Three high-potential business administration studentswere very surprised to receive a message, stating that they were shortlisted for the SeederDeBoerThesis award 2012. “I had already forgotten about my bachelor thesis, because I had finished it very early in the academic year, and I am working on my Master thesis now”, said winner Jos Kamp. Also Tobias Kocks couldn’t believe he was selected: “I was very happy, and answered immediately that I would be present during the ceremony.” The sole female nominee, Tamara Oukes, is currently doing a double degree in Berlin and could not join. Her father attended the ceremony in her place, but Tamara let us know that she was ‘very honoured to receive this recognition’.
René Seeder, founder of the consultancy firm, awarded the prize. “Poor professors”, were among his first words during his speech. Indeed, professors Celeste Wilderom, Holger Schiele and Rez Kabir had a lot of reading to do to select a top 5 from all last year’s theses that were awarded 8 or higher. SeederDeBoer then helped to select the top 3, and ultimately the winner. The main criteria were relevance, readability and scientific adequacy.
All nominees were praised for their efforts. “Tobias has really explored all facets of market entry into Germany, Jos’ work is lean, mean and to the point with valuable recommendations in logistics, and Tamara has worked on improvement in innovative work behaviour with great precision”, Seeder explained.
But ultimately, there is only one winner. And Jos Kamp is he. Jos: “I am really flabbergasted. I doubted my theoretical foundations, so I did not expect to win today. I am really looking forward to the day-at-the office. It will be useful to learn what a consultancy job looks like.”
SeederDeBoer has a special young professional programfor others who might be interested to learn more about the consultancy profession.
Tekst: Mariska Roersen Foto: Erik Brinkhorst
