MBA students take part in interactive workshop at Maersk Line

MBA students from AVT Business School participated in an interactive workshop at Maersk Line in January to gain further insights for the Live Case from an international panel of experts. “Maersk is showing such a great commitment, which really makes the Live Case interesting,” says MBA student Flemming Sørensen.

Maersk Line is the partner company for the MBA 2012 Live Case and as such Maersk Line hosted an intense and rewarding workshop. The session was part of an all day session workshop that started at AVT in the early morning.

The Live Case unfolds in real time and deals with real scenarios and business dilemmas in order to challenge the skills of a 21st century MBA students.

On a cold but clear January day the MBA students were truly kept warm and alert by the international expert panel provideding excellent feed back on the strategic direction the student teams have chosen for the Live Case and offered new perspectives and detailed feedback.

Banana export from India
The panel listened carefully to the students “what if” solutions to the challenges they have been given by Maersk Line to explore if and how Maersk Line could develop a sustainable business line in the banana export from India.

After the presentations the students received constructive input from the international expert panel which consisted of:

• Thomas Eskesen, Maersk Line Reefer
• Søren Stig, Maersk Line Sustainability
• Marcel Clement, Rainforest Alliance (NGO)
• Tim Chambers, Fyffes (leading importer and distributor of tropical produce), and
• Martha Emneus, economist and consultant.

At the end of the day Maersk Line’s Chief Commercial Officer Hanne B. Sørensen, offered the students some insight into the role sustainability plays in the daily business negotiations (two days later she was appointed CEO of Maersk Tankers).

Economic sustainability comes first
The message shared by Hanne B. Sørensen underscored that both Maersk Line and its costumers want social and environmental sustainability.

However, no one wants to pay extra to obtain it, as economic sustainability still is the main priority. This means innovation is needed to provide sustainability at a competitive price.

The challenge from Hanne B. Sørensen to the MBA students is come up with solutions, which will increasethe bottom line and not be capital intensive. She is willing to invest, but only if it is clear what the longterm benefits will be evident for Maersk Line.

If that is not possible Maersk Line will likely not get pursue the Indian banana export.

Pleased with case studies
MBA Student Flemming Sørensen, Portfolio Manager at Energi Danmark, is very pleased with the case studies at AVT Business School.

”I really like the case based learning at AVT. The Maersk Line Live Case is definitely the most living case you can get as Maersk Line provides us with all the knowledge needed to participate in the analysis of their business opportunities in India. Maersk is showing such a great commitment, which really makes the Live Case interesting,” Flemming Sørensen says.

“The Live Case is indeed relevant and it is very easy to be engaged in, as it has to do with real-life business challenges. We do not solely deal with theory and text books, which I appreciate. The challenge is to come up with ideas that help Maersk Line developing a banana export business in India. I would be very pleased to se that happening,” he says.

The Maersk Line Live Case builds on the MBA course Business Ethics, CSR and Sustainability taught by Professor David Vogel, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Professor Marianne Toftegaard is the AVT Live Case coach.