JIBS United Winter Issue

JIBS Alumni Network

JSA 30th Anniversary

Ball

winter e

dition

JIBS Alumni Activities

Meet the JAA Board

J I B S United 2012

- Get to know themAll about the..

Most recent & upcoming events

- interview with Tommie Cau

The search is on. Are you ready?

Teamwork. Leadership. Cross-cultural skills. Networking. The International Student Business Forum is a place where the very

best students from around the world come with one ambition: to become the innovators and leaders of the future. The ISBF creates

opportunities for leaders to shine and your groundbreaking potential is what we are searching for.

It’s your future, how far will you take it?

Take the next step and apply at www.deloitte.com/sbf

International Student Business ForumBangkok, Thailand, 21 – 25 March, 2013

The search is on. Are you ready?

Teamwork. Leadership. Cross-cultural skills. Networking. The International Student Business Forum is a place where the very

best students from around the world come with one ambition: to become the innovators and leaders of the future. The ISBF creates

opportunities for leaders to shine and your groundbreaking potential is what we are searching for.

It’s your future, how far will you take it?

Take the next step and apply at www.deloitte.com/sbf

International Student Business ForumBangkok, Thailand, 21 – 25 March, 2013

Within the JIBS United Committe we are constantly looking for new members and

ideas worth printing!

[email protected]

Key partners

Senior partners

Words from the Dean

Dear JIBSers,

Jönköping International Business School is a magnificent

place. Located right at the centre of Jönköping, in the

middle of Sweden, close to Europe and the rest of the world,

the vibrant city campus is always bustling with energy and

new ideas. Students and faculty from all over the world

come together to share their thoughts, and in the process

they learn about different cultural values, as more than

one third of the people at JIBS come are international.

This is something we are famous for, we are the most

international business school in Sweden, and at the same

time we are well-known for being entrepreneurial. Being a

true JIBSers means that you are innovative, motivated and

that you know when to seize the moment.

One great initiative at JIBS is “We Want You Richard” –

initiated by an entrepreneurial JIBS student, Martin Pin-

hack. This is a project to attract the famous entrepreneur

Richard Branson of Virgin to give a guest lecture at JIBS.

Help the project if you can – and follow their success on

Facebook. I have already signed the list and commented on

their Facebook page wewantrichard.

A way for our students to continue to seize the moment is

JIBS Entrepreneurship Challenge. It enables students to get

their idea out in to the real world and open that window of

opportunity into the business world. I hope that you have

sent in your idea to the challenge, maybe together with an

engineering student from JTH, the school of engineering?

News about is JIBS Entrepreneurship Challenge will be

uploaded on our website.

The diversity at JIBS and the connection to our sister

schools at Jönköping University are real assets to all of us.

By reaching out to a student at another school you will not

only broaden your own perspective but you will definitely

also gain experiences that will help you further your career.

Cross-disciplinary a work is more and more important in

today’s business world simply because the challenges and

opportunities we face, like climate change, global health

and ageing, additive manufacturing, and accelerated

urbanization, do not come as disciplinary ones.

So, be international at heart. Be entrepreneurial in mind.

Because I promise you that if you bring your A game, JIBS

can help you excel.

What are you waiting for?

Professor Johan Roos , Dean and MD Jönköping International Business School

WinterEdition

The seasons of the JIBS United

Mattias EnerbäckEditorial Director & Head of JIBS United Committee within [email protected]

The summer is now far-gone and naturally the green, warm grass has been covered with crispy, yellow leaves, which in turn has been covered with a cold, white blanket of snow. Seasons come and go - that is the way of life...

As a student at JIBS, the focus is not really on the shifting seasons, it is rather fixated on the degree as well as the graduation itself. This is the common shared goal for us students.

As alumni of JIBS however, I believe that the focus is somewhat scattered and the individual does not actually share the same goals with as many people anymore, as one did during the studies. The one thing that is shared however, and the only thing that connects you with your fellow alumni today and in the future will be JIBS, and the alumni network.

Luckily enough this is also the head article of this issue – The Alumni Network.The previous issues have all had different focuses - and now the turn has come to the JIBS graduates - the alumni, to have theirs. And hopefully the previous students as well as the current ones will enjoy this issue just as much! This will be my last editorial in the last JIBS United issue where I am the Editorial Director.

Seasons come and go - That is the way of life... I have enjoyed my time working with the magazine and the committee, and I believe that we have all done a tremendous job this year!

Naturally it is now time for me to pass the torch and with the committee, wish you a pleasant reading. But before doing so, I would like to quote a good friend of mine - ”JIBS-Phille”. ”Du måste flytta på dig!” (”You have to step aside”)

- Enjoy the issue!

2012

Responsible Publisher Xenia Johansson

Editorial Director Mattias Enerbäck

Design & Layout Associate Erika Fridehäll

Graphic DesignersAnna Koivumäki

Johanna Lidbrandt

Marketing Assistant Philip Scholtzé

Managing Editor Oskar Hall

Photographer

Frederic Leopold KöllischMattias Enerbäck

Proof readersNiklas Halling

Domenique Clay

WritersPolina IvchenkoAndrea Kreiner

Mia-Berentje LandMattias Enerbäck

Oskar HallPetter Lindström

Janina HillenhagenLora Blakley

Nadim KuttabAnastasija Korotina

Editing

ContentsStudent JIBS

Alumni

International DayPhotos & interviews from the event12 Entrepreneurial in Mind!24 Club Caj, Klubb Enkelt & Kick Off 2012 Photos22 Diploma Ceremony42

JSA 30th Anniversary Ball34 Word from the President”Thank you everyone!”37

Jonas BorglinMeet the founder of Jamenvisst and Picwell

40

Coffee Breakwith Martin Berntsson10 Meet the JAA Board15 The Alumni Networkwith Tommie Cau18

Anders KylstedtMeet the CEO of Booli28 ”I got a job, it’s my master!”Petter Lindström30 Alumni Talkwith Kim Jakobsson32 JIBS Alumni Activities most recent & upcoming events38

34 18

221238

The Alumni Relations Officewith Vaida Vysniauskaite21

ALUMNI10

COFFEE BREAKwith Martin Berntsson

I met up with Martin Berntsson for a coffee break

during Entrepreneurship Day at JIBS, where Martin

was one of the judges in the New Venture

Challenge. Martin is a JIBS alumnus who studied

Economics and Policy at JIBS between the years

2002 and 2006. Today he is one of the founders

of Desmo - a charity based company with its head

office in Stockholm.

ntrepreneurship Day did not exist when Martin was a student at JIBS, at least not in the same extent as it is today. Therefore, Martin had to bleed

his entrepreneurial ideas somewhere else. He turned to Science Park and joined in on a newly started staffing company - Quickmatch - focused on providing jobs for students. A year later, Martin started to work with another student-based company that worked with import. This was the first time Martin worked with online shopping via a web shop and little did he know that this was his calling.

Martin graduated from EP in 2006 and moved to Stockholm, leaving the student life and companies in Jönköping behind to try his wings on bigger markets.

He ended up working for different com-panies who focused on online marketing,

such as Jajja Communications and Keybroker where he worked as an analyst for a few years. In 2010 Martin got a phone call from a friend and also a JIBS alumnus – Jens Hagman.

“Jens worked with charity at the time and I with online marketing. So we combined the two and got Desmo.”

Desmo is a charity-based company that focuses on getting people to donate money to their favourite charity whilst they are shop-ping on the Internet.

