#telanto

[telanto2015]

‘Be the Change: Leadership for a Positive New Era’

by IESE Alumni Magazine

“IF YOU WANT TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR, YOU HAVE TO BE TRULY PASSIONATE ABOUT IT.” Timo Kerzel (EMBA ’12), co-founder and COO of Telanto 

[telanto2015]

Next Generation Science & Technology Parks

by Timo Kerzel

Next generation Science & Technology Parks (STPs) need to step up their collaboration game to deliver against public and private sector return on investment expectations and own performance indicators.

Next generation Science & Technology Parks (STPs) need to step up their collaboration game to deliver against public and private sector return on investment expectations and own performance indicators.

Expectations of next generation STPs

STPs have come a long way since the early beginnings in the mid-1960s (in Europe) and undergone a number of transitions to yet arrive at another transition to the next generation of STPs. Past success factors, such as size of land and buildings to be developed are no longer under the most relevant indicators for potential success of a STP. Their tenants and the knowledge-base in general demands the provision of services that enable the creation of new (knowledge- and innovation-led) business, accelerate the growth of existing ones as well as the easy attraction of inward investments.

Successful STPs have been able to deliver on public investment expectations by creating high value added jobs in their locality and have matured to sustain themselves through mostly traditional STP business models, e.g. rental and service charges, like catering, mentoring, etc.. Successfully identifying and implementing new business model could be an additional income stream for STPs, which haven’t yet been identified or exploited in an efficient manner, which will further define the next generation of STPs

Create value through collaboration in a digitally transformed world

Foster collaboration amongst STP tenants and their entire knowledge-base is a well-known and documented best practice. For instance by providing collaboration spaces and “managed serendipity” so researchers, entrepreneurs, students, business angels, mentors and investors can be part of the same ecosystem. In that digitalization plays a vital role to support changed behaviours, especially of younger professionals in the knowledge-base.

In terms of the main drivers of STPs, being the creation of high value added employment, tech-/ knowledge based business as well as return for public and private investments, STPs can benefit from the employment of digital solutions. Depending on size, geographical spread of the knowledge-base, number of businesses, research and academic institutions, corporate ventures, venture capital as well as the STPs maturity, digitalization can contribute in different ways, all of those present the STP as a state-of-the-art STP embracing digitalization for efficient and effective development of their knowledge-base.

Quote: “Building the right ‘software’ into a Park is where the true value lies.” - Dr. Andrew Witty, CEO GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), 2009

Academic Knowledge Transfer Establishing formal knowledge-base networks, by creating proximity through office, meeting and collaboration spaces  is at the center of STPs doing. Thus facilitating physical environments and opportunities for idea exchange and collaboration.

Opportunity for digitalization: Connect knowledge transfer actors in a STP on a digital platform to add the virtual collaboration dimension, including students for project internship programmes Manage information and share effectively with targeted users on the platform Understand the value of contributions made by the actors of the ecosystem

New Business Creation Facilitating affordable office solutions for founders and an incubation scheme with connected legal and advisory services along with help to access public funding, proofs to be the setup of choice for STPs to encourage entrepreneurs to create businesses and take the step into managing the entire scope of setting up and running a Startup.

Opportunity for digitalization: Utilize digital support the entire (or parts of the) problem-to-market (or idea-to-market) process Transform traditional, offline innovation processes into digital and novel open crowdsourcing approaches (open innovation concept) Versatile and proficient knowledge management capability through transparency of challenges, ideas, research undertakings, projects, businesses, investment and venture opportunities across the entire ecosystem Enable the connection of diverse and rich source of risk finance to support entrepreneurs and SMEs undertaking innovation, e.g. through crowdfunding procedures

High value-added employment With a working knowledge transfer and a business creation incubation scheme STPs get to fulfill their innate objective to create lasting high value-added employment. Typically knowledge about existing skills and competencies within a STP is rather drawn from approximations, than actual skills and competencies present at a certain point in time. For instance the research institutes main focus of investigation or the general focus of businesses present in the STP are such proxies to identify, whether competencies in certain fields of science, technology and or industries are available. Required skills and competencies to achieve true academic transfer to build new business and create employment is more, than just approximations based on high level information, but must be based on the individuals within the reach of the knowledge-base of the STP.

