Family Entrepreneurship tournament expands - 400 students compete in FEST
FEST – Family Entrepreneurship Schools Tournament – is growing rapidly. This year, around 400 upper secondary school students from eight schools in Jönköping County are participating in the competition run by Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) to strengthen young people's knowledge of family entrepreneurship, ownership and family business. Through teaching, practical challenges and close collaboration with the regional business community, students discover how important family businesses are for the county's development – and try their hand at solving real business challenges.
On 22 January, around 400 upper secondary school students gathered at Jönköping University (JU) for this year's kick-off and an initial introduction to the competition. Last year, FEST was organized for the first time and included three upper secondary schools in Jönköping. Now the competition has grown to include eight schools from Jönköping County.
Goal to expand the competition to the whole of Sweden
"It's very exciting that eight upper secondary schools are now participating and that Region Jönköping County is sponsoring development of the competition over the next three years with one and a half million Swedish crowns. . The goal is for the competition to eventually include upper secondary schools throughout the whole of Sweden," says Linnea Lind, research centre coordinator at JIBS and one of the project managers for FEST.
Two of the students who participated in the kick-off were Filip Syd and Ivar Olsson from the economics programme at Sandagymnasiet in Jönköping.
“It feels like a fun project and something that will be a little more real than just sitting in school. This is the first time we will participate in this type of competition, so it will be great fun,” says Filip Syd.
“Today, I hope to gain insight into family businesses and learn more about them, says Ivar Olsson.
What is FEST?
The Family Entrepreneurship Schools Tournament (FEST) is organised by the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Ownership (CeFEO) at JIBS in collaboration with the Case Consulting Club within the JIBS student association JSA. The sponsors are Region Jönköping County and Länsförsäkringar Jönköping.
The aim of the competition is to help upper secondary school students in Jönköping develop skills and see family businesses as attractive future employers.
Family businesses often find it difficult to attract young talent. This is particularly evident in Jönköping County, where many of the successful medium-sized family businesses are relatively unknown to most people.
JU har previously written about the competition. External link, opens in new window.
Opportunity to inspire young talent
Family businesses are an integral part of the business community in Jönköping County, but competition for young talent is fierce. The purpose of FEST is therefore both to raise the profile of the county's family businesses and to strengthen young people's skills in family entrepreneurship.
By working with real-life case studies, students get to experience the challenges and opportunities facing family businesses and acquire an understanding of why they are important employers in the region.
This year, the Hagshult Group has created a real-life assignment that the students will work on. The company, based in Skillingaryd, operates within agriculture, logistics and farm-based food production.
During the introduction day, Carl-Johan Bertilsson, founder and production manager at the Hagshult Group, talked about his family’s business, where he himself represents the fifth generation to be working on the farm. He introduced the students to the competition task, which focuses on further developing the Hagshult Group's operations so that the company can continue to grow, while preserving the family business and its values.
“When we were asked to participate in the competition with a real-life business task, I immediately thought it sounded fun, and I also saw it as an opportunity to inspire the younger generation. We enjoy working with young people and trying to get more people to understand how food is produced and how important the environmental side is,” he says.
In addition to an introduction to the competition, the students were given a guided tour of JIBS by current students and a lecture on family entrepreneurship by Massimo Baú, Centre Director at the Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership (CeFEO), and Kajsa Haag, Associate Professor of Business Administration at JIBS.
Three stages of competition – from the classroom to the final at JIBS
The tournament consists of three clearly structured stages:
- Case teaching at schools (weeks 1–10)
Upper secondary school teachers integrate a family business case into their teaching and guide the students through several weeks of work, culminating in a video presentation. The Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership (CeFEO) offers teachers training, workshop materials and support before and during the work.
- Online qualification (weeks 10–12)
A jury consisting of researchers, municipal representatives and other regional actors assesses the video presentations according to fixed criteria. The best teams from each school advance to the final.
- Final at JIBS (28–29 April)
The finalists gather for two intensive days where they solve a new case from the same family business. The work is done in English, and each team is supported by JIBS students from the Case Academy. A large jury selects the winners, and the prize for best presentation is awarded by a vote from JIBS students.
See slideshow from the day.
