Business Game, meeting point between companies, industries and universities: at the Sant'Anna School the "challenge" of students from all over Europe to managers

Students from all over Europe met in Pisa to test themselves and take the challenge to managers on business cases and topics proposed by the sponsoring companies, in an informal environment full of opportunities for the participants, who are about to finish or have just finished their university studies, especially engineering and economics. The Sant'Anna School hosted the new edition of the Business Game, an event organized by JEBE Sant'Anna (the Junior Enterprise promoted by the students of the Sant'Anna School), and the university, as a partner, made available the classrooms where participants solved the challenges and, most importantly, the Aula Magna, to host the presentations of the sponsoring companies and the opening and closing ceremonies.

The composition of the students who agreed to try their hand at the different challenges was as diverse and energetic as ever. It should be noted that 20% came from abroad, from some of the best business schools and universities throughout Europe. At the end of the various challenges, the winner of the Business Game was Alessia Citron, a student at Politecnico di Milano, who distinguished herself for her qualities during all four challenges.

The companies that supported the new edition of the Business Game were many and various: the main sponsors included names such as Generali and Luxottica, as well as numerous realities of excellence born in Pisa and its territory, such as PharmaNutra, AssoWerke, and Zerynth. Even the basic sponsors were no less: Bain & Co., Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Caen SpA, a Tuscany-based company. All of the sponsoring companies had the opportunity to review participants' curricula and also to interview those who most met the criteria identified by the recruiters. At the same time, participants were able to request meetings and interviews with the companies that most interested them.  

The just-concluded Business Game showed another peculiarity: it tied in with the industrial and business scene in Pisa, especially thanks to the partnership with the Unione Industriali Pisana, made possible by the collaboration with President Patrizia Alma Pacini and Director Carlo Frighetto. In particular, the collaboration with the Unione Industriali Pisana has been reflected in the sponsorship of AssoWerke and Zerynth. The former, founded in 1973, is a company with a long history and tradition, excellence in the production of several mechanical components, especially pistons; in fact, one of the main customers served by AssoWerke is another Italian excellence, Ducati. Zerynth, on the other hand, is a younger, emerging reality; the company has earned more than 5 million in venture capital funding from "United Ventures" targeted at promising start-ups and offers innovative solutions, supporting customers in digitalization of production processes.

"We express our satisfaction", stresses Umberto Ronco, Project Manager of the Business Game, "for this new edition of the Sant'Anna Business Game, which showed itself to be an important opportunity for the business and industrial world, in its most varied declinations, to meet the academic reality. All this was made possible by the dynamism of JEBE, the Junior Enterprise of the Sant'Anna School, thanks to the enthusiasm and involvement of its members".

In foto: Alessia Citron, Cecilia Conti ed Enrico Catalano, the podium of the edition.