Procter & Gamble, one of the world's most dynamic companies, renowned for its innovative product technology, business approaches, leadership and vision, have for several years now sponsored a prize for the best Management Development Programme (MDP) 2 student project; for 2012 this was done in the form of a Dragons Den style pitch.
The top three teams - Teams 7A, 8G and 9D - selected from 530 students, had a great opportunity to present their ideas for a potential business enterprise linked to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games to Procter and Gamble representatives on April 24.
Dr Viktor Dorfler, Director of MDP, said, "Congratulations to the students who participated in this final round, less than 3% of all students in MDP2 achieved this. All three teams presented professionally and confidently and they provided solid foundations for their often surprising business ideas, addressing some of the most interesting and significant issues Glasgow is facing in relation to the Commonwealth Games and beyond."
The winners were presented with their prizes during the final MDP2 session on April 24, at which P&G employees talked to students about how to make the most of their MDP2 experience in their CVs when applying for jobs.
Moira MacGregor from P&G commented, "I can't emphasise enough how much we at P&G value Strathclyde's MDP Programme. The graduate job market is getting more competitive every year, and it's the soft skills that are becoming ever more critical. Leadership, team collaboration and business decision making are a few of the essentials for success at P&G, and the opportunity students get to develop these types of skills through MDP is invaluable. It's a key reason why we target Strathclyde Business School every year in search of fresh talent, and always look for students' experiences of MDP on their applications."
Prizes were awarded to all three teams, but special congratulations to the winners Team 9D = David Brunger, Siobhan Burns, Ashley Cosgrave, Kristine Dowling, Katie Smith, Iain Stewart and Zhao Wang. Their "Wee Jim" interactive gym equipment makes it possible for gym users to compete against each other online - even though they may be in distant parts of the world.
Congratulations also go to Team 7A (Louise Fawcett Aitken, Rhona Berry, Kepei Ju, Andrew Matthews, Keiran McAuliffe, Sonya Pencheva and Mingshu Zhao) for achieving second place with their idea based on a city guide app for Glasgow, and Team 8G (Katharine Ann Blois, Anna Brune, Elliot Galbraith, Shanchuan Lu, Chermaine Maclachlainn and Lingyu Pan) for their third place idea "Core Camps".