EAE News
Be a CEO for a day, the prize of the CEO Challenge
26 de October de 2020
CEO Challenge for Executive Profiles
A simulation, a competition, a jury and a prize, these were the defining elements of the second part of the event CEO Challenge for Executive Profiles held on Friday 16th October at EAE Business School in Madrid.
After the previous afternoon of eminently theoretical training, it was time to apply the theory in practice, The objective was soon revealed. The 18 participating students would compete for a prize of great value: to be the CEO of a well-known company in Madrid for a day. To win the prize, they would have to get through a series of tests evaluated by an expert jury.
The event began with an introduction and welcome from Jaime Ozores, a Partner and Director of Odgers Berndtson Spain and Employability Partner at EAE Business School, In his capacity as moderator and judge, he asked the other two members of the jury to introduce themselves. First to do so was the economist Ana María Colmenares, the CFO and Advisor to Boards of Managers in international law firms. In her introduction, she explained that she arrived in Spain three years ago and set up her own firm, Seegman, which now has a team of 15 lawyers.
Next to introduce himself was Ramón Calabia, the third and final member of the jury, who is the current Director of Human Resources at Cementos Portland Valderribas. “He is one of the professionals in Spain with the greatest experience in complex Boards of Directors in the industrial and mass market sectors”, explained Ozores.
Elevator pitch to break the ice
The students were then given an explanation of the different tests. They would firstly each give a two-minute elevator pitch that would be analysed by Calabia. Next, they would evaluate a practical case study. In the simulation, they had to imagine that they formed part of the Board of Directors of a company and make a decision on the specific issue that they were presented.
Although the participating students included project managers, operations supervisors, coordinators, economic and financial analysts and human resources directors, their roles were not taken into account in the test. They were each assigned a role on the simulated Board of Directors and had to conduct their own analysis for making the final decision in line with this role.
The case - A brand: to buy or not to buy?
As a representative of the committee, each student had the opportunity to ask questions based on the role that they had been assigned, as well as evaluating five definitive aspects for making the decision: synergies (food with food), logistics, assets, commercial aspects, marketing and staff.
Before moving on the question and answer session, Calabia revealed that the real committee decided to buy the brand. However, he emphasized that it has been a very complex case in which they had to weigh up lots of pros and cons in relation to the operation.
After the round of questions, in the last step of the event, each of the members of the committee gave and discussed their opinions to reach a decision within the ten-minute time limit. The majority result was to buy the brand. The reasons put on the table included the fact that it represented a market opportunity with a new product line for the company, but it was compatible in terms of procuring raw materials, infrastructures and the potential to generate profit. They also prioritized the fact that the company had the scope to invest, particularly in a renowned brand on the market.
The event ended with Jaime Ozores thanking all the who took part in the CEO Challenge for their participation, adding that that winner would be announced the following week.