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Business collaboration: Identifying a company for collaboration

Brief description

This exercise acts as preparation for students who are to collaborate with a company in a project or assignment. In the exercise the students must begin the process of identifying companies it might be relevant for them to collaborate with. The exercise helps the students to get an overview of companies and organisations it might be meaningful for them to collaborate with on their projects, academically as well as personally.

Motivation for the exercise and required outcome

The exercise must provide students with ideas for potential companies or organisations they may contact in relation to a collaboration project. The aim of this exercise is for them to get specific ideas for potential companies or organisations that might be relevant project, business, or thesis partners or that they might contact about a student job or a future job. The exercise strengthens the link between the students’ academic work at the university and the job market.

Performing the exercise

    • As a teacher you must introduce the students to various identification options, for instance LinkedIn and different job banks, which they may use to find relevant companies for their collaboration project.
    • Ask the students to team up in pairs. They must now brainstorm the companies or organisations it may be relevant to contact. During the brainstorm, they should jot down companies on post-its (25 to 30 minutes).
    • After the brainstorming, they write down one company or one organisation name on each post-it.
    • All the post-its must be placed on a board or sheets of cardboard mounted on the wall, and the students may now view all the different relevant companies and organisations suggested by their fellow students.
    • Encourage the students to take photos of the suggestions and write a list containing a minimum of five companies or organisations (See Handout 1) that they want to contact (five minutes).
    • You complete the exercise by a brief plenary session in which you follow up and ask the students what they take home from the exercise. Select some of the proposed companies and ask the students why a company is particularly relevant in relation to their core competences, what types of tasks the students imagine they might solve in the company etc.

    Options:

    • You can make the exercise shorter by eliminating item four, the collection of post-its. Instead, you may sum up the exercise directly in class.

    Activities

      Examples of practice


        You will need:

        • Download the attached handout here: