Forum for Applied Strategy
Catalysis
The IBMS faculty of the Arnhem Business School has placed a high priority on the students
learning about strategic management issues firsthand from the practitioners.
Goal
To bring together blue chip companies, financial buyers and M&A advisors, small and medium
enterprises (SMEs), and students for a day of strategic reflection, learning, and opportunity.
Structure
Speakers from established industrial companies or practitioners at the forefront of the market
for corporate control (buyside/sellside) would share insights with an audience of SMEs and
students. The SMEs will have the chance to learn from the best, and possibly to pitch
ideas/secure financing or partnerships with the speakers. This will take place at the ABS, giving
students the unprecedented chance to not only hear about cutting-edge strategic issues but
witness strategic management firsthand. Later, there will be a drink reception where everyone
will have the chance to discuss the topics, network, and pursue their own interests. A good
opportunity for the SMEs to recruit students for their strategic needs.
What’s in it for them?
Speakers – Representative of Industry1, Financial Buyer2, M&A Strategic Advisor3 and a
“Wildcard” speaker – academic, military, sports background. They are looking for recognition,
publicity, promoting their ideas, and in the case of the Financial Buyers and M&A advisor,
possible target companies. The advantage of the majority of the speakers being practitioners
from the market for corporate control is that, even though they make headlines with deals worth
billions of Euro and reshape industries, Financial Buyers and M&A Advisers are more like “the
smart guys in the room” rather than “Masters of the Universe”, operating in small, non-
hierarchical, and flexible environments, making them more approachable.
1
Representative of Industry could be a C-level executive who manages a portfolio (either of divisions or
products)
2
Financial Buyers could be from Private Equity, Venture Capital, or Activist Hedge Funds
3
M&A advisor could be buy-side, identifying potential targets among the SMEs, or sell-side, identifying
candidates for IPOs, mergers, or VC, mezzanine, or PE financing

SMEs – Managers from small-medium enterprises who are looking to make the next big step in
strategy. They are interested in hearing about strategic management from the speakers, perhaps
finding opportunities for collaboration (e.g. if they are in the target group of the Financial Buyer,
or in the industry of expertise of the Advisor to Strategic Buyers). An added benefit to the SMEs
is that they could recruit students for their strategic expansions from the roster of 4-th year
students who are ready for a graduation assignment
Students – Main phase students from IBMS and the other English-language study streams. They
are interested in listening to the Speakers, but also connecting with the SMEs and being part of
their strategic leaps