By assembling diverse perspectives across aquaculture's ecosystem, NHH Executive MBA with specialisation in Seafood Management fosters a rich knowledge-sharing environment for participants like Lerøy Seafood’s Christian Askvik.
«The programme provides a precious cross-functional perspective connecting different industry segments,» says Christian Askvik, Team Manager VAP Overseas at Lerøy Seafood Group.
«I'm gaining holistic insights spanning the full aquaculture value chain – from ingredient suppliers and farmers to logistics providers, retailers, and environmental regulators.»
This unparalleled 360-degree exposure equips graduates to navigate systemic industry upheaval and drive sustainable, transformative business models as globalized aquaculture enterprises.
«With aquaculture expected to provide over 60 percent of human protein intake by 2030, this future-oriented leadership is mission-critical», says Askvik
The programme develops this multidimensional prowess through modules exploring strategic decision-making, leadership communications, responsible business practices, and environmental footprint analysis. Peer learning across diverse nationalities, companies, and roles expands managers' ethical awareness.
«The seafood programme has been an eye-opener realizing this industry's immense potential for rapid transformation through innovation. We're just in the infancy stage, and many solutions to sustainability and growth are emerging swiftly.»
Christian Askvik, Team Manager VAP Overseas, Lerøy Seafood Group.
For Askvik, the experience has been transformative in understanding how to harmonize business growth and environmental preservation through innovative practices.
«I've gained vital tools and cross-functional perspectives for developing ethical, economically viable solutions to critical industry issues like sustainable feed sourcing, emissions reduction, and by-product upcycling.»
«The sky is the limit for how much more eco-friendly and socially conscious aquaculture can become.» says Aksvik, who is writing about an innovation project that deals with transporting fresh fish without air freight. «In my thesis, I will delve into the project we have already started in Lerøy.»
Askvik plans to directly apply all these skills at Lerøy, exploring sustainable circular production methods and alternative technologies to reduce the company's ecological footprint without sacrificing commercial viability.
«We also have the challenge of communicating all the good and innovative things we do. I wish the entire industry stood together to get this message out. When it comes to farmed salmon, for example, there is less mortality here than in other protein production.»
As environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility take centre stage, Steffen Juranek, NHH Executives programme director for seafood, believes principled leadership critically underpins aquaculture's future trajectory.
«We cultivate professionals adept at holistically uniting the industry's competing stakeholder objectives – commercial, environmental, societal, and scientific. Our graduates become catalysts for positive change.»
To thrive amidst intensifying industry disruption around technologies, regulations, climate impacts, and global competition, Juranek stresses that NHHE's program cultivates transcendent leadership traits like adaptability, vision, and ethical decision-making prowess.
«We instill future-proof strategic decision-making capabilities for times of turbulence and exponential change. This is grounded in comprehensive cross-functional business acumen – from finance and operations to internationalization and ESG commitments», he explains.
For seasoned aquaculture leaders like Askvik, the multidisciplinary supplement of advanced EMBA training has been imperative for managing escalating industry complexity.
«This program forces you to holistically consider the dynamic interplay of forces across the full value chain – market dynamics, supply chains, economic trends, innovations, regulatory policies, and global stakeholder expectations.»
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Whether weighing corporate strategies like vertical integration, evaluating technological implementations, or proactively scenario-planning competitive disruptions like alternative protein sources, NHH Executive ensures companies like Lerøy can depend on nimble, ethical executive leadership.
«The seafood program has been an eye-opener realizing this industry's immense potential for rapid transformation through innovation. We're just in the infancy stage, and many solutions to sustainability and growth are emerging swiftly,» says Askvik.
Beyond formalized EMBA content, Askvik has been invigorated by the multidisciplinary peer learning from his diverse international cohort. The program intentionally assembles perspectives spanning aquaculture's ecosystem – from farmers and biologists to financers and R&D innovators.
«It's incredible picking classmates' brains, bringing experiences from regulation, logistics, feed supplies, processing, retail, and more. We're innovatively cross-pollinating ideas, planting seeds for new opportunities,» says Askvik.
«A biotech researcher, a feed operator, and a salmon farmer all have unique insights that transcend any single company, role, or nation. This sharing of complementary knowledge across cultural contexts fuels sustainable solutions.»
Juranek believes NHHE's specialized focus will only intensify as the seafood industry accelerates along exponential change curves around technology, sustainability, ethics, and globalization. «We are on the cutting-edge frontline of cultivating strategic leadership engines for responsibly navigating this sector's dynamic frontier. Aquaculture is entering a progressive Renaissance, and our graduates will be its moral pioneers.»
As incumbent producers, investors, innovators, and environmentalists alike position for aquaculture's intensifying transformation, NHHE ensures the world's most influential seafood organizations can depend on executive talent capable of responsibly operationalizing that evolution.
For Askvik, that unparalleled future-oriented cross-disciplinary learning represents the program's paramount value. «This program illuminates aquaculture's most important emerging battlegrounds years before the mainstream. It encapsulates NHHE's vital role in developing the diverse leadership arsenals required to keep this industry thriving ethically and sustainably.»
The MBA's tailored curriculum, bridging advanced strategic capabilities with nuanced contextual seafood insights, empowers each graduating class as catalysts for ethical, sustainable transformation.
«NHH developed the Executive MBA with a specialisation in Seafood Management in response to a request from the seafood industry through the NCE Seafood Innovation Cluster. The program is tailor-made to tackle the seafood industry's challenges in developing sustainable, innovative businesses for future growth,» says Kristin Arefjord Stave, Head of Custom Programs and Communications and Marketing at NHH Executive.
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