Pan American Energy proceeds to World Final 2010

Our team is formed of five people from Pan American Energy’s (PAE) Cerro Dragon asset (located in Patagonia, Argentina):
Ricardo Mazzola, Engineering Manager
Alejandro Raslawski, Region I Operations Manager
Diego Querol, Planning & Economics Senior Leader
Federico Caldora, Business Unit General Manager (Team Leader)
Rafael Villarreal, Region II Operations Manager

After two really challenging rounds, we are very glad to be part of the BTS World Final 2010. But it is not over yet, we still have one step forward to meet our objective… and it seems to be the hardest one.

In the first two rounds we spent a lot of time before taking the first decision to fully understand the business case, market forecasts and company profile (strengths and weaknesses). Based on this deep understanding of the big picture, we defined our long term strategy for each case. Once the first decision was made, our main virtue was a good balance between strategy alignment and flexibility to adapt to changes in the environment in order to capture new opportunities and minimize the impact of market downsizes and reactions from competitors.

PAE is an upstream oil & gas company, so pricing decisions were a new experience for us. We also learned a lot from each other during the tournament because of our different backgrounds (operations, engineering and financial planning), which were put together towards the same objective.

Definitely, the Tournament was an exciting experience and a very interesting way to learn and practice some key business concepts.

BTS Global Semi-Finals 2010 - RESULTS

The Global BTS Semi-Finals took place over two sessions on 9th and 15th September. It was another competitive fight for highest shareholder value of a simulated company.

There were 28 Teams lined up to compete in the annual Global Semi-Finals! As many as 22 countries were present and the companies represented included: Philips, Nokia, NSN, Accenture, Astra Zeneca, HP, Ericsson, Statoil, etc.

Congratulations to every single one competing Team. It was extremely tough to focus on decision making in the limited time frame given. Only the best Teams get the opportunity to proceed to the BTS World Final 2010 (will be held early November 2010). And to remind you, top three teams in the world are invited for an unforgettable weekend away.

Special congratulations go to the winning teams, our finalists, who were the best in their divisions:

Pan American Energy / ARGENTINA - Team Patagonia
Philips / THE NETHERLANDS - Team DWLC
Abertis / SPAIN - Team GLDIATRS
JCI Portugal / SPAIN/UK/PORTUGAL - Team Megabuck
JCI Finland / FINLAND - Team Spectre

We wish them all the best in the World Final 2010!
BTS Tournaments Team

RESULTS of Global BTS Semi-finals 2009!

The Global BTS Semi-Finals took place over two sessions - on 10.09 and 17.09. It was a fierce fight for highest shareholder value of a virtual company.

There were 48 Teams lined up to compete in the annual Global Semi-Finals! As many as 20 countries were present and 28 companies represented, such as: ABB, Accenture, AstraZeneca, British Telecom, CP Kelco, Ericsson, LG, Maersk Line, PwC, Stora Enso and many more.

Congratulations to ALL competing Teams. They did a tremendous job in such a short time given to make decisions. Only the best Teams get the opportunity to proceed to the BTS World Final 2009 (will be held early November 2009). And to remind you, top three teams in the world are invited to the Luxurious BTS Awards, traditionally held in Cannes on the French Riviera.

Special congratulations go to the winning teams, our finalists, who were the best in their divisions:

SEB Kort / NORWAY - Team PLASTIXXX
Endesa / SPAIN - Team APTC
Syngenta / SWITZERLAND - Team Aspire
Andritz / FINLAND - Team Eagles
Vipnet / CROATIA - Team Red Devils
Nokia / FINLAND - Team Uision
Nokia Siemens Networks / FINLAND - Team Pohjatyö

We wish them all the best in the World Final 2009!
BTS Tournaments Team

Global BTS Semi-finals 2009!

Here at BTS Tournaments, we are very excited to announce that there are 48 Teams lined up and ready to fiercely compete in the annual Global Semi-Finals! As many as 20 countries are present and 28 companies represented: ABB, Accenture, AstraZeneca, Ericsson, Maersk Line, Nokia, NSN, PwC, Stora Enso, Syngenta and many more.

The Semi-Final heats are held 8-17 September. Watch this space for the results!

Only the best Teams get the opportunity to proceed to the BTS World Final 2009. And to remind you, top three teams in the world are invited to the Luxurious BTS Awards, traditionally held in Cannes on the French Riviera.

Fortunately, everything is not just up to lucky charms. Teams will exercise their developed business acumen skills and strategic knowledge, among others, to create the highest Shareholder Value of their simulated companies.

We wish all participating Teams all the best!

BTS Tournaments Team

NOKIA TEAM: What Is Needed for Success in the BTS Business Tournament - the Story of Team Turing&Co.

Success Factors for BTS Business Tournament:

- Motivation - Constant motivation is a must-have and the main key to success. In this case, while crunching numbers week after week it helped greatly to remember that we are on the road to Cannes.

