Why Should MBA Students Participate in Case Competitions?

Business case competitions present real-life scenarios and problems that call for immediate solutions. MBA students are expected to use their newly learnt skills and knowledge to resolve such issues within a given timeframe. A 4-member team from University of Oxford Said Business School that recently won a case competition at the Yale School of Management in the US, shares some insights on meeting the challenge.

The team, comprising Marla Woodward, Charlotte Kirby Thomson, Neetu Puranikmath and Arpit Jain, spent an intense 24 hours of analysing financial statements, debating strategic opportunities, and creating a compelling presentation for industry judges.

The team size may vary from 4 to 6 members and the timeframe could be 6 hours, 12 hours or in 2 phases with prep over a week.

“But, cliched as it sounds, we were not the only winners at that competition. Each person who took a break from their hectic studies to apply their learning to a real-world business problem gained perspective, experience, time management practice, and team leadership skills,” says Marla and Charlotte, writing in the school blog.

Case competition, they write, is an opportunity for students to work together in teams to solve problems and create business solutions for a specific case study. Business cases can be on a range of subject matter from finance to strategy to real estate, covering a wide range of industries including consumer goods, financial services and technology.

The team size may vary from 4 to 6 members and the timeframe could be 6 hours, 12 hours or in 2 phases with prep over a week.

The teams may have to analyse a lot of case data in a short amount of time, assess opportunities and threats facing the case company, perhaps run financial models and create a presentation on the analysis and recommendations to be delivered in front of a panel of judges.

In other words, case competitions allow students to put into practice their learnings in the MBA. They will also be able to get feedback from industry professionals on their approach to business problems.

To the question as to why students should participate in at least one case competition during the MBA program, Marla and Charlotte say that it adds to the overall MBA experience and everyone should do it at least once.

Case competitions give the students experience in assembling a diverse team that is able to address multiple functional considerations like finance, marketing or operations, in a situation of not knowing about the case subject beforehand.

The students also work as a team under pressure while solving the problem and producing the required output. In career terms, this experience is particularly helpful for those who intend to take up Consulting.

Making presentations at case competitions help in getting to know and provide networking opportunities. Students will also be able to hone up their presentation skills.

The competitions also offer opportunities to network with competitors from all around the world and get to know the classmates much better.

It also gives a golden chance for students to travel to cities around the world at low expenses,   especially when the trip is partially or fully funded by the school.

But then, how does one find out about case competitions? A Google search or consulting the Wikipedia would be helpful in finding competitions relevant to more niche industries. Students could also network with the previous class to discuss this particular subject. For example, the 2017-18 class at Said Business School had compiled a list of competitions with details available in Google Drive: https://bit.ly/2I5UWIx