Hire an academic and boost your SME

Through more than one year, the Danish private consultancy company TimeGruppen, Copenhagen Business School, Aarhus University, School of Business and Social Sciences (AU) have investigated and tested how a match between SMEs and experienced business students may solve specific operation challenges and create growth.

The first experiences are very promising, and as of 2013 the Academics Squad is a reality.  The SMEs in Denmark are thus able to make use of free and non-committal consultancy services, and students at CBS and AU can test their acquired skills on specific problems in Danish companies.

- There are great opportunities for growth and jobs in Danish companies with less than 250 employees. A lot of these companies have very limited experience in hiring academics. The ambition with the Academics Squad is therefore to make it possible for SMEs and university students to become acquainted, says Patrick Gram, Head of Communications at CBS.

Surveys made by Rambøll show that the number of employees in SMEs is increased by an average of 7 in three years for every academic that is hired. These surveys are substantiated by experience from the first year in which the Academics Squad has been run as a pilot project. Companies and students are very enthusiastic about the project. According to them, the collaboration contributes growth, action, outlook, reality and development for companies as well as students.

For more information, please contact Patrick Gram, Head of Communications, CBS, mobile: +45 2993 4491, email: psg.ea@cbs.dk or Gitte Haaning Høj, Head of Sales and Communications, TimeGruppen, mobile: +45 5176 2720, email: ghh@time.dk.