Initiatives

With a fresh approach and the ability to innovate, we are ready to embark on new ventures. As corporate citizen we give pro bono work top priority. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants collaborates with education and art and culture organizations and provides advice on their strategy and positioning, organizational development, fundraising and sponsoring.

Russia's turn came in 2008: two large projects from "Counterparts" initiative were aimed to support culture and education projects in the country. Roland Berger supported the Festival for Contemporary German Choreography, a month-long celebration of German dance at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre and the School of Dramatic Art Theatre. The opening of the library at the St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance constituted the second part of this Counterparts project.

To bring best performances from Germany Roland Berger Strategy Consultants supported the month of German dance as part of "Counterparts" initiative in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut. The Festival took place from March 27 to April 24, 2008.

The calendar of events included two guest productions from Germany. D'AVANT, a production by Berlin's Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, was presented by Sasha Waltz & Guests in a co‑production with Les Ballets C. de la B. (Ghent, Belgium), Festival de Marseille/Festivals le Carreau/Scène Nationale de Forbach and Théâtre de la Ville (Paris, France).

The other guest production was the ballet ROMEO AND JULIET, performed by the Deutsche Oper am Rhein from Düsseldorf. Two other ballets by Youri Vamos were the "Rite of Spring" by Stravinsky and "Erda" by Peteris Vasks.

One of the festival highlights was John Neumeier's award-winning adaptation of "The Seagull" on April 7. The Moscow premiere featured soloists from the Hamburg Ballet. The ballet was accompanied by music from Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and Scriabin. John Neumeier, director, chief choreographer and ballet school director of the Hamburg Ballet, contributed not just the choreography, but also designed the sets, costumes and lighting. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, the Goethe-Institut and the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre invited 250 notables from cultural centers, business and politics to the performance, followed by a reception at the opera. The festival's patron was Dr. Walter Jürgen Schmid, German ambassador to Moscow.

"Counterparts" project in each country consists of two parts: cultural event in country's capital (in Russia it is the month of modern German dance), and library opening in the other city. St. Petersburg was chosen to complete the second part.

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut opened on November 28, 2008 a new library at the St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance.

Roland Berger Library is a state-of-the-art information and education center. Besides access to contemporary business books in various languages and magazines on management theory and practice, students and teachers now have access here to a high-tech room equipped with digital catalogues and Internet-linked computers.

The room housing the Roland Berger Library underwent major repairs, received new furniture and now has the latest equipment. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and the Goethe-Institut specially selected books to enrich the university's collection, taking into consideration that the university's library is one of the oldest libraries in Russia with around 1.5 million books. The selection of periodicals includes the "think: act" magazine, published by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants for its clients and awarded the prestigious "Best in Corporate Publishing" prize three times running.