It is simple really – imagine yourself wan-ting to buy something on the Internet, when you are done, you proceed to the check out counter to enter your credit card details. Here you now get an option of choosing to donate a small or big sum of money to a charity fund of your choice. The money donated goes uncut to the charity company; hence Desmo gets no profit from the donations.

EWriter: Mattias Enerbäck Photo: Frederic Leopold KöllischIllustration: Johanna Lidbrandt

www.jibsalumni.se 11

The money Desmo gets is from the Web shop company itself.

As a purchase has taken place, the custo-mer will get a link that he or she can share on facebook, twitter or email to friends. That link, takes the friends of the customer back to the homepage of the company where the customer made the purchase and donation. In return, Desmo gets paid for the Internet traf-fic they provide to the homepage via that link and for other values created such as increased customer experience, increased customer loyalty and increased brand awareness.

The name Desmo originates from a certain type of bat called Desmodus rotundus, who actively shares her food with other bats to be assured of the survival of her species. Desmo believes that the human race can learn from Desmodus rotundus, and share assets in the purpose of creating a better world.

On the question whether Martin has seen any great ideas during E-Day this year he states that he has indeed seen plenty of interesting ideas and more importantly, he thinks that the fact that JIBS is an entrepre-neurial school really shines through. He also lifts forward the fact that if a student wants to start up a company in the future, E-day and the New Venture project as a whole, really helps with the necessary steps of looking at a target group and building a network to create a customer base to get started.

Today, Desmo works with the largest webshops such as CDON, Halens etc. and has pending requests from charity organisations that want to be a part of the success, and the future looks anything but dark.

“Our mission is to make it easy for the individual to donate money to a charity, where 100% of that donation reaches the charity com-pany… We therefore see ourselves as somewhat of a ‘nice’ bat!”. g

Our mission is to make it easy for the individual

to donate money to a charity, where 100% of

that donation reaches the charity company…

We therefore see ourselves as somewhat of a

‘nice’ bat!

STUDENT12

t was International Day; a day when everyone is welcome, not only to be a part of this extraordinary event, but also to taste the diversity. The International Day gives students

a chance to get to know more about different countries and taste special dishes influenced from that country.

This year’s Fall International Day was a big

INTERNATIONAL DAYOn November 14th the JIBS lobby was crowded. The tables were decorated with flag,

posters filled the lobby, and different languages floated through the air.

I success and many people elected to be a part of it. Over 30 countries took part in the event and almost every continent was represented. Rebecca Buvari, head of the International Committee and responsible for the Interna-tional Day events, explains that International Day is twice a year: both in the spring and in the fall. She describes the day as a unique chance to get to know more about the world and to get a taste of the diversity between different parts of the world.

New for this International Day was the ability to take part in one of the workshops. Hip-Hop, Salsa dance, Bulgarian dance, Taek-wondo, Chinese language, and the Cha-cha were among the workshops that were available to participate in during the day. Also, a quiz was introduced to this International Day that attracted many students and the winner was announced in the evening at Akademien, the student night club. In the evening a Culture

show was performed at Akademien which showcased an onstage performance that was influenced by the country represented.

Linda Phung, a second year International Management student at JIBS, was among the day’s numerous participants. Linda suppor-ted the Vietnamese table and she agreed to answer some questions about the day.

Why are you here today on the International Day?

I wanted to get to know more about the countries but also to taste the food. Every table has its own dishes and items that are influenced by the country. This is a great thing that makes it easier for students to interact and to get a good overview.

What food and which country do you found the most tempting today?

I like the Vietnamese food best, because I like the different spices and especially garlic. People sometimes call me Little Garlic or

INTERNATIONAL DAY

www.jibsstudents.com 13

Spice Girl just because of that, she ends, say-ing with laughter before returning to the Viet-namese table to continue enjoying the day.

People taking part in the International Day answered the quiz and also took part in the workshops that was new for this season. Both the quiz and the workshops were a huge success that attracted many people. When talking to some students about the day, they were all very satisfied and delighted over taking part in the event.

I have learned so much about different countries and met so many nice people today, concluded one student when answering what his thoughts about the day were.

”This is great for me and a good way for me to get to know different countries for my study abroad semester next fall,” was another

Writer: Mia-Berentje LandPhotos: Frederic Leopold Köllisch

student’s response to the day and all the activi-ties.

Later in the day students that participated on the International Day cleared the JIBS lobby from the traces of a great day, and left to continue the event with the culture show at Akademien. g

Meet the JAA Board

Tommie Cau

Specialist area: Board ManagementBoard member since: 2010

Work: Business Developer & Innovation Advisor at Science Park, JönköpingExperience: 2010–Present: Sole Trader, Kristoffer Olsson Consulting

2007–2010: Project Manager & Research Assistant, JIBS 2004–2007: Store Manager, Svedala Radio & TV AB (Euronics)

Graduated from JIBS: 2010Studied at JIBS: International Management

President

Kristoffer OlssonVice President

Specialist area: Board ManagementBoard member since: 2012Work: CEO at Ungdomar ABExperience: 2012-present: CEO at Ungdomar AB 2011-2012: Partner Manager at Ungdomar AB 2007-2008: Sales Assistant at Hugo BossGraduated from JIBS: 2011Studied at JIBS: International Management, IM08

Kim JakobssonVice President

Specialist area: Board ManagementBoard member since: 2009Work: Co-founder & Partner at brand consultant GoodwicketExperience: 2010-present: Co-founder, Jobla & Jobbkultur 2009-present: Co-founder & Partner, Goodwicket 2007-2009: Country Manager, UniversumGraduated from JIBS: 2006Studied at JIBS: Business Administration at Internationella Ekonomprogrammet, IE02


Specialist area: External relations, PartnershipsBoard member since: 2011

Work: Consumer Support Manager, Europe & Asia/Pacific, Husqvarna GroupExperience: 2011 – Present: Consumer Support Manager, Europe & Asia/Pacific, Husqvarna Group

2010 – 2010: Trainee, Swedish Trade Council (Exportrådet) 2006 – 2007: Project Manager, Bredbandsbolaget

Graduated from JIBS: 2011Studied at JIBS: International Economics & Policy -Financial & Economic analysis

Emanuel RaptisMember of the board

Specialist area: External relations, PartnershipsBoard member since: 2012Work: Business Controller at H&M Experience: Summer 2011 Intern as Business Controller at H&MGraduated from JIBS: 2012Studied at JIBS: Civilekonom, Management

Line AnderssonMember of the board

Specialist area: Accounting, Finance, and LegalBoard member since: 2012

Work: Accountant at EVRY ABExperience: 2011-2012: Controller at Nefab AB

2008-2009: Contract administrator at Boliden Commercial AB2005-2007: Junior Risk Adviser at Nordea Markets AB

Graduated from JIBS: 2011Studied at JIBS: Civilekonomprogrammet

Fredrik UpåkerMember of the board

Specialist competence: Accounting, Finance, and Legal Board member since: 2012Current job and company: Financial Analyst at Schneider-ElectricExperience: 2012 – present: Financial Analyst at Schneider-Electric 2012: Accountant at Prime Wine Sweden AB 2005 – 2012: Accountant at Kinnarps ABGraduated from JIBS: 2011 Studied at JIBS: Master of Science in Business and Economics, Civilekonomprogrammet

Mikael KlaarMember of the board

16 ALUMNI

Specialist area: CommunicationBoard member since: 2012Work: Online Strategist at Nortech Internet MarketingExperience: 2012-present: Online Strategist at Nortech Internet Marketing 2009-2011: Account Manager at Meltwater NewsGraduated from JIBS: 2009Studied at JIBS: BBA Program Civilekonom, BBAC06

Marcus HedmanMember of the board

Specialist area: CommunicationBoard member since: 2012

Work: Trainee/Executive Assistant, Logica/CGI Experience: 2011-2012: Associate Consultant, May&Barrow

2011-2012: Operating Manager, Team Sportia Event Graduated from JIBS: 2010

Studied at JIBS: Business Administration, International Management (IM07)

.

