High school students in “FEST-ive” final at Jönköping University

For the first time, the Family Entrepreneurship Schools Tournament (FEST) was organized at Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) at Jönköping University (JU).

“The aim of the competition is to help high school students in Jönköping to develop skills and see family businesses as attractive employers,” says Joaquín Cestino Castilla, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at JIBS and one of the project leaders of the competition.

The atmosphere was full of anticipation at JIBS as some 30 students from the three high schools Per Brahe, Sanda and Erik Dahlberg had gathered to develop their skills in entrepreneurship and business management.

In the premiere version of the competition, food wholesaler Mårdskog & Lindkvist AB had challenged the students to solve a question focusing on generational change and efficiency in family businesses.

More difficult questions in the final

On the first day of the final, the competing teams were informed about the challenge they would then solve and present through a 7-minute pitch, where they had to sell their ideas to a jury with representatives from JIBS, Junior Achievement, Region Jönköping County and the business community. They had each other, JIBS mentors and experts to help them.

In the autumn of 2024, the competition was introduced to students on the second-year business programmes at the three high schools and during the autumn, 35 different teams from the three high schools submitted entries to the jury, who then selected the six best teams to participate in the final.

“The task that the students will now receive in the final is an extension of the task they were given to solve last autumn. In the final, we will go a little deeper and ask some more difficult questions. I think they will succeed well, and it will be very exciting to see," says Marcus Mårdskog, Financial and Marketing Controller at Mårdskog och Lindkvist AB on the first day of the competition.

Insight into family business

When Marcus was asked by JIBS if he wanted to take on a challenge from the family business in the competition, he thought it was obvious to say yes.

"It's great fun and important for high school students studying economics to get a picture of what it actually looks like in reality. Young people often look at the big companies in Sweden and in the world, but in reality, most of them will work in a medium-sized Swedish company in their future working life. That's why it's important that they get an insight into how such a company actually works," he says.

The first day of the competition included a lecture on family business, a lesson on how to pitch your ideas, and a visit to Mårdskog & Lindkvist AB.

Plans for an expanded concept

During the afternoon of the first day, the students sat with their teams in group rooms and work on the solution to the question, which was about how the family business Mårdskog & Lindkvist AB could best secure its future during an ongoing generational change.

“It's great that we have been given this opportunity. It is important to work efficiently and quickly given the time pressure. We look forward to pitching our entire idea to the jury," says Hugo Persson, who was part of one of the teams from Sanda high school.

During the morning of the final day, the students presented their solutions to the jury and audience, and by lunchtime it was clear that the winning team came from Per Brahe high school.

The winners’ prize was SEK 5,000, while the runners-up and third place also received prizes of SEK 2,000 and 1,000 respectively.

For next year, JIBS has plans to expand the concept.

"We have already been in contact with several municipalities that are interested: Vetlanda, Vaggeryd, Tranås and hopefully one or two more," says Linnea Lind, coordinator at JIBS and one of the project managers for the competition.