Opportunity for digitalization: Build insights of skills and competencies available (or required for) in the entire knowledge-base of the STP Detect and select the required skills for a task, project or for incorporation into a startup or business venture

Building next generation STPs with collaborative social network for Science and Technology Parks

TELANTO is an unique Academic Business Network, which introduces novel and holistic digital processes to academia and business ecosystems such as Science and Technology Parks on the quest to drive efficient and effective collaboration, innovation and talent output.

Furthermore it enables STPs to stay on track with societal changes in collaboration behaviour and provisions a social network that allows all actors in the STP to be part of it, regardless of timely geographic or other physical constraints.

Its processes based on relevant use cases for STPs allow for game-changing results within the management of parks around the world.

Provide a trusted business network for all actors in the ecosystem to share information and knowledge Facilitate and accelerate the innovation process, through crowdsourcing and crowdfunding mechanisms Detect talents with required skills and competences within the knowledge-base and motivate them to innovate and collaborate Inclusion of private businesses to engage with the knowledge-base to source innovations and identify + hire required skills, and thereby creating new income streams for STPs Attract additional investors, corporate ventures and business angels and allow them to further spread their risks by backing startups through crowdfunding campaigns

Conclusion

Deploying novel solutions to drive collaboration within STP’s knowledge-base is already becoming a determining factor in delivering against academic and business stakeholders expectations and beyond as well as becoming the new definition of next generation Science and Technology Parks.

Author(s) Short Bio

Timo Kerzel is Co-Founder of the Edu-Tech Software Start-Up TELANTO, counting on a +15 year track record in global marketing, business development and business management in various companies including SAP. He holds an Executive MBA from IESE Business School, Barcelona and his B.A. from the School of Management & Innovation (Steinbeis) in Berlin. Furthermore certified as a Design Thinking Coach from HPI in Potsdam, Timo is passionate about customer and user centric solutions, creating true value for TELANTO's “Academic Business Network” Community.

[telanto2015]

Innovationen frisch von der Uni - Wo Studenten als Unternehmensberater arbeiten

by WirtschaftsWoche, Kerstin Dämon

Aldi tut es, Ikea tut es, Daimler erst recht: Sie nutzen Studenten als Unternehmensberater. Auch Mittelständler sollten "Grünschnäbeln" eine Chance geben: Besser kommt man nicht an neue Ideen - und potentielle Bewerber.

Aldi tut es, Ikea tut es, Daimler erst recht: Sie nutzen Studenten als Unternehmensberater. Auch Mittelständler sollten "Grünschnäbeln" eine Chance geben: Besser kommt man nicht an neue Ideen - und potentielle Bewerber.

„Wir leben in einer Zeit des exponentiellen Fortschritts“, sagte Sascha Lobo, Autor, Blogger, Journalist und digitaler Allrounder, am 6. Oktober im Frankfurter Westin Grand-Hotel bei einem Vortrag zum Thema Zukunft der Arbeit. Das bedeute, dass Technologien schon wieder out seien, bevor man überhaupt verstanden habe, wofür sie gut seien.

Und das macht vielen Unternehmen große Sorgen. Nicht nur der rasante technische Fortschritt und die sich ändernden Anforderungen an die Mitarbeiter, auch die immer neuen, immer schlechter vorhersagbaren Konkurrenten machen ihnen das Leben schwer: Tesla, eigentlich ein Software-Unternehmen, verkauft in den USA mittlerweile mehr Luxusautos als irgendein anderer Anbieter. Die Welt spielt scheinbar verrückt, da ist guter Rat teuer.

Beratermarkt profitiert von der Unsicherheit

Entsprechend profitiert die Beraterbranche: Laut Bundesverband Deutscher Unternehmensberater belief sich der Umsatz der Unternehmensberatungsbranche in Deutschland 2015 auf rund 27 Milliarden Euro. Zum Vergleich: 2001 waren es noch 12,9 Milliarden – und selbst zu Zeiten der Finanzkrise lag der Umsatz der externen Berater bei 18,2 (2008) beziehungsweise 17,6 Milliarden Euro (2009). Seitdem steigt die Hilfsbedürftigkeit der Unternehmen quasi täglich.

Die Top Unternehmensberatungen nach Umsatz auf dem deutschen Markt sind McKinsey, The Boston Consulting Group und Roland Berger. Aber neben den großen Kanzleien gibt es einen regelrechten Beraterdschungel: Deutschlandweit existieren 15.425 verschiedene Beratungsunternehmen, für die gut 109.500 Berater arbeiten.