- Crossfunctionality - The tournament demonstrates well the importance of not to sub-optimize but to think holistically, whereas the human nature tends to lure one to overemphasize the importance of his/her own functional area. Hence, a crossfunctional - or crossfunctionally minded - team is an asset.

- Time & Energy - For sure the competition required significant amount of both, but at the same time it was even surprisingly enlightening, rewarding and fun. Especially understanding the starting position and the market overall in the beginning was crucial. The last rounds were already rather routine for us.

- Strategy, Analytics & Intuition - Managing a large multinational company is challenging and we kept wondering "What would Olli-Pekka (Nokia CEO) do". Having a clear direction (strategy), understanding the situation (hard core analytics) and coping with uncertainty (intuition) proved to be a winning recipe.

- Physical Fitness - Like in any professional sport, we believe that also in this tournament excellent physical fitness takes you far. Hence we combined finetuning our analytical skills with running and gym. We plan to continue our training program and to be very fit for the semi-finals and finals - and for the beach in Cannes!

Johanna Lampinen (Development Manager, DSN Design at NOKIA),
Maija Kaukonen (Manager, Lifecycle Management - Analysis at NOKIA),
& Pekka Kokko (Manager, Marketing Investment Management at NOKIA)

AstraZeneca Japan – We made it through !!

This was the third opportunity for AstraZeneca Japan to participate in this Business Tournament and we became the first team to advance to semifinals!

What made the difference? Our strengths were –
· Variety of members from Finance, Marketing and Human Resources
· Weekly meetings for reviews and decisions throughout the competition.
· Guys who could enjoy the competition!

Our team was from different divisions. Yoshihiko Terada is a Finance guy who works as a financial analyst, Hitoshi Ishigaki is a Marketeer who is in charge of Portfolio Strategic Planning in Oncology, Shinichiro Mori is also a Marketeer who is in charge of one of mega brands in Primary Care and Fumiyasu Sakogawa is an HR guy who coordinates trainings in our Manufacturing division. We have extremely different backgrounds and that diversity worked very well in allowing us to make decisions by influencing each other.

Also, we held weekly meetings, 3 hour meeting before submission and 1 hour meetings for result review. Feedback from the review meeting was well utilized for the next round submission. Every day we learn!

Finally, we have really enjoyed the tournament, as it was exciting and fun although it was tough. Business Tournament participation had been prioritised rather than anything else. This had to be the biggest reason why we could enjoy and concentrate through the simulation for two months! (sorry, bosses!)

We really enjoyed it and are looking forward to competing in the semifinals again in September 2009.

Our motto is – "On va gagner le Grand Prix! La fête à Cannes!!"

Sandvik SSD/SIT to the Semi-finals of BTS Business Tournament

The first international team in the BTS Business Tournament competition has been born and so far mother Fortuna has been on their side.

This team, GFG, consists of Sandvik employees (SSD/SIT) from both Germany and Sweden. Frank Siebenmorgen is from Germany, Maria Wesslegård and Per Hälsingdal are from Sweden.

The first round of the Tournament which started in September 2008 is already over. Four business years have passed by and Maria, Frank and Per have made it to the semi-final next Autumn!

Something that might seem to be a difficulty is that they live and work in two different countries. They do not see each other in person so often. Instead of physical meetings, they communicate through telephone meetings and video conferences.
- It works very well to communicate by using this technology, Frank says.

Understanding strategy, economics and the drivers for a company are some of the challenges the teams have in the competition. According to the team, other challenges include taking the right deci­sions and trying to predict how the other teams will act in the different rounds. That is not easy, but they learn more and more as time passes by.

- We have learned how important it is to have a plan and to stick to it. Another thing that is essential is to listen to the Market Analysts, Per says.

They all have different roles in the competition, Per modestly says that his role is to make the other ones happy.

- Frank is the financial expert and he makes all the necessary analyses. Maria is the one questioning things and thinking in new directions.
- We all work perfectly well together, de­spite the geographic obstacle. And we all enjoy good discussions and we have a lot of fun as a team; and that is the most important thing, Maria says convincingly.

Per Hälsingdal
Current role: Global Transition Manager, SIT
Team role: We all share the roles, but I am the President.
Contribution to the team: To make everyone happy, to be active in discus­sions, book meetings, send in our result to the tournament arranger and ask silly questions. In other words, to do what is expected of a President!

Frank Siebenmorgen
Current role: Manager SSD & SIT Germany
Team role: We deal with the questions and decisions as a team, but I believe I am the Financial Manager.
Contribution to the team: To be an active part of discussions, do the techni­cal calculation of prices and sales volume estimates.

Maria Wesslegård
Current role: Special Service MES Manager, SSD
Team role: No specific role, a team player.
Contribution to the team: To take an active part of discussions, read all the material concerning the competition and come up with ideas for strategies and operations.

Abertis Championship winners!

The Lynx Team is a truly multinational team of 5 members. Our lynx spans from Bolivia (Eduardo) to France (Françoise) and Spain (Xavi, Jordi and Adria). We like the challenges and we managed to make lively and positive meetings/conference calls where all members added value from their unique angle.

