Student in Small Business and Entrepreneurship wins Talent Prize

Marten Dijkstra, student in Small Business and Entrepreneurship at the FEB, has won the annual Talent Prize of 1.000 euro, offered by the FEB and businesses in the north of the Netherlands. On 28 October, the jury chose him and his supervisor Mathijs Dijkstra, director of sales at Aquacombi, as the best master-journeyman pair of this 5th edition.

The Talent Prize is the yearly outcome of the Talent Project, which applies the ancient master-journeyman (meester-gezel) relationship to facilitate knowledge exchange between businesses and knowledge institutions. In this case, Marten Dijkstra -student of the Faculty of Economics and Business-  joined Aquacombi, a company that makes ‘wateronthardingsinstallaties’ (installations to soften tap water).

Together with supervisor Mathijs Dijkstra he investigated whether it’s wise to distribute these machines not only amongst private persons, but also at dealers of, for example, bathrooms and kitchens. After that, Marten occupied himself with formulating a marketing- and positioning strategy.

High scores
The jury consisted of three members: Dr. A.A.C. Brockmöller, advisor of GITP and former researcher at the Talent Project; Drs L. Dijkema, director of the Royal van Gorcum and chairman of VNO-NCW Noord (Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers); and Drs J.J. Koning, director of the Ubbo Emmius Fund of the RUG.

The jury was very content with Marten’s analysis of a small company. He has succeeded in delivering a product that raises the achievements of Aquacombi. Even though some parts of his style are a little flawed, it remains clear that he’s given a lot of thought to the outline of his product.

His investigation scores high on all criteria, with Marten giving a substantial contribution to the enterprise. The exchange of knowledge between Marten and Mathijs has been dually effective: with his theoretical knowledge, Marten has enriched Aquacombi and his ‘master’. Mathijs on the other hand has extended Marten’s practical know-how of his organization.

Talent project
Within the Talent Project, outstanding students from the university and colleges of higher professional education (hogescholen) in the north of the Netherlands are linked to experts, the masters, from the business world. The expert and the student work intensively together for six months on a research project.

By following the master’s daily activities, the journeyman can study and adopt the master’s skills; the master can benefit from the knowledge and fresh approach of the journeyman. The project was initiated in 2003 by Dr S.K.T. Boersma, emeritus professor of Knowledge Management at the former Faculty of Management and Organization.

The municipality of Groningen and the province of Groningen donate a cheque for € 2,500 for the master, and the Faculty of Economics and Business donates € 1,000 for the student.

For more information, check the website: www.talentproject.nl.