Wer keinen klassischen Unternehmensberater an Bord holen, aber trotzdem frische Ideen ins Unternehmen bringen will, kann mit Universitäten kooperieren. Gerade im Mittelstand ist das ein weitverbreitetes Modell: Die Studierenden können sich praktisch austoben und ihr Wissen anwenden, die Unternehmen sparen Kosten. Von den 100 innovativsten deutschen Mittelständlern arbeitet weit mehr als die Hälfte regelmäßig mit Unis zusammen.

Start-up vermittelt Kooperationen mit Hochschulen

Die Brücke zwischen Betrieb und Forschungseinrichtung will das Start-up Telanto künftig schlagen und mittelständische Unternehmen mit Studierenden zusammenbringen. „Action Learning“ nennen die Telanto-Gründer ihr Modell. Der Gedanke dahinter: Ein Unternehmen startet auf der Website einen „Call for Solution“ und Studierende der Partnerhochschulen – unter anderem die HTW Berlin, die Universität Barcelona, die Hochschule Fresenius oder die WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management - können sich darauf bewerben, die Probleme des Unternehmens zu lösen. So sammeln sie praktische Erfahrungen, das Unternehmen wird seine Probleme los – und im besten Fall lernen sich so Arbeitgeber und künftiger Bewerber kennen.

Derzeit können sich Studierende beispielsweise an einer digitalen Strategie für ein mittelständisches deutsches Unternehmen die Zähne ausbeißen, die Internationalisierung eines französischen Konsumgüterherstellers vorantreiben oder einem Schweizer Pharmaunternehmen bei einem Projekt rund um Tiergesundheit helfen. In der Regel haben die Studenten dafür drei Monate Zeit.

Im Oktober beginnt die Konzeptionsphase eines solchen Projekts bei Somfy. Das Unternehmen aus Rottenburg am Neckar entwickelt und vertreibt Antriebs- und Steuerungstechnik für Rollläden, Sonnenschutz, Garagen- und Hoftore – und stellt im Schnitt pro Jahr zehn neue Mitarbeiter ein.

„Wir investieren viel in Sozialleistungen"

„Bis 2025 sind wir vermutlich 50 bis 60 Leute mehr. Da stellt sich die Frage: Baut man an oder kann man deutlich stärker Richtung Home-Office gehen?“, sagt Carlo Sprenger, Leiter Personalwesen bei Somfy. Diese Fragen sollen Studierende beantworten, in dem sie die "Arbeitswelt 2025 bei Somfy" entwerfen und entwickeln. Pläne, die sich als realistisch erweisen, will das Unternehmen in die Tat umsetzen. Trotzdem tut sich schon jetzt einiges: „Wir wollen weg vom Konzept des reinen Arbeitsplatzes“, sagt Sprenger.

Auch wenn es blumig klinge wolle man bei Somfy lieber ein Erlebnisplatz sein, an dem die Mitarbeiter sich wohl fühlen. „Wir investieren viel in Sozialleistungen und Aufmerksamkeiten wie Gratiskaffee, Gratisgetränke oder Betriebsfahrräder.“ Und wer könnte besser entscheiden, ob sich das auch in Zukunft lohnt, als die potentiellen künftigen Mitarbeiter?

Neben Somfy arbeiten etwa Groupon, Bioprognos, Aldi, Ikea, Philips Healthcare oder das KaDeWe mit den Telanto-Studenten zusammen. Mit Erfolg: Die Problemlösequote der vermittelten Studenten-Teams liegt bei 90 Prozent.

Studentenjob Unternehmensberater

Dass das Modell „Student berät Unternehmen“ auch langfristig erfolgreich ist, zeigt die Oscar GmbH. Die ausschließlich von Studenten und Absolventen geführte Unternehmensberatung feierte am 1. Oktober ihr 25-jähriges Bestehen. Rund zwei Millionen Euro Umsatz machen die Jungberater mit Projekten wie etwa einer Trendanalyse zur Untersuchung der künftigen Relevanz des Themas “Consumerization” für Vodafone, Marktanalysen im Bereich Membranpumpen für Saint Gobain PPP, Verbesserung der der Ausbildungs- und Traineestrukturen beim Deutschen akademischen Ausbildungsdienst oder der „Entwicklung, Konzeption und Implementierung einer internationalen Diskussionsplattform für Studenten“ bei Daimler.