Rickard JohanssonMember of the board

Specialist area: Membership ValueBoard member since: 2011

Work: Transportation Services at Stockholms Åkeri ABOwner at d-Star Entertainment and BB Trading

Vild-Hasses Fjällprodukter (Family Business)Experience: 2009 – 2010: Sales Manager at Sidewalk Express

2008 – 2009: Fundraiser at BRIS2006 - 2008: Head of Partnership Relations, SkiStar Sälen

2005 – present: Owner d-Star EntertainmentGraduated from JIBS: 2005

Studied at JIBS: Business Administration at Internationella Ekonomprogrammet

Bengt HanssonMember of the board

Specialist area: Membership ValueBoard member since: 2011Work: Senior Management Consultant at Crescore A Zeb/ Group CompanyExperience: 2010 Business Area Manager at Konsultbolag1 2009 Project Manager at Emric 2008 Business development at Ikano Bank SE 2007 Associate at GE Capital Graduated from JIBS: 2006Studied at JIBS: International Economics & Development, Ep03

Andreas RunnbergMember of the board


THE ALUMNINETWORK

The JIBS Alumni Association regularly organizes

events where the alumni can meet to network and

share interesting stories from their careers. They are

mostly held in Stockholm and Jönköping with plans

to expand to Gothenburg, Malmö and even London.

The events characterize an energetic environment

where business cards are to be exchanged along

with the reminiscence of old times.

Writer: Mattias Enerbäck & Oskar Hall Photo: Magdalena Bibik


Jönköping International Business School was recognized by Jönköping and the world as an international business school in 1994 and was by then, one of three foundation schools on campus. In line with this, students

graduated and became alumni and conse-quently an alumni network was founded in 1996 to keep a connection with the alumni to JIBS and hence, the JIBS Alumni Association (JAA) was born. By 2001, 500 members were counted in the network and the year after, the number had increased to 1 600 members. During the mid 2000’s, growth had been re-latively slow, but as a new group re-launched the JIBS Alumni Association in 2009, growth has taken off.

”We have grown with +20% since 2009 and recently passed 3 000 members, so we are on the right track”, says Tommie Cau.

Tommie Cau is the current president of JIBS Alumni Association. He studied Inter-national Business at JIBS between 2002-2006. During his years at JIBS he also studied at Copenhagen Business School and spent time in Saudi Arabia as an intern with the Swedish Embassy. Tommie has previously worked with Universum and is now not only the president of JAA, but also runs his own businesses focused towards branding.

Re-launching in 2009In 2009 Tommie was asked if he wanted to be a part of bringing JIBS Alumni to new heights - he said yes, but only if he got the chance to start over from the beginning to build the Alumni network on a solid ground. The first step was naturally to create a strategy plan for how the alumni network would excel in the future. This would soon prove to be redun-dant since the association already had three previous plans out of which the plan from 2003 was so good that the only thing that needed an update was the date itself. Tommie and his team paused the strategy work and started focusing on why the goals and objec-tives had not been reached in the past. They found five significant obstacles that answered their question.

The next step was to present their findings and their plan on how to succeed to the JIBS Board. The meeting was successful as the JIBS Board was eager to get things rolling and a recovery plan was created. The first ever, full time Alumni Relations Officer was hired at JIBS with the mission to help JIBS and the board of JIBS Alumni Association to set a new solid foundation for the network to stand upon. After a powerful start, university-wide budget cuts in 2011 made the real take-off difficult and some ambitious steps were postponed to 2012. Hence, a lot of the events and plans scheduled for 2011 have taken place this year.

Plans for 2013The plans for 2013 are to continue expansion and improving the network. Not only through it’s members, but also by engaging more pe-ople in the work and by expanding into new geographical areas.

Every city that is or will be engaged in the JIBS Alumni events and gatherings has or should have its own “social committee” or “chapter”. It is up to these “chapters” to create gatherings and events for the alumni members throughout the year. The criteria needed for an alumnus/alumna to work with the events and gatherings are to be social, structured, creative, and to be able to devote the time needed to the tasks given.

“We want to find more great people that can help us build this network and create good things for our members. Right now it’s an exci-ting time to be a part of that and we have a lot of fun while doing it” says Tommie Cau.

Value Drivers of the JAA

• Inspiration

• Career

• Networking

• Business Opportunities

• Professional Development

Membership Value There are three main segments that the JIBS Alumni need to target for the various events: the newly graduated, the young professionals, and the senior professionals. The task is to target each segment differently, while also of-fering the major joint benefits of the network. Tommie admits that this has been a huge challenge but that the work to develop a more targeted approach is now under way.

“Our events are all about inspiration, career, networking, business opportunities and profes-sional development”, says Tommie Cau.

Since the competition from other networks and other events are fierce, as the members of the network are getting different invitations to other events and gatherings more or less every week. The hardest part for JAA is therefore to stand out and have a niche, namely something that is out of the ordinary, something that awakes an interest.

“Hotels do not do it anymore. Every associa-tion and every conference are held in hotels. Why can’t we be in a warehouse filled with pink chairs instead? We need to think more differently, it needs to stick out and people want an experience” says Tommie Cau.

Free MembershipSo, what then does it take to be a member of JIBS Alumni and to take part in all the events and networks?

Well if you have a degree from JIBS, if you have been an exchange student at JIBS or if you are finished with 2/3rds of your educa-tion. Then you may apply to become a JIBS alumnus/alumna.

20 ALUMNI

I would like to quote one of

the executives of Facebook –

‘This journey is only 1% finished’

The membership does not cost anything and is a great way to interact

with your previous fellow students as well as networking with other alumni.

More partnershipsTommie took on the role as a JAA president in 2009, partly because he is seemingly drawn to a creation of things, and also since he had the branding and HR tools in his backpack from previous work and wanted to use them in a new context. In the past year, JAA have also started working with different “strategic partners”, having Swedbank, Experis, Wise Professionals and Grant Thornton just to mention a few. This is also an area that should grow more in the future, according to Tom-mie Cau.

Opportunities and ChallengesThe goal of the JIBS Alumni Association is to have every alumnus/alumna as a member and that these members should be eager and engaged. JAA also wants to create a lot of fun and intriguing events for the members all over the globe where alumni can meet in a pub in Tokyo for instance or to play poker in Gothenburg during a weekend. Another goal of priority is to have very good data on the network. To be able to know what part of the members that attend different events and why, where people work, what they think about their career and so on. This “know how” will make it a lot easier to improve the network.

On the question on what the biggest chal-lenge ahead was, Tommie answers:

“I would like to quote one of the executives of Facebook – ‘This journey is only 1% finished’.”

Tommie continued to explain that the JIBS alumni network still is in the start up phase and hence, continuous investments need to be put into the association in order to be able to harvest the fruits ahead.

“Therefore the biggest challenge is to realize that although we have gotten a good start, now is not the time to lean back and relax. We need to stay on our toes and be patient. This is a relationship business, and such a business demands long-sightedness.” says Tommie Cau.

