This week, teams from all over Europe came to Lund to prepare
and present Harvard case studies in front of a jury in the semi-final of the annual TIMES competition.
The Tournament in Management and Engineering Skills (TIMES for short)
is an annual competition for Industrial Engineering and Management students which boasts over 250 teams from 60 universities, making it the largest competition of its kind in Europe.
Helsinki University has traditionally enjoyed unparalleled success in
the competition, winning seven times and finishing runner up a further
seven. But this tradition of success didn’t seem to weigh too heavily
on the shoulders of competitor Anni Iso-Mustarjävi:
– There’s always pressure, whether you’ve won before or not. It’s
more of a motivation really, wanting to emulate others’ achievements.
Among those hoping to challenge Helsinki’s dominance was Hanna
Kuusisto of Lappeenranta University, Finland, who gave an insight into
what happens during the intense preparation hours:
– We get so much done in such a short space of time. And surprisingly
we don’t argue too much either, we don’t have time. Unless it’s over
pens and rulers – then it can get quite intense!
In such an international
environment cultural differences were always going to come to the fore, particularly in the moments before each presentation. The Germans from Illmenau University stood calm and collected while the Turkish nervous twitches started to resemble a (not very good) dance routine.
Elsewhere, the Helsinki team felt their cause would be best served by
arriving in team t-shirts and wearing identical shirts for the presentation itself. The t-shirts would have perhaps been more appropriate for the semi-final being held in Seville but, unlike the weather outside, Lauri Sippola from Finland was far from bitter about the location:
– This is still South for us. It’s bright and clear outside, not like
the grey we have back home right now. Plus it’s a great chance for us
to practice our Swedish, even if we don’t always understand the accent
down here!
Such a positive attitude fitted well with the general atmosphere of
the event, which was very much all work but more play with time
scheduled for visits to nations and meeting fellow members of the
international cast, as summed up by Antti Martikainen:
– It’s mostly fun, not intense at all. And a good way to build team
spirit and meet new people from all over Europe.
For those wondering, Lund’s team will be making the not-so-far journey
to Linköping on the 31st January and Hanes Teder was in a confident
mood as he talked about the team’s chances:
– We recently went to Stockholm for a training session with a
consultancy firm. So that, coupled with the competitive
education we recieve here in Lund, should stand us in good
stead come the presentations.
Hopefully this confidence will not prove misplaced.