Die Berater sitzen in Köln oder Stuttgart und haben mindestens vier Semester studiert, bevor sie bei Oscar anfangen dürfen. Ein Nebenjob ist die Unternehmensberatung bei Oscar jedoch nicht. Alle Angestellten arbeiten dort in Vollzeit, manche unterbrechen das Studium, andere nutzen ein Praxissemester oder die Pause zwischen Bachelorabschluss und Beginn des Masterstudiums, wie die ehemalige Geschäftsleitung des Kölner Standortes erklärte.

Ehemalig, weil die Jungberater nicht ewig bei dem Unternehmen bleiben. Oscar ist vielmehr als Karrieresprungbrett und Netzwerk für die Studierenden gedacht: Ein Projektmitarbeiter bleibe bis zu vier Monate, ein Abteilungsmitarbeiter vielleicht ein halbes Jahr. Geschäftsführer sind in der Regel erst Berater oder Abteilungsleiter – und anschließend ein Jahr lang Boss. Älter als 30 ist hier also niemand – nicht einmal die Geschäftsführung. Für die 400 Kunden, darunter 23 von 30 Dax-Konzernen, ist das kein Problem. Schließlich wollen sie junge, frische Ideen.

[telanto2015]

Universitäten als Ideenfabriken für den Mittelstand

by Sven Kamerar

Das rasante Innovationstempo allerorten macht den Austausch zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis zum Erfolgsfaktor für Unternehmen. Nur so bleiben sie auf der Höhe der Zeit. Ein Blick auf gelungene Kooperationen und auf ein Start-up, das daraus ein cleveres Geschäftsmodell entwickelt hat.

Das rasante Innovationstempo allerorten macht den Austausch zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis zum Erfolgsfaktor für Unternehmen. Nur so bleiben sie auf der Höhe der Zeit. Ein Blick auf gelungene Kooperationen und auf ein Start-up, das daraus ein cleveres Geschäftsmodell entwickelt hat. 

Noch haben nicht allzu viele Unternehmen begriffen, wie wichtig für sie der Austausch mit Wissenschaft und Forschung ist, um wirtschaftlich erfolgreich zu bleiben: Selbst von den Firmen, die das Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW) als „innovationsaktiv“ bezeichnet, kooperieren gerade einmal 6,8 Prozent mit Hochschulen und Forschungseinrichtungen. 

Nun kann man argumentieren: Nach den Maßstäben des ZEW sind 93,2 Prozent der Unternehmen auch ohne Kooperation erfolgreich. Man kann aber auch zu der Ansicht gelangen, dass diese Betriebe sich einfach mit dem Erreichten zufriedengeben und Potenzial verschenken. 

Zusammenarbeit als Innovations- und Wachstumsmotor 

Schaut man beispielsweise nur auf die TOP 100, also auf die innovativsten Unternehmen des deutschen Mittelstands, dann sieht man, dass überdurchschnittlich viele von ihnen regelmäßig mit Universitäten und Forschungseinrichtungen zusammenarbeiten: 66 Prozent. Kooperationen dieser Art sind also ein echter Innovations- und Wachstumstreiber. 

Das bestätigt Daniel Huber, der Geschäftsführer des viermaligen TOP 100-Unternehmens Peter Huber Kältemaschinenbau: „Wahre Technologiesprünge lassen sich durch die Zusammenarbeit mit externen Entwicklungspartnern am ehesten erkennen“, sagt der Mann, der mit seinen Technologien unter anderem ein Observatorium im Himalaja-Gebirge ausgestattet hat. 

Studenten organisieren virtuelle Modenschau 

Am Puls der Zeit bleiben: mit dem TOP 100-Blog Studenten organisieren virtuelle Modenschau Auch zwei Top-Innovatoren aus der Modebranche setzen auf universitäres Know-how und übertragen Studenten außergewöhnliche Innovationsprojekte. „Die Wissenschaftler und Studenten helfen uns aktuell zum Beispiel bei der 3-D-Simulation: Eine Software näht Stoffe virtuell zusammen, zieht die fertige Kleidung einem Avatar an und kann auch die Bewegung der Stoffe simulieren. Für solche Forschungen haben wir als Mittelständler gar nicht die Kapazitäten“, berichtet Helmut Schlotterer in einem Interview für das gerade erschienene TOP 100-Buch. Schlotterer ist Inhaber des international tätigen Damenmode-Herstellers Marc Cain. 

