The international short project 'Business Pressure Cooker' took place this year as part of an excursion to Breda in the Netherlands. A total of 50 students worked under time pressure to develop concepts on how food produced in the laboratory can contribute to solving the global food crisis.
As part of the 4th edition of the Business Pressure Cooker, a cooperation between the Avans Hogeschool in the Netherlands and the International Business Program at the Faculty of Business Studies, 25 IB students traveled to Breda in the province of North Brabant from 3-6 April 2023. The Avans program 'Business, Leadership and Sustainability', led by project manager Joost van Hilst, set mixed teams of Fachhochschule Dortmund and Avans students the task of dealing with the topics of the global food crisis and artificially produced food using the innovation method Design Thinking: Is Lab-Grown Food the Future?
Working under time pressure
The considerable time pressure at the Business Pressure Cooker - only 2 days were available to create the contributions - demanded efficient teamwork and the ability to act and make decisions quickly from the students. The project simulates international project work and offers the opportunity to develop, practise and apply the business skills acquired during their studies under realistic conditions. Coaches from both universities were on hand to support the students. Despite the limited time frame, creative solutions were once again developed that were both convincing and market and product-oriented.
Further consolidation of the partnership
The cooperation with the Avans Hogeschool has now existed for over 5 years and the International Business Programme has already welcomed Dutch students to the Emil-Figge-Straße campus twice. The project coordinator on the Fachhochschule Dortmund side, Florian Gerhardt(Opens in a new tab) , was very satisfied with this year's implementation of the project: "After the corona-related restrictions and the switch to a virtual setting, finally being able to realize a visit to Breda was an important step for the further development of the project and the deepening of the partnership." The next edition is already being planned.