Joint efforts for a cultural institution

In the second half of 2009, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants put together a somewhat unusual university marketing event with the slogan "act – take on responsibility!" The idea behind this initiative was to work together with students to do something that would benefit a non-profit organization, namely the Hamburger Volksbühne.

The Hamburger Volksbühne (HVB) is a cultural institution that offers its almost 22,000 members a range of services (subscriptions, bus transfers, etc.) in Hamburg's colorful cultural scene. Over the past decade, preferences have been gradually shifting toward more flexibility and individuality in the consumption of culture. This is why HVB recently launched its "Volksbühne 2020" vision with the aim of reviving its appeal. The goal of this innovative pro bono project with Roland Berger and students from various disciplines was to develop new strategies for HVB.

After an application period of several weeks, 21 particularly committed and talented undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D students were chosen to work on the project. The students received support from Roland Berger consultants.

At a kick-off event in Hamburg in late November, our Roland Berger coaches taught the part-time consultants the basic tools necessary for their assignment. Training sessions on project management, backstage tours, interviews with HVB representatives and lectures on Roland Berger's work helped the students gain an overview of the project and its challenges. Over the following eleven days, the teams worked independently at their universities and in virtual team rooms under the guidance of their coaches. In the final two-day event, the students and Roland Berger consultants fine-tuned the individual groups' results and presented them to HVB representatives.

The "client" was impressed with the results: "It's quite remarkable what the students have come up with in just two weeks," says Hans-Jürgen Simmersbach, HVB's managing director. "We are more than surprised by the many creative and interesting ideas we have received. We will study the various suggestions and integrate several of them into our work."

No doubt about it, the act! event was a win-win-win situation: The Hamburger Volksbühne received a comprehensive analysis of their services and concrete recommendations with practical suggestions. The students went beyond pure consulting theory by working on a real case. And Roland Berger promoted its brand as being a responsible employer and had the chance to give top students an in-depth insight into consulting work.