Der älteste Damenschuh-Hersteller Europas, die Peter Kaiser Schuhfabrik, profitiert ebenfalls von der Einbindung externen Wissens in seine Innovationsprozesse: Gemeinsam mit Studenten der Technischen Universität Berlin realisierten die Pirmasenser in einjähriger Entwicklungsarbeit einen fotorealistischen 3-D-Produktkonfigurator. Mit ihm können Kundinnen selbst zu Designerinnen werden und ihre eigenen Wunschschuhe und -handtaschen entwerfen. Peter Kaiser fertigt und versendet die individuellen Entwürfe in nur drei bis vier Wochen. 

TWL „mietet“ eine Universität 

Die Technischen Werke Ludwigshafen (TWL) zogen die Zusammenarbeit gleich etwas größer auf: 2015 veranstaltete der Energieversorger gemeinsam mit der Karlshochschule in Karlsruhe den Ideenworkshop „Rent a University“: 100 Studenten und 20 Professoren entwickelten gemeinsam neue Ideen für die Versorgungswirtschaft der Zukunft. 

„Nach dem ‚Open Space’-Konzept beschäftigte sich die Hochschule mit der Frage, welche Kundenbedürfnisse die Versorgungswirtschaft 2020 erfüllen soll. In drei Runden à 75 Minuten wurden unterschiedlichste Ideen in den Hochschulräumen generiert und bearbeitet. Von ‚Mobilität der Zukunft‘ über ‚Social Responsibility’ bis hin zu ‚Smart & Green Cities’ – den Gedanken waren keine Grenzen gesetzt“, berichtet das Unternehmen in seinem Newsletter. Die Ergebnisse wurden dann an der Karlshochschule im Rahmen eines Unternehmensprojekts weiter bearbeitet. 

Austausch mit Universitäten als Geschäftsmodell 

Nicht selten fehlt mittelständischen Unternehmen aber der Zugang zu Universitäten oder das Vertrauen in die Praxisnähe ihres Forschens. Diese Kluft will das Start-up Telanto mit Sitz in München und Barcelona überwinden. Das von ehemaligen SAP-Managern gegründete Unternehmen verwebt mit seinem „Academic Business Network“ Universitäten und Firmen. 

Unternehmen, die ein Problem zu lösen haben, können auf der Telanto-Webseite einen „Call for Solutions“ platzieren. Beim Blick auf die Webseite überrascht das breite Spektrum der aktuell zur Bearbeitung ausgeschriebenen Aufgaben: Es reicht vom Klassiker, der Erarbeitung einer Internationalisierungsstrategie, bis zu außergewöhnlichen Aufgaben wie die „Erhöhung der Akzeptanz in Kommunen für erneuerbare Energien“ und die „Tiergesundheit in Zentral-Molkereien". Letztere „Challenge“ ist übrigens mit einem Tiger-Bild illustriert, was einen eher unorthodoxen Lösungsansatz bedingen könnte. 

Fakultäten oder Professoren der unterschiedlichsten Fachrichtungen, die für ihre Studenten eine Praxisaufgabe suchen, können sich als Problemlöser bewerben. Umgekehrt können sie aber auch selbst „Calls for Challenges“ ausschreiben, wenn sie für ihre Studenten eine Praxisaufgabe aus Unternehmen im Rahmen eines akademischen Kurses suchen. „Die Studierenden sammeln so praktische Erfahrungen, die nicht für die Ausbildung konstruiert wurden, sondern aus der Unternehmensrealität stammen“, betont Telanto in einer Unternehmensmitteilung. 

Und auch die Unternehmen profitieren nicht nur von den neuesten wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen und studentischem Elan. Vielmehr lernen sie über die Projekte auch gleich vielversprechende „Young Potentials“ kennen und sparen sich die mühsame Suche nach neuen Mitarbeitern. Der Weg für weitere Innovationen ist damit geebnet.

[telanto2015]

Not everything is a bed of roses in Crowdsourcing

by Pablo Talice

Can a 20000 € advertising campaign win the best commercial in the Super Bowl? Doritos, a PepsiCo’s company, did it 2 times using crowdsourcing campaigns.

But not everything in crowdsourcing smells of roses.

Can a 20000 € advertising campaign win the best commercial in the Super Bowl? Doritos, a PepsiCo’s company, did it 2 times using crowdsourcing campaigns.

But not everything in crowdsourcing smells of roses. For example, the BP oil attempted to generate a campaign to prevent harmful effects on the environment after the oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, and the results were not as expected. Despite the 120,000 applications, only 30 were applied and none succeeded, resulting in a waste of time and resources, and the pollution generated could not be solved.

