TEMA START-OF-YEAR SEMINAR: Two days to create a business on an exoplanet

First‑year TEMA students took part in a two‑day seminar in mid‑September, with CREALAB marking the start of their hands‑on, team‑based learning journey — an approach that lies at the very heart of the programme. Read on to find out more. 

 1/ The context: a two-day induction seminar

TEMA students take part in CREALAB, a two-day induction seminar, at the very start of their academic year. The opening morning sets the tone with a series of team-building exercises: a communication game between students; a collaboration exercise involving two brands; and a World Cup‑themed negotiation activity where participants take turns championing an athlete or brand. 

What makes the morning so unique is that there are no computers, no phones and no AI. “The aim is two-fold: to show students that they can think for themselves, without relying on machines; and to develop their self-confidence”, explains Julie Guilgaut, a NEOMA graduate and seminar facilitator (read the interview with Julie below). 

2/ The challenge: to create a company on an exoplanet

After completing these initial exercises, the students are tasked with dreaming up a business tailored to a planet with conditions unlike anything found on Earth.

They use a deck of 36 cards divided into six categories: gravity, shape, biodiversity, weather patterns, orbital revolution and crust composition – these are the defining features of each planet, with 40,000 potential combinations!

The teams draw cards at random, meaning that none of them work on the same topic. Based on the above planetary characteristics, students have to devise a product or service offering, identify a target market, decide on the company’s location and build out its entire value chain. And tell the whole story in a video. 

This challenge, entitled TEMA EARTH, was devised entirely by Nathalie Fontaine, a learning designer who is also the coordinator of CREALAB. 

3/ The benefits for students: team cohesion, business awareness and creativity

First and foremost, CREALAB fosters cohesion. At a time when the students are still getting to know each other, this group work helps NEOMA cultivate a team spirit and encourages them to connect, because, as TEMA alumna Julie puts it, “They’re going to form a great team for the next five years”. 

Building an imaginary company from A to Z gives students a hands‑on understanding of how a business operates: its value chain, financing and marketing. What makes the challenge even more interesting is that participants have to link the characteristics of their planet to a viable economic model. 

Among the creativity techniques used is the Crazy 8 brainstorming exercise: each student has to come up with eight ideas in eight minutes, generating 40 ideas for a team of five. It is an approach that stimulates the students’ imagination. And they also learn to innovate within the constraints of an unfamiliar planet.