Eduardo has a friendly way to say business is business and stick to the common sense. Spanish Xavi is always looking at the risks and tries to keep the four legs of the lynx on the ground. On the other hand, Jordi likes to think out of the box and stretch us towards bigger objectives, and Françoise always making us think again about the whole picture and the balanced scorecard! Finally, Adria likes Excel spreadsheets and likes to coordinate the meetings while crunching numbers. This melting pot has been capable of having a clear sight for victory! That is the Lynx.

Team Lynx proceeds to the Global BTS Semi-final in September 2009!

From left to right: Jordi Bosom, Françoise Riou, Adria Canals, Eduardo Canelas and Xavi Serra.

BTS Business Tournament 2008 - Autumn semifinalists

On the picture from left to right Laurent Müller, Vesa Vilkas, Jani Virtanen, Erik Tigerstedt from GE Healthcare Finland.

September, October and November business tournaments are finished and we are proud to announce the new semifinalists that have qualified their way to the BTS Global Semifinals 2008, taking place in September. Congratulations to the semifinalists and also to all the teams who were participating in the BTS Business Tournament.

- LLC Stora Enso Packaging (Russia)
- GE Healthcare (Finland)
- NOKIA CMO (Russia)
- Metsäliitto Osuuskunta, Puutuoteteollisuus (Finland)
- Perstorp AB (Sweden)
- Kaupthing (Finland)
- SEB (Finland)
- Skanska Project Support (Sweden)
- Svenska Handelsbanken Centrala Ekonomiavdelning (Sweden)
- Schenker Sp. z o.o. (Poland)
- Forsmark Kraftgrupp Ab (Sweden)
- SMP CZ (Czech Republic)
- KPMG (Sweden)
- Accenture (Spain)

BTS Tournament is the world leader in web based business tournaments and organizes the biggest and most exciting business tournament in the world where leading international companies are fiercely competing for market shares and profits while developing managers and key people to lead their business in a profitable and more effective way. Just like pilots in flight simulators, only in business. Why should pilots have all the fun!

BTS Business Tournament - New semifinalists from the January tournament

(On the picture from left to right Markus Alitalo, Akira Kameda, Tomi Kuparinen, Akira Nakano and Takeshi Oyama from Nokia Japan)

- Atlas Copco Spain, Team OLÉ
- Skanska Foundation Projects Sweden, Team Grund AB
- Pöyry Forest Industry Consulting Oy Finland, Team RockRock
- Fortum Power and Heat Oy Finland, Team Chaleur
- OJSC VimpelCom Russia, Team Advanced
- Nokia Corp Japan, Team 5samurai

BTS Business Tournament is the biggest web based business tournament in the world. The tournament structure includes preliminary heats, semifinals and the BTS World Final. The three best teams of the year will be invited to the BTS Awards, organized in Cannes, on the French Riviera.

BTS Business Tournament builds strategic excellence, management board dynamics, ability for financial analysis and fact based decision making and precise follow up.

(On the picture from left to right Carlos Moreno, Eva Hernández, Emilio Diez, Marina Romero and Roberto Pascual from Atlas Copco Spain)

The participants will be acting as the management board of a global company with the task of running the business successfully for 5 fiscal years. The winning criterion is total company shareholder value.

96% of all participants would like to participate again and recommend participation to other colleagues.

(On the picture from left to right Matti Savolainen, Oskari Lehto, Petteri Kuusela, Sakari Imeläinen and Fred Nykänen from Fortum Power and Heat Oy)

(On the picture from left to right Kimo Mikkonen, Petri Jokinen, Tuomas Salo, Juha-Erkki Nieminen from Pöyry.

Suvi Anttila, CEO and President of Pöyry Forest Industry Consulting Ltd. said: "We found the BTS Business Tournament very enjoyable and useful. It is great for team building and improves internal networking while at the same time challenging strategic thinking and analytical skills. We feel that the tournament nicely combines a big picture approach with sufficient room to maneuver and implement oneʹs strategies and tactics. The program is also very well organized and due to the conceptʹs flexibility, teams with tight schedules can also find the time to participate."

On the picture Mats Tidlund and Anneth Aglo from Skanska Foundation Projects. Missing are Joakim Berg, Frida Lindmark and Christelle Södergren. Mats Tidlund said: "The participation in the BTS Business Tournament has been an encouraging and enjoyable experience for everyone in our team. On a fundamental level, it has increased our ability to see the overall picture of business and how different business functions and the interrelations of these influence the performance of a company in a dynamic environment. The most important benefits for us were the development of our analytical and strategic skills and the improvement of the group decision-making process by taking advantage of the different knowledge and experience in the group. The competition atmosphere gave an exciting touch to the training and we will gladly recommend the BTS Business Tournament to other business units in Skanska."

Taavi Thiel
BTS Tournaments

taavi.thiel [#] bts.com