As part of the semiannual Future Leaders Fundraising Challenge (FLFC), the latest MBA cohort at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management has raised €17,183 to support the Deutsche Welthungerhilfe [German World Hunger Aid]. Students from both the Full-Time and Part-Time MBA Programs spent one week securing donations from both private and commercial donors. These funds will go toward aiding Welthungerhilfe in its humanitarian efforts against the war in Ukraine.
The FLFC, the premiere course for all new MBA students, takes place over five consecutive days. It is designed to encourage team building and impart to students the importance of leadership through a combination of practical experience and support from senior industry experts. In doing so, the program is able to instill in its young leaders an enduring sense of social responsibility—both in- and outside their own organizations.
Divided into small groups and under the tutelage of an upperclassmen MBA mentor, the students tackle daily challenges that harken back to the core of the MBA Program: brand and claim development, marketing, strategy, and negotiations. The immense time pressure and fierce competition means that participants are forced to find an effective way of managing their team, i.e., uniting strong personalities of varying backgrounds and levels of experience, as quickly as possible.
This year’s partners of the negotiation task, one of the FLFC’s five sub-challenges, included Zoom and the start-up REANMO, the latter of which was founded by WHU MBA alumni René Schlüß (PTMBA, 2020). At the end of the week, everyone celebrated their collective success, with Team Esperanto holding the trophy.
Professor Jane Lê, holder of the Chair of Strategic Management and FLFC course professor, summed up the week’s extraordinary success: “I’m always in awe of our students and what they are able to achieve under such constraints and in such a short time! It’s truly inspiring.”
Since the debut of the FLFC in April 2016, WHU MBA students have raised approximately €520,000 for its charity partners. The challenge raises awareness of charitable causes and leaves a lasting impact on all who participate.
More information on the WHU MBA programs can be found here.