Important Organisation To enable life long alumni relations, JAA and JIBS set up an alumni relations office already in 2010, with responsibility for the operational work with managing and deve-loping the network. Today the office is lead by Vaida Vysniauskaite, the full-time Alumni Relations Officer since 2011 and herself a JIBS alumna. She reports directly to the JAA board and it is clear that she and the office plays an important role in providing value and service to both JIBS and the alumni members.

- Setting up and developing the alumni rela-tions office have been crucial for achieving the things we have done so far, and we now want to develop it further, says Tommie Cau

The main objective of the office is to follow up on the goals and implement the strategies that the board of JIBS Alumni Association de-cides. The board itself today consist of eleven board members, ultimately the ones respon-sible for the network and its development.

As an organization, the JAA is currently undergoing a bigger transition, to improve value generation even more. A key priority in this is getting board members and the alumni office to better know their respective roles and responsibilities and work smarter.

”Simply put, the better we work the better the network becomes. In the past few years we have been more of an entrepreneurial group, where everyone is involved in everything. Now we move to a different structure in order to both create a more sustainable organization but also an even better performing one,” says Tommie Cau.Increasing DemandsTo be part of the board, you should ideally have previous relevant board work experience, contribute with specific skills, and be able to bring passion to your assignment. Also, with the current transformation, the way the board operates and the requirements to get elected will likely change.

“We have different challenges today than in 2001 and 2009. When our network grows and enters the next phase, so does the expectations on both our operations and our board. The way I see it, our board will work very differently mo-ving forward” says Tommie Cau.

Looking Ahead to 2014To date, JIBS has over 5 000 graduates and the potential to create a large and valuable member base is significant. When being on the verge of a professional career, or if you are already there, JAA is the natural meeting place to stay in touch with your former fellow students. The network today has over 3000 members and the goal is to gather at least 5000 members by 2014.

This goal stems from JIBS celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2014 and JIBS Alumni is looking forward to a grand celebration. Part of the aim is to host a major Homecoming Day at JIBS and for as many alumni as pos-sible to attend this milestone of an event. We will definitely be there, will you? g

+ 3000 members

Who can become a member?• Full degree students• 2/3rds finished • Exchange students


Get to know

THE ALUMNI RELATIONS OFFICEat JIBS

Vaida VysniauskaiteAlumni Relations Officer at JIBS

Specialist area: Alumni relationsExperience: 2011-present: Alumni Relations Officer, JIBS2009 – 2011: Study Abroad Coordinator, JIBS2006 – 2007: Service Manager, G4SGraduated from JIBS: 2009Studied at JIBS: Entrepreneurial Management

Why is it important to have an Alumni Relations Office?Alumni are extremely important actors when strengthening the brand of JIBS. Besides, what is a better way to know whether the school is truly delivering on its own mission if not via our alumni? Alumni network is without a doubt a backbone to the development of the school. The aim of the Alumni Office is therefore to develop the relationships between JIBS and its alumni. What is the role of an Alumni Relations Officer? My role entails the development of the net-work of former JIBSers via new and efficient ways of marketing and communicating about the network to internal and external parties, via arrangement of a number of unique alum-ni events throughout the year and by promo-ting reciprocal activities for active alumni. I am also involved in discussing strategic network development matters and questions related to the education quality at JIBS. Who are the people working in the alumni office?I have started as a sole person managing the operations and have recruited two interna-tional student interns from JIBS – Anton Korityak and Emmanouil Garyfalakis - into the office which certainly gives muscle to the management of alumni operations. The way further is to continue working with interns and student helpers, as well as alumni volun-teers in different places around the world as an extended arm of the office to help arrange alumni gatherings. How do JIBS Alumni contribute to the development of the school?An expression of “giving back” is a phrase that is naturally being used a lot in the context of alumni relations. Reciprocal endeavors co-

ming from alumni are boosting the quality of education by alumni guest lectures, industry contacts that result in host company assign-ments, thesis work, and internships, not to mention marketing and student recruitment activities, alumni network as an entry point for conducting research, and career support via mentorships for current students. What is the next step for JIBS Alumni network? Let’s not forget that is JIBS body has always been international at heart, and so is our alumni network. Global coverage of JIBS Alumni activities is therefore a great goal to be going for. g

SOMETHING YOU MIGHT HAVE NOT KNOWN ABOUT JIBS ALUMNI NETWORK:

The number of JIBS graduates has increased from 1500 in year 2000 to more than 5000 in year 2012

Our network members come from 70 different countries around the world

JIBS Alumni who live in the farthest point from Jönköping, namely 17439,35 km away, are from New Zealand

Around 5% of members are business owners and the number is increasing!

More than 30% of members hold a senior manager position

Most frequent functions are within Finance, Consulting, Sales, Accounting, Marketing, and Project Management

[email protected] is your Nr.1 contact regarding all alumni

related matters at JIBS

Are you a JIBS staff member and travelling abroad? - Let

us know and we will arrange a breakfast meeting

or an after-work with JIBS Alumni residing at a parti-

cular city. You will be able to reconnect and establish good contacts with JIBS

Alumni abroad.

For companies who would like to collaborate with JIBS

Alumni and sponsor our activities – JIBS Alumni of-

fers you a great platform to meet and establish valuable connections with talented people in the network and promote your company.

Check out JIBS Alumni Facebook page for all ourexciting activities and updates

Join our LinkedIn Group of more than 1700 members for career-related matters. Search JIBS Alumni

Subscribe to our Youtube channel to view JIBS Alumni footage

JIBS graduates now work in places like

ABB, Barclay’s, Google, IKEA, H&M, Thomson

Corporation, European Commission, Yahoo!, Merrill Lynch, Fujitsu,

IBM, Procter & Gamble, MTG, Langley Travels,

Bank One, OEM, Rover, Fondation de France, Unilever and Novartis.

STUDENT22


KICK-OFF 2012

STUDENT24

ENTREPRENEURIAL

480 students take Entrepreneurship and Business Planning course

this year and all of them were obliged to open a company con-

sisting of not more than 6 people and make profit in 8 weeks. The

26th of September was the day when all the organizations

presented their business ideas and tried to get more customers.

The name of this annual event is Entrepreneurship Day.

E

IN MIND!

Writer: Anastasija KorotinaPhotos: Frederic Leopold Köllisch

ach company tried to raise an interest and to be noticeable, that is why students tried to decorate their tables using dif-ferent clothes, accessories, and

food. I saw many guests coming, and there were crowds of people everywhere. Some of them were students who already had this course during the previous years and who wanted to feel this atmosphere one more

time. Other visitors came just to watch what Entrepreneurship Day means and, for sure, they were not disappointed with the amazing Trade Shows.

There was also the third group of people- real investors. Strict men in white suits were walking between the tables searching for an extremely good project to invest money in. I am not sure whether they found the brilliant business idea or not, but I can tell that it is no

ENTREPRENEURIAL


STUDENT26

doubt that some projects were worth seeing.Teachers came to the tables and cordially

spoke about the business ideas. They were quite satisfied with this year’s projects and from their words it was easy to understand that the job was done at a very high level.

The jury has also chosen two groups: the winners of the event. There were two nomina-tions: the Best Presentation and the Best Bu-siness Idea. Below you can find the interviews with the laureates.

The first group was called “Visible student” and provided light reflectors. I asked some questions to learn from their success. Here they are:Hello, guys. Can you introduce your-selves? What was the main concept of your business?

The main concept of the business was light reflectors that we provided for free. We wan-ted students to feel safety.If now you had a possibility to change your decision, would you open an-other business?

