NHH students solve Olympic Games challenges
Five Norwegian students have spent their Easter break at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland to evaluate how to guarantee an economically sustainable reuse of Olympic Games facilities. 50 students from Europe, among them two from NHH, participated in Deloitte's annually Student Business Forum.
14.05.2007 - Red.
Norwegians at Student Business Forum: Frode Johannesen (BI), Thomas Huang (NTNU), Henna Lappi (NHH), Jørgen Holterud Aarsnes (NHH) and Ole Ruch (UiO).
Between 700 and 800 students from all over Europe applied for a spot in Deloitte's Student Business Forum. Only 50 students won a place, among them 5 Norwegians who now possess knowledge which can be very helpful for Tromsø's Olympic Games bid.
Relevant for Norway
The case competition of the annual Student Business Forum was about how to guarantee sustainable development of stadium facilities that are build in connection with the Olympic Games in London in 2012. Even if London and Tromsø meet different challenges in relation to this, it is obvious that many of the ideas and solutions are also relevant for the Norwegian candidate city, states NHH student Henna Lappi, who is one of the five Norwegian students who participated.
According to Lappi many suggestions have been developed on how to build and manage the facilities in an environmentally responsible way, what model of ownership is suitable, how to guarantee the participation of local community in the project, and how to guarantee that the local community profits from the Olympic games and its constructions - also after the Olympic Winter Games are over.
Olav Strøno of Deloitte leaves no doubt about that the Norwegian students can give Tromsø some useful advices.
- There was no shortage of ideas and solutions from the 50 hand-selected students in Lausanne. I am sure that Tromsø can get useful advice and not least valuable inspiration from the students in its coming application stage.
Not only economics
During the hectic days, the students received a thorough introduction into sport economics from experts within Deloitte and IMD. Furthermore students gained insight on how some of the football giants, such as Real Madrid and Manchester United, manage their stadium facilities.
- We have not only looked into the financial aspects of Olympic Games facilities, but also on how to guarantee that stadium facilities survive as Olympic icons. The Viking ship in Hamar is a good example for a stadium which many years after the Olympic Games is established as an icon. The challenges for such facilities are to guarantee long-sightedness in the financial business, says Hanni Lappi, who is a student at NHH
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About the Business Forum
The Students Business Forum is arranged annually from Deloitte and takes place at one of the world's most renowned institutions for economic education, the IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The background for the Student Business Forum is to give some of the best European students the opportunity to meet experts from Deloitte and IMD and to solve realistic and concrete business challenges. A comprehensive recruitment process lies behind the selection of the 50 participants from the total of 7000 applicants. Amongst other things, the students must have top grades and prior international experience.
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