ESADE and the elBullifoundation have kicked off the third edition of the Creativity for Business Innovation (C4Bi) challenge, a student competition that seeks to highlight the value of creative process auditing, a tool used by chef Ferran Adrià and his team to assess innovation processes at his restaurant, elBulli. This pioneering partnership between elBullifoundation and ESADE aims to transfer this auditing technique, developed at elBulli, to the creative and innovation processes used at companies and institutions.

This academic year, the students will analyse a project by HP and, specifically, how the company is reinventing large-format digital printing with its HP Latex technology. This technology was developed at HP’s International Centre in Barcelona (Sant Cugat del Vallés) – the company’s largest research and development centre outside the US – which employs 1,900 people of 61 nationalities and takes out more than 150 patents a year. 

The C4Bi Challenge process

The registration process for students at ESADE Business School will be open from 11 to 30 September. Students on the Master in Business Administration (Full-Time MBA), Master of Science (MSc), Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Double Degree (BBA + Law) programmes are invited to enter. Teams may be made up of students from multiple programmes.

The selection of the ESADE teams to participate in the final round will be carried out by means of a case study, to be solved by the teams between 2 and 15 October. A panel of judges consisting of faculty members and executives will analyse the submitted reports and select the teams to go on to the finals between 15 and 19 October.

Final round and recognition

The final round of the C4Bi will take place from 16 to 18 November and will feature the finalist teams from ESADE and other prestigious international institutions. In this round, the students will visit elBulliLab, where renowned chef Ferran Adrià will give a master class and present the ‘Creative process auditing to innovate in business’ initiative. The teams will also visit HP’s International Centre in Barcelona (Sant Cugat del Vallés), where several executives and managers from the tech company will discuss their strategies and innovation programmes. Finally, the student teams will have twelve hours to audit HP’s creative process and prepare their conclusions and proposals, which they will present to an international panel of judges to consist of Ferran Adrià, from elBullifoundation, Joan Pérez Pericot, General Manager HP Large Format Production, and Josep Franch, dean of ESADE Business School.

Last academic year, the Creativity for Business Innovation Challenge was given an Innovations that Inspire award by AACSB, the largest global education network. The award recognises the innovations that best illustrate the essential work performed by business schools to improve their communities and society at large. The implementation of the C4BI has also received the Education Innovation Award, which recognises teaching quality and innovation in the field of education, within the ESADE community.

View the rules | Registrations