In this article we will talk about some advantages of crowdsourcing, and, more important, some disadvantages and how to solve them.

 Over the last years many definitions of the word crowdsourcing were proposed. Although it was Jeff Howe who used the word first, we believe the following definition, by Estellés & González (2012), is the most complete and accurate:

 "Crowdsourcing is a type of online participatory activity in which a person, institution, nonprofit organization or company, proposes to a group of individuals, through an open and flexible call, free and voluntary execution of a task. The completion of the task, of varying complexity and modularity, and where the crowd should participate by contributing their labor, money, knowledge, and / or experience, always involves a mutual benefit. Participants get the satisfaction of a specific need, whether that economic, social recognition, self-esteem, or personal skills development, while the crowdsourcer obtain and use to their advantage the user output, and the form will depend on the type of activity."

 Among the benefits of crowdsourcing it was found that, initially, it decreases costs and solution times. Many proposals are generated, some of which can be very innovative and productive than traditional because of the heterogeneity of the contributors. These contributors can be, sometimes, very talented undiscovered people. Besides, the gap between the company and consumer vanishes, since each project participant is more in touch with the needs of the target buyer.

 But also many problems are found in this type of approach. The quality and effectiveness of the results are unpredictable. This can lead to wasted time and resources on projects that do not produce the desired results. Nor is there a very high assurance that the resulting final product quality is high or solves the initial problem. And there is the drawback of unlimited number of projects and information leading to a great effort in qualifying potential undertakings. Being a project that works in the community, intellectual property is also another issue, because participants could get to take the productions to other projects or companies.

 To solve many of these problems we propose the use of state-of-the-art Innovation Management Software, like TELANTO (which also incorporates Talent and Business Network functionalities). Typically functionality allows the production of challenges where enterprises can instill very clearly and effectively the use of resources and estimated production time, and allows real-time monitoring of the progress of individual projects, enabling more effective management. Additionally, this allows anticipating projects that can lead to successful results and quality productions, and discard those that do not, enhancing creativity and innovation. The data of everything produced becomes part of the arsenal of the company information, and it also takes the problem of intellectual property head-on, as participants groups are required to sign an agreement stipulating that everything produced, despite being used for the final solution or not, becomes property of the company that defined the challenge problem in the first place.

 Crowdsourcing is not a fairy tale. With an effective work platform it is a possibility of generating efficient projects with highly effective resources. If this is done properly the benefits can be rather big, promoting creativity and innovation for new products and services consumers and mankind truly need.

[telanto2015]

Action Learning Projects: A link between Companies and Business Schools

By Pablo Talice

Since first introduced by Reg Revans to the coal miners of Wales and England in the 1940s, Action Learning has emerged as a powerful problem-solving methodology that has the proven capacity to simultaneously build successful leaders, teams and organizations.

Action Learning has emerged as a method of choice for global companies, government agencies, and non-profits that want to improve quality, cut costs, create new products and services, and change the culture of their organizations.

Companies as diverse as Microsoft, Samsung, Dow, GE, Deutsche Bank, Boeing, Sodexho, Novartis, Nokia and many others use Action Learning to solve complex problems, develop leaders, build teams and expand corporate capability.

Action Learning: a definition

Action Learning is an approach to solving real problems that involves taking action and reflecting upon the results. The learning that results helps improve the problem-solving process as well as the solution the team develops. The action learning process includes:

A real problem that is important, critical, and usually complex.

A diverse problem-solving team or "set"

A process that promotes curiosity, inquiry, and reflection.

A requirement that talk be converted into action and, ultimately, a solution.

And a commitment to learning.

In many, but not all, forms of action learning, a coach is included and is responsible for promoting and facilitating learning as well as encouraging the team to be self-managing. In addition, individuals, teams and organizations can apply to other situations the learning acquired by working on complex, critical and urgent problems that have no current acceptable solutions. The theory of action learning and the epistemological position were developed originally by Reg Revans (1982) who applied the method to support organisational and business development, problem solving and improvement.

Action Learning has many educational applications. Because it has been proven to be very effective in developing a number of individual leadership and team problem solving skills (Leonard and Marquardt, 2010), it has been used extensively as a component in corporate and organizational leadership development programs. As complex problems require many skills, individual team members can develop a customized learning agenda for themselves. This strategy is quite different from the "one size fits all" curriculum that is characteristic of many training and development programs.

