Research & Programs - HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management

Students
Record participation at XIII European Ivy League
The 13 th edition of the European Ivy League
soccer tournament organized by HHL – Leipzig
Graduate School of Management ended
on May 24 th , after a weekend that saw record
participation levels. A total of 34 teams from
Europe’s top business schools took part, with
the teams from the University of Economics
in Bratislava emerging victorious. Aside from
the soccer tournament, the event also included
the opportunity for students in Bach-
elor programs to listen to an introductory
lecture on the Master programs at HHL.
Organized autonomously by HHL students,
the motto for the XIII European Ivy League
was “Face the Challenge – Fair Play, Fair
Work, Fair Life” and it continued the tradition
of providing an excellent opportunity for
making contacts among alumni and students
in the HHL network. The cup in both the men’s
and women’s soccer tournaments went to
the teams from the University of Economics
in Bratislava, while second place in the men’s
event went to Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Third
was the team from WFI – Ingolstadt School of
Management. Second place in the women’s
At this year’s negotiation world cup, “The
Negotiation Challenge” (TNC), the team from
HHL - Leipzig Graduate School of Management
consisting of Lennart Bösch (M9), Robert
Kühn (P5) and Hector Federico Reyes
Salias (M9) won, closely followed by the team
from the Bucerius/WHU Master of Law and
Business Program, Hamburg. The thrilling finale
was held at the Alte Börse in Leipzig. In
the end, the winning HHL team was delighted
to accept a cash prize of EUR 500, a trophy,
and the title of “World Champion in Negotiation”.
In various rounds March 26-29, 2009,
the following seven teams competed against
each other: Harvard Law School, Cambridge
(USA); Georgetown University Law Center
(USA); UC Hastings, San Francisco (USA);
ESSEC Business School (NL); India Law
School (IND); Bucerius/WHU Master of Law
and Business Program, Hamburg and HHL –
Leipzig Graduate School of Management.
The TNC was co-organized by HHL students
(classes M9, M.Sc.3, and K23) and students
from Harvard Law School. The main focus
of this year’s event was Mergers & Acquisi-
tions. In four rounds of negotiations, the teams
soccer tournament went to the University of
Leipzig. Third was the team from the European
University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). The
list of participating teams reads like a Who’s
Who of European business schools and includes
ECSP Europe, GISMA Business School,
Handelshochschule Leipzig (HHL), Mannheim
Business School, University of Bayreuth, Università
dell’ Insubria and Warsaw School of
Economics. Organizer Jens Wedel (M.Sc.3)
said, “We are particularly proud of the fact
that, even in these economically difficult
times, we were able to significantly increase
the numbers participating in Europe’s most
important soccer tournament for business
students – not just in terms of the numbers
of teams on the field but also of the number
of guests at the final party.” The main sponsor
of XIII European Ivy League was again
BASF, continuing the tradition of many years.
HHL is also very grateful to Deutsche Kreditbank,
Deutsche Vermögensberatung, Ernst
& Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and
Roland Berger Strategy Consultants for their
sponsorship of this momentous event. Fur-
HHL wins The Negotiation Challenge (TNC) 2009
had to develop strategies for implementing or
repelling a takeover. Among other criteria, the
jury evaluated how sustainable the strategies
were and how convincingly they were presented.
In addition, the aspect of financing was
of particular importance. In addition to Bundesverband
Deutscher Kapitalgesellschaften
(BVK), E.ON, K16 Kommunikationsdesign und
Präsentationen, Niemanns Tresor, Public Relations
v. Hoyningen-Huene, Searchmetrics and
Maryme as well as Stylicon supported TNC
HHL NEWS – SUMMER 2009
13
thermore, many thanks go to our media partner
squeaker.net, and to our catering partner
Pilsner Urquell.
Volker Stößel
From left to right: TNC winning team 2009: Lennart Bösch, Robert Kühn and Hector Federico Reyes Salias
this year. “The topic of negotiation is gaining
more and more importance. We are therefore
pleased that The Negotiation Challenge receives
such strong support from businesses,”
said Fabian Schaaf, HHL student and member
of the TNC organizing committee. “With
this event, we also hope to motivate other universities
in Germany to include negotiation in
their curriculum,” continued Schaaf.
Volker Stößel