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New RSM partnership with Shell brings reciprocal business and education benefits

 New RSM partnership with Shell brings reciprocal business and education benefits

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) has announced a new official partnership with Shell Netherlands BV, one of the companies responsible for founding the business school more than 40 years ago.

Dean of RSM, Prof. Dr Steef van der Velde said it was a great honour for the School to be associated with such a major international company. There has been active collaboration and co-operation between RSM and Shell since the company was instrumental in founding the graduate business school in 1969, he said, but the new, formal partnership between RSM and Shell will emphasise the benefits of the relationship, internally and externally. RSM widely encourages company involvement in all of its educational programmes and focusses on links with business as part of its research activities.

Allard Castelein, Vice President Environment at Shell, pointed out that it is Shell’s ambition to be the most innovative and competitive company in the Oil and Gas industry. This is in context of a strong growth in the demand for energy because of a growing world population and increasing prosperity. With society demanding sustainable solutions, Shell will always need bright and motivated graduates to address these challenges. Through the partnership Shell aims to support RSM’s education programme and attract the best students to join the company.

“The partnership has benefits for our students,” said Dean Van De Velde. The partnership is an important step in achieving a closer relationship between Shell and RSM professors, staff and students, linking them to Rotterdam campus ambassadors, and enabling effective communications with students via RSM Career Services, at the same time as improving Shell’s visibility as an employer amongst the School’s student population. “Graduate recruitment is crucial to Shell, and this partnership secures a ‘talent pipeline’ for the long-term. Approximately 40 per cent of the 120 top students recruited by Shell from 12 universities in the Netherlands each year are non-technical, which makes RSM one of the company’s preferred sources of graduates.”

The next step is for Shell’s Rotterdam campus ambassadors to formalise their links with professors and faculty at RSM; their expected focus will be Finance, HR, IT, Contracting & Procurement, Supply & Distribution and Trading.

The Shell and RSM Partnership was signed by RSM Dean Steef van de Velde and Allard Castelein, Shell Vice President for Environment. Also present at the signing were from Shell, Sander Nieuwenhuizen, Vice President Global Recruitment and Tanja Winter, Regional Marketing Manager, and from RSM Theo Backx, RSM’s Executive in Residence; Frieda Franke, RSM Career Services Manager and Professor Dr Hans van Oosterhout, RSM’s professor of Corporate Governance and Responsibility.

Existing close connections

Existing close connections between Shell and RSM include a number of official positions fulfilled by Shell at the business school. They include:

• Shell’s Executive Vice President for Strategy & Planning Ruth Cairnie joined the RSM Advisory Board in October 2011. The purpose of the School’s Advisory Board is to further connect RSM with external management issues and practices, and its 27 members are talented and influential business and public leaders who reflect the international diversity of the school.  Ms Cairnie was one of the keynote speakers on Social Innovation at the EURAM conference on social innovation for competitiveness, organisational performance and human excellence, hosted by RSM in June.

• RSM alumna Yvonne van Ginkel (IBA2004, MScBA 2007) is Supply Chain Integrator for Shell, and is a member of RSM’s Alumni Advisory Board.

• Shell’s Chief Technology Officer Gerald Schotman will deliver a keynote speech during the RSM Leadership Summit 2012 in Rotterdam on 5 October.

Research and recruitment benefits

“There is potential for the company and the business school to collaborate on further research projects in specialist areas, for example with the Erasmus Centre for Future Energy Business, and other specialist centres within RSM and the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), a joint research institute of RSM and the Erasmus School of Economics,” said Dean Van De Velde.

Dean Steef van de Velde added: “The relationship with Shell is one further action to fulfil our ambition of making much more of the School’s increasingly important corporate relations.”

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University is consistently ranked amongst the top 10 business schools in Europe. It is located in the international port city of Rotterdam where core Dutch values of openness, flexibility and acceptance of diversity have attracted businesses on a global scale. Our emphasis is on ground-breaking research and practices relevant to business; our primary focus is on developing business leaders who carry their innovative ideas into a sustainable future. Our portfolio includes a broad array of bachelor, master, doctoral, MBA and executive education programmes. www.rsm.nl

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@remove-this.rsm.nl.