We were happy to come up with this idea. We think it’s good to give something away for free. And in Sweden it’s getting darker and darker and people are starting using reflectors. It is very important to sell season goods. We are more than happy with the result because we won the price for the best presentation and we could not dream of anything more.What did you use to make your Entre-preneurship day’s presentation more interesting?

We walked around, spoke with students, and wore bright T-shirts and overalls to prove our name “Visible student”. On the table we had some coffee and chocolate. We think it was good that we were everywhere. In the end we showed our products and asked: “Do you have this?” And students said “Yes, we do, we’ve already seen you”. How do you think why exactly your group was chosen?

We were unique. We wore overalls and went around while others wore normal clothes and stood near their tables. It was easy to remember us. Our product was free so the most people got it.Did you expect that you will win?

No, it was a surprise. Of course, we were a bit nervous while they were saying the names. But when they called us we just looked at each other asking: “What?” Are you planning to continue your business?

We talked a lot about it but we don’t know yet. We’ll see in the future. We have so many things to do at university, so we don’t have so much time to put ourselves into the business. What did you learn during the project?

We worked for the project on university ba-sis, we haven’t done it before. We also needed to sell the products in English instead of using our native language. What piece of advice can you give to prospective students, what is the secret of your victory?

We stayed focused, had a clear goal in front of us and finally we reached it. You need to think about the product that is easy to sell. It is necessary to be realistic. You have to understand who your customers are. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake! Did you enjoy the time of the project?

Yes, definitely. Of course we had days when we had panics, but anyway it is just the part of the process. Thank you to our teachers, it was a real fun.

Another group won the prize for the Best Business idea. What speciality did they have? What way to victory did they choose?

The most gainful thing that we

learnt was how you turn the ideas

into action. Because we usually

concentrate just on the result but

we do not know all the small steps

that people do.


What was the main concept of your business?

The main concept was to figure out something very simple and that we could do very easily. We decided to order screen protectors from China for a good price and sell forward to our customers for a reasonable price. We just wanted to produce something that is easy to sell in 8 weeks and get profit.If now you had a possibility to change your decision, would you open an-other business?

No, we don’t think so. It was the appropriate idea to do for 8 weeks and it had a potential.What did you use to make your Entre-preneurship day’s presentation more interesting?

First of all, we spent a lot of time thinking about what we are going to say. We wanted key things to come up clearly. Then we used the normal stuff like Power Point. We did not want to spend a lot on presentation because our concept was to have a low price, so we did not have so much extra money.How do you think why exactly your group was chosen?

We discussed that, actually. So, we think that this is due to the fact that we chose the totally new part of the market in Sweden. We proved that in some cases simple can be huge.Did you expect that you will win?

To be honest, we did not expect it. We knew that we had a big opportunity here and a good business. But there were so many companies that it was really hard to recognise this point. Are you planning to continue your business?

We have the feeling that we could run our business but we will discuss it after the exams.What did you learn during the project?

The most gainful thing that we learnt was how you turn the ideas into action. Because we usually concentrate just on the result but we do not know all the small steps that people do. You read about successful entrepreneurs and think that you could also do the same. When we were doing our business, it took a lot of time even to come up with the idea. So, it’s actually quite hard to go through the whole process.What piece of advice can you give to prospective student and what is the secret of your victory?

Maybe, the simplicity of the whole thing. When you have a product find the key thing to show people that it is good. Did you enjoy the time of the project?

Yes, we enjoyed ourselves. This is basically what we wanted to do. This is what we love to do. g

28 ALUMNI

Anders Kyhlstedt

Writer Polina Ivchenko Photo: Ludvig Omholt


he story of a JIBS alumnus and CEO of Booli“I think a lot of students in JIBS dream of starting their own businesses. Unfortunately that

dream also comes with a lot of fear of failure. But remember that even if you fail, you win in the sense that you turn into an experienced entrepreneur who probably has a lower risk of failing in the future” - says Anders Kyhlstedt, a JIBS alumnus and CEO of Booli who, at 30, is an entrepreneur that went through the ups and downs of doing business.

Being self-employed was something Anders always aspired to and what he felt was his vocation. Prior to starting a BBA programme at JIBS, he made a list of things he liked to do and tried to match it with jobs that would correspond. Since then, it was a natural choice for Anders to study in an entrepreneurially-minded business school such as JIBS.

Looking back at the student years, Anders recollects that apart from providing with a lot of inspiring theoretical tools, JIBS, Science Park, and Jönköping offered an ecosystem where he could try entrepreneurship and get good guidance.

Whilst studying, Anders and a couple of his friends from Jonkoping came across an opportunity to start their own company, producing printed school shirts. They had a great start, with first year sales amounting to 60 thousands shirts, but also had a big crash as more competitors entered the market and profitability slumped. “I got into personal crisis because I put in a lot of energy, money, and pride into this project. It took me a while to recover and realize that even though it was a failure, it had also been an opportunity to gain important experiences that could make me a more successful entrepreneur in the future” - Anders admits.

Later on, Anders started a couple of businesses and was involved with a number of projects and start-ups. One of the more well-known in Jönköping is Gearwheel, which is producing geared wheelchair wheels. “I like that I don’t have to live in someone else’s stream and that I can work with people whom I ap-preciate. These are the biggest advantages. The main downside is risk” - Anders comments on

being an entrepreneur.Having experience from multiple projects,

Anders realized that his biggest contribu-tion would be if he engages in an Internet start-up. “If you are an impatient entrepreneur like me, working with an e-business is a great option because you have an opportunity to get momentum so much faster than with many other businesses” - he says. Together with some friends he started looking at what innovation was happening around the world on the Web, and saw that American real estate search sites were far superior to what they had in Sweden. That was the starting point of Booli, which in 2011 was awarded Sweden’s best search site in all categories, beating such competitors as Hemnet.se, Hitta.se, and Eniro.se. “I have the best job in the world! It’s a really inspiring period for us” - Anders says.

Booli encompasses three business areas: a search engine for real estate Booli.se (Sweden’s second largest real estate search service); a business intelligence software product which assists real estate developers and banks to understand the real estate market; and Hit-tamäklare.se, - a website that helps find and compare real estate agents.

“In Booli we believe in a better real estate market, where open information trumps tricks and tactics. That’s what we’re about” - Anders says.

Indeed, Anders feels very enthusiastic and inspired about being an entrepreneur: “Most of us like to see that our days are meaningful. When you start a company, you can set a culture which makes it happen”. Nevertheless, he notes that this job is challenging since it re-quires hard work, the ability to find the right co-workers, and not being afraid to stand out a little bit.

Yet Anders believes that to become success-ful, one first has to determine what success is for them. It is a good idea to think of what you like to do, and then find out where you can do it. “Because if you build a career doing something you don’t enjoy, chances are you will look back with regret” - Anders adds. Besides, he recommends students to participate in extracurricular activities to acquire valuable experiences and contacts. g

T

I like that I don’t have to live in

someone else’s stream and that I

can work with people whom I

appreciate.

30 ALUMNI

Petter Lindström:

I got a job, its my master!

fter three wonderful years at JIBS and a Bachelor in Business Administration from the International Management (IM) pro-gramme, I was a very proud

JIBS alumnus when graduating in the spring of 2011. To get out and get a professional job was something that I had really been aiming for. So therefore I applied for many jobs, got a few of them, but in the end of the summer I started a master programme called Techno-logy Management (TM) at Lund University. Yes you got it right; I really wanted a job so I started a master programme, a simple choice.

