Celebrating Innovation and Teamwork: Schiller's Global Business Challenge

MBA students took part in this year's Global Business Challenge, which allows them to create cross-campus, multidisciplinary teams to undergo a mentoring process and work out a solution. This year, our MBA and MBA in International Business students demonstrated remarkable creativity and teamwork during the Challenge. We are excited to celebrate the accomplishments of the winning teams from our Heidelberg and Madrid campuses, who went above and beyond to provide innovative solutions.

The Challenge: Building a Collaborative Culture

The Global Innovation Challenge, led by Alejandro Buenache, HO Technical Data Systems at Airbus Spain, and designed also with the help of Guillermo Blanco Muñoz from Capgemini, tasked students with a complex business problem: Building a Collaborative Culture for Improved Supply Chain Excellence. The challenge aimed to address a critical aspect of the modern business world—how companies can improve supply chain processes through innovation and teamwork. Over a period of five weeks, students from our campuses in Heidelberg, Madrid, Tampa, and Paris worked diligently in teams, applying a wide range of innovation methodologies such as design thinking, lean startup, and agile methods. These methodologies, often used in the business world to solve complex problems, guided the students through every step of the process—from identifying the issue to developing solutions.

The students were given the opportunity to work in cross-campus groups, blending diverse perspectives and ideas to address a real-world business challenge. With guidance from industry mentors, the students honed their skills in problem-solving, innovation, and teamwork.

The Winning Teams

Two groups emerged victorious from this year’s Global Business Challenge: one from our Heidelberg campus and one from the Madrid campus.

Heidelberg Group:

• Vanessa Biermann
• Natalia Gomez
• Anmolpreet Kaur
• Ram Peleg
• Sanket Rege
• Ramneet Sethi
• Divyanshi Divyanshi

Madrid Group:

• Maria Fernanda Rueda
• Daniel Ivov Mihaylov
• Maria Fernanda Navarrete
• Abed Igoulalene
• Bruna Tabares

The Process and Methodologies

The students utilized innovative business methodologies such as Design Thinking and Lean Startup to explore the problem in depth and come up with creative, feasible solutions. Design Thinking, a method that focuses on understanding the user’s needs and problems to develop creative solutions, was key to understanding how collaborative culture impacts supply chain excellence. Lean Startup methodologies allowed the students to rapidly prototype their ideas and test solutions in a fast, efficient way.

Throughout the five weeks, students were mentored by industry experts, who provided valuable guidance and real-world insights, helping students refine their ideas and improve their final presentations. This interaction with industry professionals gave the students a glimpse into the day-to-day challenges faced by companies at the cutting edge of innovation.

Key Learnings and Professional Growth

Participating in the Global Business Challenge was a transformative experience for the students. Not only did they develop important technical and business skills, but they also enhanced key soft skills that are essential in the modern workplace. These include:

• Teamwork: Collaborating with peers from different backgrounds and campuses, students learned how to work effectively as a team to solve complex problems.
• Adaptability: In a fast-paced, dynamic environment, students had to adapt their approaches, rethinking their ideas and pivoting when necessary.
• Public Speaking and Presentation Skills: The challenge culminated in a presentation of their ideas, giving students the opportunity to develop their public speaking skills and showcase their solutions to a panel of judges and mentors.

We want to extend our warm congratulations to all the participants of this year’s Global Business Challenge, but especially to the Heidelberg and Madrid teams. Their hard work and dedication were truly exemplary, and we are excited to see how they will apply their new skills in their future careers.

We are proud to continue fostering innovation, collaboration, and professional growth through challenges like this one. These experiences empower our students to become leaders in their respective fields and contribute meaningfully to the world of business and beyond!