ESADE and the elBullifoundation have launched the fourth edition of the Creativity for Business Innovation Challenge (C4Bi). This student competition promotes the use of creative process auditing, a tool created by chef Ferran Adrià. The aim of this pioneering collaboration between elBullifoundation and ESADE is to transfer this auditing technique – initially developed by Adrià and his team to assess innovation processes at the restaurant elBulli – to creativity and innovation processes at companies and institutions.

The fourth edition of the competition will once again have an international focus: students will apply the creative process auditing technique to Barça Innovation Hub, FC Barcelona’s platform for knowledge and innovation in sports.

The competition is open to three-person teams of students in ESADE’s Master of Business Administration (MBA), Masters of Science (MSc), Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Double Degree (BBA + Bachelor in Law). Teams comprising students from multiple programmes are also welcome to compete.

Competition process

Teams must register for the competition between 12th and 30th September at www.esade.edu/c4bi. The participating teams will be asked to solve a case between 1st and 15th October. Between 15th and 22nd October, a panel of experts will analyse the teams’ contributions and decide which teams will advance to the final round. The final will take place on 22nd, 23rd and 24th November in Barcelona.

This final stage of the competition will take the form of a three-day hackathon. The finalists will visit LABulliografia, where Ferran Adrià will teach a master class and present the creative process auditing methodology. The teams will also visit the Barça Innovation Hub, where various executives and managers will discuss their strategies. Finally, the student teams will have 10 hours to complete a creative process audit of the Barça Innovation Hub and prepare their conclusions and initiatives, which they will then have to present to the panel of judges.

The aim of this pioneering collaboration between elBullifoundation and ESADE is to transfer the creative process auditing technique to innovation processes in companies and institutions.

Background and recognition

The C4Bi forms part of ESADE’s Student First educational model, which is based on experiential leaning and direct contact with the reality of organisations. It offers a unique opportunity for students – especially those interested in innovation processes, the development of creative capacities and entrepreneurship – to experiment with a new methodology developed to promote a better understanding of creative and innovative processes in the business world.

In the first edition of the C4Bi, participants carried out a creative process audit of the Roca Group’s “W+W” project, relying on secondary data sources and expert opinions. In 2016, participants applied the technique to Hospital Sant Joan de Déu de Barcelona – specifically, the hospital’s Darwin Medical Simulation Centre, which has pioneered the use of simulation as a teaching tool. Last year, participants audited HP Latex’s large-format printing technology for interior design and decoration.

The C4Bi was chosen by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the world’s largest education alliance, for the one of the organisation’s “Innovations that Inspire” awards, which recognise the essential work carried out by business schools to improve their communities and society in general. The C4Bi has also received the Educational Innovation Award, which recognises initiatives that promote educational quality and innovation within the ESADE community.