Well let me explain a little about me. I am from Jönköping from the beginning from the area around Kinnarps Arena and my plan was initially not to start studying at JIBS when I ended high school. However, I really like to travel and try new things so after seeing the slogan ”International at heart and entrepreneurial in mind” I was sure that this was the best for me. I had a great time at JIBS spending one semester in Mexico and one in Taiwan and took a lot of interesting courses. However, even if I liked to play around with financial figures and economical models I always felt that companies lacked the bridge between the engineers that developed the physical products and us economists that should make profit out of it. With that in

mind and my desire to enter into the business world the choice was easy when I got offered to start the master program Technology Management.

It was once again a silly slogan that got my attention to this master program, “Practicing worklife” struck my heart and made me apply. Well, about the application that is a bit different compared to the usual way. Besides the ordinary grades that is send in through LADOK I needed to send in a CV and a personal letter. The next step in the process that I needed to get through was a personal interview with the whole manage-ment team of the education. The reason for this is the same as for any other organization that wants to hire an employee. The grades are important but not everything, and even if you have a great CV one should be able to communicate it and to show a go-ahead personality. I believe that JIBS taught me many of these things by giving me interna-tional experiences, a personality to try new things and experiences from working within the JSA.

After evaluating my more than one year studying in Lund, I must say that the TM programme has fulfilled my expectations. First of all the programme not only invol-ves economists but half of the students are engineers, something that always creates many diverse discussions in the classroom.

A

-,

I got a job, its my master!


From an academic perspective, I have taken courses at the engineering faculty such as logistics and computer science. I have also had courses in Product Development, Project Management and Business strategy where I have been working with my team that consist of both engineers and economists. The whole class also did a smaller exchange to China this autumn for two months to get a more interna-tional perspective, something that I as a JIBS alumnus of course appreciated.

But what about the business world and how does it connect to the education? First of all many of the courses require to work against a company in order to solve a specific task that they have or to conduct empirical studies at that company. There is also a highly appreciated mentorship programme where each student gets a personal mentor for one year from the business world. There is also a career fair day where we invite a small num-ber of interested companies to do workshops with to get to know each other a little bit bet-ter. The TM alumni network; where both students and alumni are members also pro-vide me with different types of events along with a good network of people that have been in the same situation as me.

However, the best experience that I have by studying at TM is the fact that highly motivated and driven individuals surround me in my class. This has made me perform better and gives me invaluable experiences but it also gives me classmates that have become my best friends and that I will always have a connection to.

In the nearest future I am doing my master thesis, of course together with an engineer, and I am also starting to face the job market, something that I do with a lot of credence with an IM and TM education in the back and with a strong network from the two different schools. I am now feeling that I have achieved my goal to become the link in the business world and with an “International heart”, an “entrepreneurial mind” and with experiences from “practicing work life” I feel confident to find a job that will fit me. g

Technology Management

Admissions per year: 20 engineers & 20 economists Exchange studies abroad: YesCross-disciplinary education: YesFit for a JIBS student: AbsolutelyWebpage: http://www.tmonline.se/

“At TM we do some strange things this time restoring an old schoolroom in a course to develop our teamwork and leadership skills.”

”The exchange studies in China also gave me

opportunities to go travel, here in the Tiger Leaping Gorge close to the boarder of Tibet.””

Writer: Petter Lindström

32 ALUMNI

Alumni talk with

Kim Jakobsson

hile studying International Mana-gement at JIBS Kim Jakobsson took the possibility to go abroad

and thereby lay the foundation for her future career. It was in Montréal where she first got engaged with sustainability. After her graduation she became a project manager at Ungdomar.se which is one of the biggest in-formation platforms in Sweden. Her respon-sibility was the organization of the sustaina-bility tour – a project that soon found a lot of support by big companies and also the foreign ministry. After this successful project launch Kim became the CEO of Ungdomar AB in April 2012.

How did ungdomar.se start out?The homepage started back in 2000. A midwi-fe identified the need for a place where young people can go 24/7 and ask questions. Within the last twelve years many questions of all topics popped in, e.g. about sex, school, jobs, travel. The focus is now also on health and wellbeing. There are a lot of people involved in the homepage. It is about creating a platform where everyone feels invited. The young people can spend time there, interact and get relevant information. Today Ungdomar.se has 100.000 visitors a week.

What do you think is the major worry of today`s young people?The most common question asked is: Am I normal? – Thereby it is very difficult to state what is normal in the first place. You should be the person you are. Still society is very complicated today. There are a lot of standards to live up to – it`s too much. That is why ho-mepages like Ungdomar.se are so important. Young people have a lot of questions, very im-

W

portant questions. They are thrown back and forth in their communities. It is important for them to get help and be acknowledged no matter what their problem is, like being interested in the same sex or feeling too fat and so on.

What does the website Ungdomar.se offer young people?The website has two parts. In the anonymous part the young people can ask questions to our expert panel. On the other hand they also have their personal profile. Here is the place where they can upload pictures, blog and post in the forum.

What kind of education do the ex-perts in the panel have and how do they deal with difficult cases?Every expert in our panel is legitimated in a different field. Ungdomar.se makes sure that they are experts in relevant topics. There are also gatherings for the experts where they can help each other with difficult questions.Is there also some kind of way to get


in personal contact with the experts like for example through an “emer-gency hotline”? We had services like that before and live chats as well. Those services were operated in coo-peration with another organization. Doing it again is definitely one step I want to take.

Imagine the following worst case scenario: A teenager announces suicide on your website. How do you interfere? This is an extremely difficult situation; there-fore we would contact the police. We actually had such a case once and they were able to save the person. As an ambition for the future I want to further connect the virtual space with the local help that is needed. There needs to be good enough information available to young people.

Supporting young people and getting them to participate in their community is also the goal of two other projects that Ungdomar AB and Kim Jakobsson are involved in. For the first project, Kom igen!, common questions of young people were collected and forwarded to leading scientists in the areas of bullying,

mental health and other fields of expertise. In collaboration with forskning.se this know-ledge will be processed and presented via a special tool and a planned promotional tour. The second project focuses on raising the awareness of adolescents for sustainability issues through the unique project Hållbar-hetsturnén. On top of that Ungdomar.se offers a number of competitions that young people can take part in.

Which kind of competitions does Ungdomar.se offer?We for example collaborate with book pu-blishers and do novel competitions. Young people can participate and win a prize. They also might meet the authors, talk to them and work on their skills. Another competition would be to make a 3-minute-film out of a novel. The goal of all those competitions is to activate and engage young people. We want to inspire them to read and write more by of-fering projects that stimulate youth.

In which process of the Ungdomar.se do you see yourself most involved in? I have the general overview of the website.

The chief editor informs me about the most important things. Additionally I initiate stra-tegic partnerships, organize tours, engage in health projects and so forth.

How big would you estimate the impact of your website Ungdomar.se?We definitely have made a huge impact. We make a difference. Young people need someo-ne who is paying attention and acknowledges them. They need inspiration and motivation to move forth. We meet those needs. In the future we also want to improve our expert panels and include ministers and CEOs of big companies.

How much help can an anonymous setting like a website really offer? Our platform is unique and truly means a lot to young people, so it provides great value to youths. But we also emphasize on physical meetings between people by organizing events like for example the sustainability tour. It is important to meet as well.

How hard is it to gain a serious repu-tation as an advice homepage?One important thing is that we have been around for a long time. We answered young people`s questions and gave them a space to interact. Creditability is always an issue but we have 30 moderators and one full time employee checking the forum and ensuring good content.

