TKS Grade 11 students taking part in the IB Business Management classes were invited – by the KAUST Library team – to take part in a Business Plan challenge (as part of Open Access Week).
The students are given a theme for the challenge – this year they were tasked to create a company that would function as a subsidiary of the KAUST library and offer a new product or scholarly document-based service. The University Library team worked with the groups to provide more information about the scholarly publishing industry generally, and the KAUST library strategy. The IB Business Management teachers worked with groups on effective business planning and organizational tools… and also supported the teams as they developed their ‘pitch’.
On the day, the teams had 10 minutes to present their business concept to the judges (and the rest of the Grade 11 students), and to answer questions from the judges. 5 teams entered the challenge: EnVision KAUST, Green Insights, KAUST Research Collaborative Network (KRCN), Pufferfish Publications, and Symposium of Scientific Advancement (SSA). It was a great fun afternoon… and the KAUST Library team also provided the pizzas for lunch before the presentations started!
The judging panel – made up of representatives from the Library, the KAUST Entrepreneurship Center, and TKS (Mohamed Ba-Essa, Lama Hakem, Tony Knox and Andre Henriques) – deemed that Pufferfish Publications had provided the best business idea, plan and pitch, but KCRN also received an award as the ‘people’s choice’.
The activity is not only a great collaboration opportunity between the KAUST Library and TKS, but it also allows the Grade 11 students to apply what they are learning in IB Business Management in a ‘real-world’ situation.
Huge thanks to the teams that made this happen for our Grade 11 students: Mohamed Ba-Essa, Nevena Tomic, Jayamika Shah and Rawan Karsou from the KAUST Library, and Tony Knox, Andre Henriques, David Webb, Avan Mahmood, and Isabel Pacios from TKS.
Photos from the event can be found here.