Working instructions: How to go to Cannes-from SKF TEAM

Pat Benatar was singing "Love is a Battlefield" - which is of course true, by the way - but now we can sing "Business is a Battlefield" with no doubt. Alfred Hitchcock couldn't have made this World Final more thrilling. We can only describe what was going on here in Austria - but let us assume the very same scenarios were happening at the very same time in some specific places in Poland, Spain, Hungary, Latvia and Sweden.

After you successfully managed to beat a number of other teams out of the tournament in qualification round and semi-finals, you will be one out of six finalists - leftover from 300 teams which entered the BTS Global Tournament. In the world final, do as follows:

Tuesday afternoon...
Schedule a nice little meeting in the afternoon, starting at 3pm. Well, at 19:30 you will have to order some Pizza to keep the systems running. The meeting will be a heavy duty test for your coffee machine. At around 22:00 you will be already more clear about what to do. Finally you send in your decisions for the first round...

Wednesday afternoon...
Same as above. This is the time to realize - there is some serious competition. Refine your strategy and put up an action plan. The Pizza service will come in again at 19:00...

Thursday morning...
Starting at 07:00 you will need some fresh ideas to improve your business and somehow beat those ...aarrghh... competitors. Good sales and production alone won't win the competition, pay enough dividends, motivate your employees.
From round to round you will come closer to the edges of your seats. The coffee machine will at this time be in continuous operation. Lunch is of course only sandwiches while you fight your battle...

Thursday afternoon...
Before you send in your decisions for the last round, you will already know that the final scores won't be far from each other - everything is still possible. Then at around 16:11 you will stare at your screen with eyes wide open - the relief... you will have to look at the results more than once to realize - your team has made it. Finishing in third place (optionally: first, second), you will be going to Cannes.

Friday morning...
Exchange nice mails with the other teams, have a look again at the pictures from previous award ceremonies, check if your dinner jacket still suits you, gear up your cigar depot and wait for BTS to book your flights...

Congratulations to the winners Schenker and second Accenture - be sure we will have a drink together in Cannes...
...and greetings to all from the third, team of SKF (Austria) - Erwin Übleis, Simon Blasl, Jörg Schlager and Klaus Zeppezauer

BTS WORLD FINAL 2008!

This year's BTS World Final took place on 27 November 2008. It was a very tight race and everyone's mission was to make it to the very top. There were so many emotions, a lot of excitement, anxiety, and of course analysis and focus... From over 400 teams during the year and about 60 teams competing in the semi-finals, only 6 made it to the very top. This was quite an achievement!

We at BTS are very proud to announce the official ranking of the 2008 BTS Business Tournament World Final:

1. Schenker - Team LOGICART (POLAND)

2. Accenture - Team DTN (SPAIN)

3. SKF - Team SKFonic (AUSTRIA)

4. Nordea Bank-Latvia branch - Team NORDTEL (LATVIA)

5. Ericsson-Business Unit Networks - Team KEY (SWEDEN)

6. Nokia - CREATEAM (HUNGARY)


The Top 3 Teams will be flown in for the Exclusive Awards Ceremony in Cannes on the French Riviera in the Spring. There, they will be get a chance to celebrate their success together and receive their big and well-deserved trophies!
Congratulations to all Teams! You made this an experience to remember!!

Taavi Thiel
Senior Vice President at BTS

The LOGICART team (representing DB Schenker in Poland) qualified to the BTS World Final !!!

The LOGICART team consists of 5 people: Piotrek Bąbel (Sales Branch Manager), Mariusz Kozłowski (Project Development Manager), Darek Subda (Controlling Manager / Team leader), Rafał Tarasewicz (Project Manager) and Arek Wojtas (Key Account Manager).

The day of BTS Semi finals was really exciting. After the first round we were on the fifth position and we knew that it would be extremely difficult to win this tournament. Obviously we like such challenges! Then, it was only better: second place after 2 round and finally we were the first after next rounds. I think time pressure really helped us and forced us to focus only on the most important factors impacting our results, but it wasn’t easy as our competitors also did perform really well.

After all, we are definitely satisfied and look forward to the Final.

Agnieszka Józwik, HR, Schenker Poland

Global BTS Semi-Finals 2008!

In September 2008, the Global Semi-Finals of BTS Global Open Tournament were held. Representing 17 countries, 38 best teams from the entire tournament year were competing against each other. The time for decision-making was short, adding more spice to the tournament excitement.

We are proud to announce that 6 of the semi-finalist teams qualified and are on their way to the BTS World Final. It will take place this November. The best three teams will be invited to our prestigious BTS Awards Ceremony, held in Cannes on the French Riviera.

Please welcome the following teams to the BTS World Final:

• Nordea Bank Finland - Latvia branch: Team NORDTEL
• Schenker - Poland: Team LOGICART
• SKF - Austria: Team SKFonic
• Accenture - Spain: Team DTN
• Ericsson Business Unit Networks - Sweden: Team KEY
• Nokia – Hungary: Team CREATEAM

Congratulations to all the teams who were participating in the BTS Business Tournament!

And all the best to the Finalists! May the best team win!!

Taavi Thiel
Senior VP, BTS

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!