Benefits of Action Learning

This type of problem solving enhances business performance at all levels by rapidly solving urgent and important problems and business challenges. It achieves a substantial return on Investment (ROI) on organization improvement projects. In management, it allows to establish effective succession planning by developing highly qualified candidates for promotion to executive leadership positions. By doing this, leaders are more strategic in goal setting and this develops a culture of staff engagement, involvement and performance. It is a new way of learning and knowledge sharing inside the organization.

Action Learning helps to dramatically enhance team performance, by developing positive, mutually respectful working relationships with co-workers at all organizational levels. Employees improve individual and team problem-solving and decision-making capabilities. These capabilities include reflecting on and learning from collective experience and the awareness in the context of multi-cultural diverse teams. The continuing monitoring of the action learning allows making effective and efficient planning and evaluations.

Individually, Action Learning enhances personal effectiveness and productivity, to contemplate and learn from individual and team experience. It improves personal leadership and soft skills. It helps to develop self-confidence and assertiveness, to expand awareness of how assumptions, beliefs, attitudes and organizational interests influence thinking, decisions and actions. It also allows developing Emotional Intelligence (EI): self-awareness, others' awareness and adaptability. Finding the courage to speak up and encouraging others to do the same.

A link between Companies and Business Schools

Today, many Business Schools invite companies to participate in projects of action learning.  Within their MBAs, they offer their students the chance to form working groups within their field of study and solve tangible problems that real companies are facing nowadays.  By doing this, scholars have the opportunity to hold a real world working experience, and organizations profit by having young, talented and innovative people solving their difficulties at a very low cost, saving a lot of money and generating large amounts of benefits.

This is not only beneficial in solving a particular problem, but giving both businesses and students the possibility of an interaction in which scholars demonstrate their capabilities so the company can see, in a real life practice, the skills and success of the work of a person who after obtaining the MBA could become part of their flanks.

Successful examples of Action Learning Projects

ESADE Business School provides an excellent example of this type of projects in practice. For more than two years Dr. Simon Dolan holds within its chair, Future of Work, an Action Learning Consultancy Project.

The modality of the assignment is that students form groups of 5 participants, according to the area of interest and knowledge, and choose three of several projects offered. Then, rendering to the different choices and possibilities, each group is assigned a challenge (problem). The interesting thing about this kind of practice is that students never know, throughout the project, for which company they are solving the problem.

Following the guidelines of Reg Revans of Action Learning, the company offers students a tutor or coach who will accompany and guide them in every step of the assignment. Scholars shall be presenting weekly reports on their progress, and have the problem solved in a maximum of three months, where its production is evaluated.

The success of these experiences in previous years has been resounding, both for businesses and students, many of whom were hired by companies who had worked on solving the problem. This year a total of 30 large companies and more than 100 students will participate in this project.

Also, for this year’s project, a new software platform is being used: Telanto, an Enterprise Social Network. Telanto is the perfect tool for this kind of projects as it allows users to work on the challenge within the platform. Each student has his/her own profile from which he/she can interact with other group members, sharing knowledge, assigning and performing tasks, and together solving the challenge. It also allows the coach to follow the students’ progress all along the project. Teachers can make weekly and final evaluations within the software to follow the learning process.

Conclusion

All around the globe, the world's top universities provide some sort of ALP in their MBAs, as it is a crucial factor for the students when choosing to enroll. Action Learning Projects have arrived to stay. Its implications can benefit both, companies and students, integrating them in a mutual win-win relationship and changing the way of learning.

[telanto2015]

Esade launches this edition’s MBA Action Learning Consultancy Project (ALCP) using Telanto technology

by Samantha M. Pearson

This week the new edition of Esade’s MBA Action Learning Consultancy Project (ALCP) has begun. 

During the kick-off session held this past Tuesday 16th Feb at EsadeCREAPOLIS, St. Cugat, student groups gathered around tables surrounded by an atmosphere of sheer excitement while been introduced to the process by the program director, and followed by Telanto, whom explained the technology platform highlights.

The novelty for this edition is the insertion of the Telanto technology into the project, a top-notch software platform tool to help both parts - students and companies – connect, engage and share information in real time in a smart seamless manner and on the cloud. Telanto technology will make the whole operation much more effective and productive compared to the former tedious exposure to confusing document mislaying across tons of e-mails and the sort.

The ALCP is a hands-on applied learning program experience with two editions per year, each lasting three months; the beauty of it is the fact it links Education - through the learning experience -and the Workplace - by solving real world challenges.

