 2011