The NHH Symposium is a biennial business conference held at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) in Bergen, Norway. The inaugural meeting, inspired by the St. Gallen Symposium, was held in 1983. It has since grown to become one of the largest student-run business conferences in Europe. The meeting is convened solely by volunteer students. Keynote speakers have included Edward Heath, Henry Kissinger, Yngve Slyngstad, Liz Ann Sonders and Jeffrey D. Sachs. The Norwegian king, Harald V attended in 1995 and Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway in 2007 and 2009.
Since its foundation, the NHH-Symposium has been an arena for varied topics of discussion. Former convenors of the conference have gone on to become well known business leaders. These people include the former head of Statoil, Helge Lund, the former chief executive officer of Rieber&Søn, Frank Mohn and Asbjørn Reinkind who convened the 1983 conference.
1980s
The inaugural symposium, inspired by the St. Gallen Symposium, was held in 1983 and titled "Getting Out of Today's Stagnation". The conference was sponsored by Kreditkassen and Wilhelm Wilhelmsen. The official language was English. The Norwegian Prime Minister, Kåre Willoch, said the conference was "a very positive step, I hope and believe that it will lead to constructive results." Other speakers were the SAS Group chief executive officer, Jan Carlzon and the NHH professor Victor Norman.
In 1985, at a conference titled "Searching for New Opportunities", the speakers included the shipping magnates Tharald Brøvig and Jacob Stolt-Nielsen Jr., Stanford professor Harold Leavitt, the minister of industry, Jan P. Syse, former chief executive officer of Norsk Hydro, Torvild Aakvaag, factory owner Johan H. Andresen and the VD of Electrolux, Anders Scharp.
In 1987, at "In Quest of the 90s", the Volvo executive, Pehr Gyllenhammar predicted the economic downturn of six months hence. The former British Prime Minister, Edward Heath said, "Europe is decaying. The continent can end up like a museum." Other speakers were the professor of strategy, Henry Mintzberg and the former chief executive officer of Statoil, Helge Lund.
In 1989, at "Insight Outwards, Analysing a Changing Europe", speakers included GATT chief executive officer, Arthur Dunkel, managing director of the IMF Helene Ploix, EU-commissioner, Peter Sutherland and former American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
1990s
In 1991, the conference theme was "Going for Growth, the Challenge to Scandinavia". Anita Roddick spoke of the founding of Body Shop. Former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland argued for the necessity of restrictions on free market capitalism. Michael Porter spoke of "lazy" Norwegians and local competition. Jeffrey Sachs discussed the challenges facing the newly independent Eastern European democracies.
In 1993, the conference topic was "Uncertainty – Managing in a Turbulent World". The DNO International executive, Torstein Hagen encouraged the Norwegian government to sell its stake in the petroleum industry to allow others to invest. Statoils chief executive officer, Harald Nordvik, McKinsey director Jon R. Katzenbach, GATT director Arthur Dunkel, Karl Glad, and Svein Aaser from NHO spoke at the conference.
At the 1995 conference, titled "The Imperatives of Change", King Harald V was in attendance. The speakers included professor at the IMD, Stéphane Garelli, head economist at Deutsche Bank, Norbert Walter, chairman of the board at London Economics Ltd. John Kay, vice-chairman Onno H. Ruding of Citicorp and editor-in-chief of The Economist, Nicholas Colchester. The conference concluded with a panel debate performed by the chief executive officers of Storebrand, SEB, and ISS.
In 1997, the conference theme was "Speed, the New Battlefield". It focussed on the ability of students to make sound decisions quickly. The speakers included the chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz Helmut Werner, John Clarkson of Boston Consulting Group and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Thorvald Stoltenberg.
The 1999, the conference reflected "Knowledge in the Digital Economy". The NHH professor Victor Norman opened the conference. Tormod Hermansen of Telenor, Svein Aaser from DNB, and Storebrand's Åge Korsvold were keynote speakers. The chief executive officer of Glamox and former leader of the student body executive board at NHH, Christian Thommessen was also a speaker.