For the future of Ungdomar AB Kim Jakobsson has a clear vision: One major goal is to support the interaction between youths and the private sector, the public sector as well as non-profit-organizations. In order to create a brighter future for youths she further wants to involve them in the creation of the agenda. Increasing the importance of Ungdomar AB, and its existing projects is one important step in that direction. Kim wants the company to create and to be “the most meaningful mee-ting place in Sweden for young people – both online and offline - and then eventually go international.”

For JIBS students that might want to start their own business one day, Kim Jakobsson has some good advice:

“You have to believe in your ability and go for it. You are probably going to fail along the way, many times, so one of the main things I learned so far is to adapt to changes and be a problem-solver. Problems you might face today are usually not so bad tomorrow. Trust your gut feeling, create the right network and always stay open-minded!” . g

...Trust your gut feeling, create the right

network and always stay open-minded!

Writer: Andrea Kreiner Photos: Kim Jakobsson

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the JIBS Student Association,

the JSA organized an anniversary ball to be held at the Elite Stora

Hotellet, near the Jönköping city center.

Writer: Lora Blakley Photos: Frederic Leopold Köllisch

JSA 30th Anniversary Ball


he event was planned by student volunteers from the JSA to remember the roots, origins, and traditions associated with JIBS and to

celebrate the anniversary together with the community of JIBS, past and present. Most attendees were current JIBS students, both Swedish and international, with any JIBS alumni and former leaders of the JSA also present.

The JSA has a long history stretching back further than Jönköping University itself; the JSA has been in existence since 1982, before the University was privatized in 1994. Although the JSA has gone through name changes in the past, its function has remained constant over the years: to organize students in order to have a positive influence on education and to give students meaningful experiences outside of their studies.

Preparatory events for the Ball started long before the night of October 26th, however. Student organizers prepared events to help student guests find appropriate evening wear for the Ball. At the dress exchange held on the 27th of September, students were able to put their old dresses up for sale or exchange. Also present at the event was Design-Mani, which offered formal dresses at a discount and also

T

presented information about men’s formal-wear. Another event was held on October 9th for the men to try on tailcoats through fracklagret.se.

On the night of the Ball, guests began to ar-rive in the evening at the Elite Stora Hotellet. After passing through the lobby and checking in, there was the opportunity to take pictures with friends to commemorate the night. Guests then moved upstairs to mingle in the Red Salon, which, as its name would suggest, was decorated elegantly with a red theme, where champagne was served and where a few musically talented members of the student planning committee performed on piano and saxophone to set the atmosphere for the evening.

The evening continued with dinner, a delicious three-course meal set in the Hall of Mirrors, lit by candlelight and sparkling chandeliers. Speakers presented during the meal, interspersed with songs, laughter, and

socializing with other guests. After everyone was welcomed and introduced, the first speech was given by Anita Hansbo, the pre-sident of Jönköping University, who spoke of the rich history of the University and the JSA, pointing out how much it has grown and how far it has come. Once, it had been considered impossible to have an international university centered in a city like Jönköping; yet today, JIBS is the most international business school in Sweden, showing the spirit and community embodied here.

The next speakers injected a bit of levity over the main course: a pair of speeches which each made teasing fun of the opposite gender, comparing women to action movies (drama, car chases, and explosions!) and men to books (it’s good to have a favorite, but sometimes it’s nice to visit the library for a bit of variety). Both ended on an affectionate note, and the theme continued with the next speaker, a faculty member who spoke in the same gently

ribbing style of some typical (or, typically ir-responsible) student behaviors.

Over dessert, the speakers focused on the concept of gratitude and recognition of the work that went into a wonderful night. The alumni who attended the event were recogni-zed, as were previous JSA leaders, and all were thanked for their contributions to making the JSA into the organization it has become today. Current students were also recognized. Finally, the event planners, all student volun-teers from the JSA, were thanked for putting together a wonderful night.

After dinner, guests returned to the Red Salon, now cleared of furniture, to waltz, or simply to mingle or take more pictures to re-member the evening by. As the evening drew to a close, the celebration continued at Aka-demien, where guests continued dancing late into the night, cementing the 30th anniversary of the JSA as a night to remember. g

JIBS36


Word from the President

’Thank you everyone’

Xenia Johansson JSA President

2012 has been a great year with many inte-resting events and projects, such as Spring Inspiration that was held in the newly built culture house, Spira, or the currently on-going project, “WE WANT YOU RICHARD”.

The main focus from the JSA however, has been to celebrate the JSA’s 30th Anniversary. This has been done by remodelling our JSA Shop, launching a new website, introducing JSA Football Tournament and last but not least having the JSA 30th Anniversary Ball. The JSA 30th Anniversary Ball was indeed a magical ball that was attended by students, faculty, alumni and company representatives alike, a night that we will all remember for a long time.

But 2012 has also been somewhat turbulent with the centralization of the support function that is on going. Despite this, the JSA has done a great job in representing the students and I as the President of JSA have fought hard to point out the areas where there is a risk that the quality might be affected in a negative way. But JIBS is a unique school and the future possibilities are great, especially with the new managing team at JIBS that is now in place, I feel confident about the future. I am a proud JIBS student and will one day become a proud JIBS alumnus.

2013 is approaching and probably the most important thing is the JIBS application for the AACSB and EQUIS accreditations. Accredita-tions are vital to make sure that the quality of JIBS is high and that we as a business school indeed can compete on the international play-field. But as JIBS continues to improve, the de-mand on JSA increases as well, due to this, the

The fall semester is

about to end, and so

is my year as the

President of JIBS

Student Association.

JSA board 2013 has during the Extra General Meeting received the mission to overlook the organisational structure of JSA.

As a last thing, I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you to my fellow JSA board members, and all committee and pro-ject members that have dedicated themselves and their time to help develop JSA during this year. And I would like to wish the next JSA President, Lukas Charitonovas the very best

of luck and hope that he also will be sur-rounded by so many enthusiastic and engaged students as I have.

Thank you everyone.

38 ALUMNI

JIBSALUMNIACTIVITIES:most recent & upcoming events

Last spring, May 25th, JIBS Alumni gathered for an Annual General Meeting 2012. The pri-mary aim of this meeting is to elect members of the JIBS Alumni board and to vote on other important matters related to being a member of the JIBS Alumni Association.

“At the same time, instead of making it a just another formal meeting, we are profiling it as an event of the year, with a truly inspirational content”, says Vaida Vysniauskaite, Alumni Relations Officer at JIBS.

The event in May focused on the theme of Future. A number of invited speakers talked about the business strategies, future that is based on skills and about the trends of networking.

The most recent event of the JIBS Alumni Association – JIBS Alumni Week - was a great success. It took place in Stockholm on October 30th and in Jönköping on October 31st.

“During these two days, our alumni had the opportunity to listen to fantastic speakers who presented the topics of sustainable business, the importance of networks, and the management of risks and failure”, enthusiastically explains Vaida.

This marked the long awaited kick-start of JIBS Alumni activities in Jönköping. “Since we have succeeded to attract alumni who are residing in Jönköping, we will continue our activities in Jönköping”, adds Vaida.

Writer: Janina Hillenhagen Photos: Ivan Da Silva (in Stockholm), Rocky Adiguna (in Jönköping)

JIBS Alumni Week sponsored by:


Apart from the above mentioned activities, JIBS Alumni Association is also organizing social events which are based on shared hob-bies or simply on trying out something new, such as wine tasting evenings. Other types of social gathering, for instance, for those who like golf, are also planned in June.

Furthermore, the JIBS Alumni Association is also considering arranging online seminars (webinars) in order to be able to reach out to even more alumni in the network, which now consists of more than 3000 members.

