Listen to the participants' reactions from CBS Impact Day

All photos by: Bjarke MacCarthy

Thomas Hofman-Bang, CEO and Senior Partner at auditing and advisory company KPMG
”What I am taking with me is that we are going through a period of rapid change, where there is a general need for agility. As CEOs we have to adapt to running our businesses in new ways. We must have the nerve to fail fast, as Thomas Borgen (CEO, Danske Bank) put it. Many companies have a prevailing zero-mistake mindset, but we must accept failure and unpredictability, because we do not know where we are in a few years. When we are no longer able to make strategies for the next years, we have to lead based on providence, as Peder Tuborgh (CEO, Arla) mentioned. This means running our businesses on the basis of a vision that offers more than just sales figures. We have to speak to the heart".

Mette Thomsen, BSc in Business Administration and Organisational Communication, 2nd year
“The president's closing comment on the CEOs' focus on "fail fast, but learn from it" really gave me food for thought, as there is a prevailing straight-A student culture at CBS. If CBS trains the leaders of the future to be straight-A students who are reluctant to take chances, where does that leave the business community? I also took note of Jim Hagemann Snabe's story about Bertrand Piccard. He wanted to build solar-powered aeroplanes, but he had to make boat engineers do it, because the best aircraft engineers in the world claimed that it was impossible”


 

Ole Wiberg, Member of the Hedorf Foundation Board
”This was the grand finale of a vast number of successful events during the CBS centenary year. CBS' ability to attract the heavyweights of the business community (CEOs of Novo Nordisk, Mærsk, Arla and Danske Bank) is remarkable. The next 5-10 years present incredible challenges for the business community and academia, so it is very important that we cooperate. CBS needs to be one step ahead so that the business community can get some answers. We have to establish more forums like this in the future".


 

Flemming Poulfelt, Professor at the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy and Vice Dean of Knowledge Exchange and Dissemination at CBS
”An essential point derived from today is that we must put down our bad habits. This means that something is obviously blocking our ability to move forward. People have to reinvent themselves in a world of increasing digitalisation with a new global agenda. What we have heard today places huge demands on business leaders of more responsible and innovative leadership. And if CBS has to exist for the next 100 years, we also have to reinvent ourselves.


 

Majbrit Borup, HR Manager Scandinavia in PPG, the manufacturer of brands such as Dyrup, Gori and Sigma
”I am taking two things with me from CBS Impact Day. First, we have to challenge our current presumptions. It is no longer adequate to be scalable; we also have to put our foot on the accelerator as companies and society.  We have to learn how to learn. The problem is not a lack of knowledge. Instead, we have to learn how to navigate a global and complex world. Second, we have to dare to forget about comprehensive strategy planning and tell our employees to do what is best for the customer based on the company's values".



Read presentation from the event (in Danish)

For more information, please contact:

Lise Balslev, MMD Programme Director
Matilde Hørmand-Pallesen, Journalist, CBS