 The Action Learning Program includes six components:

A Project, challenge, task orproblem: challenges provided by companies can be in any functional area

Teams of 4-5 “self-defined” students

Reflective questioning andlistening

Creating solutions and takingaction

A commitment to learning

Actions Learning coach 

The benefits for the students reside in obtaining 3 credits, a unique learning method, the consulting, getting to solve a real life challenge and a net for their future, which brings satisfied students with good placement rankings and an entrepreneurship/innovation focus.  On the other hand, companies also benefit from the formula by obtaining the fresh ‘out of the box’ solutions, practical outcomes, experience diversity and access to TOP International talent.

In this version there are 54 students of 22 nationalities participating, 70% Male and 30% female, out of which 43% come from Economics & Management, 37% Engineering, 7% Humanities and Social Sciences, 7% Sciences and 6% from other specialties.

The ALCP process involves different stages or steps, combined with in-class workshops and followed up and led by three coaches, to whom students need to deliver milestones during the whole project and up until the concluding presentation.

Just after the kick-off performance, students hold a first meeting within their group to get to know each other by introducing themselves and explaining their background and the motivation for participating in the project; this is followed by company introduction, providing relevant information together with detail to the challenges and the expected output definition; and finally, coordination meetings are organised as well as any other arrangements relevant to the process. 

Currently, the preparatory courses are taking place (18th – 6th March, approx.) and on the 2nd of March students should be presenting their first proposal to their clients.  Meanwhile, we wish them all a great experience!

Stay tuned to hear more about the process coming up.

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La Vanguardia: Long-lasting relationships at work

When the personality of an employee fits into the company's culture the relationship endures.

Read how Simon L. Dolan talks about Telanto in La Vanguardia, emphasising the importance of a good fit between the employee and the company. 

If Cristiano Ronaldo were an ordinary employee, and Barçaan ordinary company, the Portuguese footballer would not exceed the selectionprocess to work in the culé company.The reason: interviewers would encounter his individualistic personalitydoesn't fit into the corporate culture of FC Barcelona, and would therefore notbe an employee with prospects of permanency in the long run in the team:probably would end up leaving after few seasons, with the consequent cost ofrotation for F.C. Barcelona. With this football parallelism, explains Simon L.Dolan, Professor at the Esade business school, the importance of employees’personality fitting into the corporate culture of the company where they work."When we are looking for a relationship, for something sustainable in time, beyond the physical and sex - compares Dolan-. Similarly, when a company seeks workers they need to find not only talent but a person who can be at ease in the company in the long run, so that talent can flow and come to light". 

It is estimated that in United States and some European countries, up to 75% of workers of the so-called generation (born after 1982) seek actively new opportunities, even if they already have jobs. "We are in the time of absence of labour loyalty: many of them will have dozens of different jobs before reaching age 30 - explains Dolan- and companies must find new ways to attract but also retain that talent." Here comes into play what the professor called career matchmaking, which can be translated as labour pairing: the process by which the encounter between a company and a candidate who are interested in each other but which, moreover, are likely to maintain a long-term relationship because the corporate culture fit with the personality of one and other.

Dolan points out that there is already new software such as Telanto tools, which are intended to promote this pairing, which can also be applied to more traditional selection processes. Anna Fornés, Director of the Fundació Factor Humà, regrets in this regard that only large multinationals with a very strong corporate culture often take into account this aspect when selecting personal. "The company should assess whether candidate aspects such as their values, attitudes, interaction with peers or decision making will fit into your organisation - explains Fornés -. For example, for organisations with rapid change it can be important to assess whether they are a suitable professional". A tool to predict whether this fit will be possible is selection by skills, for example through an interview with critical incidents, in which the candidate is presented a series of situations to analyse their response.

"It is a failure to hire someone who soon shows not to fit into the company culture," recalls Fornés. Common examples, she points out, would be the clash of highly innovative profiles with very conservative or inbred companies, or very young professionals in companies dominated by older professionals. Candidates also have an active role in this search for the ideal professional partner. "Professionals may seek company references through their employees, customers, etc. to know whether the company's values fit with their own and therefore interests them or not to work in it", explains Simon L. Dolan, Professor of Esade. Taking care of the fit of professionals in the culture of the company is especially relevant targets Fornés, when the company is going International. "In these cases, the key element is how the culture that the company has in their country of origin can be transferred to other countries without generating large cultural shocks amongst employees," she highlights.

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