“Also, whenever JIBS staff are travelling, we are arranging mini-reunions which have so far been very appreciated by the alumni. The last one was when Johan Roos, the Dean of JIBS, visited alumni who are residing in London, and more of such occasions are definitely on the way”, says Vaida.

Therefore the JIBS Alumni Association is now looking for volunteers in various countries who are interested in being a con-tact person for the alumni gathering or events in the respective country.

The JIBS Alumni network is growing fast and the plan for 2013 is to take JIBS Alumni activities to more cities in Sweden andabroad. g

For spring 2013, JIBS Alumni Association has planned several excit-ing events, beginning in February with a company visit to NY Reklam. The advertising agency opens its doors for the JIBS alumni who will have a chance to have a closer look into the world of communication. Ny Reklam has been specializing in advertising, online marketing, analysis, strategies, films, mobile applications, as well as printed marketing.

In April, JIBS Alumni Association is arranging a breakfast seminar with Thomas Eriksson, the new President and CEO of Carnegie, a leading inde-pendent investment bank with Nordic focus. Thomas Eriksson joined Car-negie Group in autumn this year. His earlier positions include being Head of SEB Private Banking while heading asset management operations for both SEB and Nordea in Sweden. The break-fast seminar with this well-known in-dustry leader will be inspirational and very informative for future leaders.

JIBS Alumni event calendar for spring 2013 - SAVE THE DATES

January 25 Extra General Meeting of JIBS Alumni, Stockholm

February 21 Company visit: NY Reklam, Jönköping

April 11 Breakfast seminar with Thomas Eriksson (CEO and President of Carnegie), Stockholm

May 24 JIBS Alumni Annual General Meeting 2013, Stockholm

June JIBS Alumni Open at Huvudstadens Golf, Stockholm

Check www.jibsalumni.se for calendar updates.

Startup Live Jönköping is a 3 day event, where people from different backgrounds come together to present business ideas, develop them on a team-work basis, listen to mentor advices and inspiring speakers’ thoughts, and get to know each other. The final part

of the weekend event consists of presentations of the developed ideas in front of a panel of judges and the awards ceremony.

The date: March 8-10

Brief framework of the event:1 day: Ideas pitch, team formation, dinner and the work starts.2 day: Breakfast, speakers, work, mentoringsessions, coffee, food & work.3 day: Breakfast, still some work to do, pitch trainings, final ceremony, and networking.

More information - The event guests, exact location, schedule, tickets, and registra-tion details can be found here: www.startuplive.in/jonkopingJIBS Alumni is a collaborator of the event.

onas is an experienced graduate who has explored several different professions during the years following his time at JIBS. Around a year after graduation, Jonas took a leap onto what has been the majority of his

profession, at American Express. In 2001, he felt he wanted to explore new grounds and decided to grab a position at Intershop – an E-commerce service company. However, his opportunistic drive led him to return back to American Express in 2004 in order to esta-blish and build a consultancy arm within the business travel sector at American Express. The establishment proved to be successful and in 2008 a decision was made to develop the consultancy practice to Asia, since the branch was only active in the US and Europe at the time. This development has been his main focus until this fall.

Today, Jonas has decided to switch course for some time and discover new shores. The idea to form a more flexible environment led to the creation of Jamenvisst and Picwell. The operations within both companies concern everything within visual communication, photography, and photo design. It is essen-tially an advisory service involving anything from how a company wants to look with their corporate images, to even specializing in how the company’s offices look and decorated. Simply put, what kind of images the company uses and how these images are portrayed.

40 ALUMNI

Jonas Borglin

Writer: Oskar Hall Photos: Ulf Börjesson

Jonas Borglin, 42, graduated from JIBS in 1996 after four years in the Civil-

ekonom programme. The Jönköping native has worked for both Ameri-

can Express and the IT-company Intershop. Today, he is the manager of

his own companies, Jamenvisst and Picwell – both visual communication

and photography-oriented companies with the main base in Stockholm.

In tandem with the formation of Jamenvisst and Picwell, Jonas also allocates his time both as a professional photographer and as a business developer for Axholmen – a strategy and management consulting firm. He explains how the photography is a lifelong hobby that luckily worked out as a profession. He continues to explain that he still wanted to have some tentacles within the consultancy business and that he doesn’t dare to fully let go just yet, taking space within Axholmen was therefore a natural choice. Looking back at JIBS, how have your studies prepared you for your career?

It was a very young organization when I started there and my class was one of the first graduating classes from JIBS. It was a very hungry organization with lots of plans and thoughts. I felt that JIBS created us to think freely about things and what you do, so I thought it was great! Today, I think it has transformed itself into something even greater.

You really see some good names connected to JIBS these days. I’ve only heard positive reactions around the school and I envy the new students who are entering the school now, when it has turned into such a great school. Considering the recent start of Jamenvisst and Picwell, was the strong entrepreneurial component at JIBS always in the back of your head

during your professional life?Yes, it’s always been there. My piece within American Express has always been to be entrepreneurial within that magnitude of a company, and this piece has certainly been a driver. And of course, I’m undoubtly entre-preneurial with the recent start of the two new enterprises. I think JIBS have done this right and should stay strong with this component. What has kept you motivated?

I’ve always been motivated by challenges. To me, the only true motivator is developing my own capabilities, making sure I grow as an individual, but also that I can grow other pe-ople. I think seeing people develop and seeing them become something different or evolve to be more successful in what they do has always been the most motivating part. I enjoy making sure that as a leader the people around me are growing and reaching their dreams. I also see change as a motivator and have never been too keen with the static piece.

When rounding off our conversation, Jonas emphasizes his belief and message to current JIBS students to leave a spot in your calendar for timing and not plan your future meticulously. He says that opportunities will present themselves and you can miss a lot of things if you avoid timing.

“A lot of people have too static views on how to build a career. Instead, become the ‘Yes man’!” g

J

www.jibsstudents.se 41

Meet the JIBS alumnus and founder of Jamenvisst and Picwell

STUDENT42

Diploma he Diploma Ceremony is an event that offers the students a ceremonial graduation in re-gard to finishing their degree. This year it took place in Per Brahe gymnasium auditorium

for the two different diploma ceremonies. One was held in June as the other one was held in October. The graduated students are master students as well as bachelor students and the price for the ceremony is usually around 200 SEK.

Nadim Kuttab is the Head of Internal Committee of the JSA and is responsible for arranging the event along with the “Diploma Team”.

“2012 was the first year we had two different graduation ceremonies, this was based on a massive petition from the students that started in February in order to be given a chance to graduate in June.”

Nadim Continues to explain that this is really important for the international students

T since they might not have the possibility to come back to Sweden in the middle of the autumn for their diploma ceremony when they finished their last courses in June.

This year the school agreed to arrange a Diploma Ceremony in June to see if it would attract students and the responsible people were shocked when a record number of students signed up for the June graduation.

JIBS was proud to announce a record number of graduates and the fact of a success really shined through the whole event.

“There weren’t enough robes for all the graduates, hence we had to arrange for two

ceremonygraduation ceremonies at the same day.”

Nadim stresses the importance of really having the diploma and to attend the event. Not only because it signals an ending to your studies but also because it helps to create a strong and united group of alumni.

Over the course of this academic year, Nadim aims to work with JIBS in order to take the Diploma Ceremony to the next level. He believes that today there is a lack of emphasis on the importance of this event and he hopes to offer graduates a more wholesome and unique graduation experience for the years to come. g

Writers: Nadim Kuttab & Mattias Enerbäck Photos: Frederic Leopold Köllisch

Diploma

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