A Winning Streak

Participating in case competitions can help students learn valuable skills to support their future careers. Over the years, HKUST business students have formed a like-minded network to participate in and promote case competitions. The HKUST Case Analysis Team (CAT) is a student-led group that connects students and alumni, faculty and staff, in training and selecting teams to represent HKUST in local and international case competitions. They have achieved exceptional performances in many different competitions this year. Let’s find out their achievements and hear what they said about their experiences.

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Published: 12:02am, 15 Jul 2021Updated: 12:02am, 15 Jul 2021

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HKU-NWS Joint University Case Competition

Our undergraduate teams participated in Hong Kong’s cross-university competition called the HKU-NWS Joint University Case Competition. Out of 16 student teams, four HKUST teams established a new record. They won the championship, the Best Presenter Award and took home the first, second, and third runner-up titles! This year, the organizer collaborated with NWS Holdings to present the business challenges for the competition. This has helped students gain critical thinking skills and will give them practical industry knowledge through mentorship. The champion team was formed by four students from our Global Business (GBUS) Program.

“I’m grateful for the support of CAT and my fellow teammates. I am humbled and honored to receive the Best Presenter Award. My first case competition was challenging yet rewarding. I will keep developing and diversifying my skills to prepare for the next competition!” said Mimi LAM, the best presenter and a member of the championship team.

International Case Competition @Maastricht

Students from the World Bachelor in Business (WBB) Program won the championship title in the International Case Competition@Maastricht. Hosted by Maastricht University in the Netherlands, the virtual case competition brought together 16 teams of talented undergraduate students from leading international business schools. The HKUST team ranked first in both the 4-hour case and the 24-hour case divisions before entering the final round, Apple JIN also won the Best Speaker Award.

“The team of Giovanni, Alex, Apple and Ankit performed near perfectly at one of the most respected international case competitions. According to the judges, the team ‘went above and beyond for the analysis… looking further than what just the case provided’ and ‘the best speaker played with the audience and really captured their attention’. All in all, they represented HKUST with excellence,” said Professor Stephen NASON, advisor to the winning team.

John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition

At the John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition (JMUCC) organized by Concordia University (Canada), our WBB team came second and won the Best Speaker title. It is one of the largest undergraduate case competitions in the world.

“JMUCC was the first time I advised a team in a fully virtual case competition. Dealing with the technical snafus meant a rocky start for our team, but they rallied brilliantly, and their final presentation was amazing! The team supported each other throughout, never letting the initial stumbling blocks bring them down. All four team members played to their individual strengths, and performed in perfect harmony in the finale, beating out many very experienced teams from leading universities. I am very proud of them,” said Professor LAFON-VINAIS, advisor to the winning team.

Central European Case Competition

Another GBUS team won the second-place prize in the Central European Case Competition. Held by the Corvinus University of Budapest (Hungary). The 24-hour competition was an invitation-only event and gathered 23 teams from top global business schools. It was the School’s first participation in the competition. The MVM Group was the featured case company, a state-owned utility company keen on regional expansion, digitalization and access to capital markets. Our team developed a strategy to leverage on the resources of the Czech Republic to create a regional electricity hub and AI analytics for consumer-facing solutions and offered a detailed roadmap to IPO.

“Case competitions are a platform for students to push themselves out of their comfort zone and realize their potential. It provides a steep learning curve for teams to understand and analyze a particular industry and develop practical recommendations within a time limit. They can build problem-solving, communication, and teamwork skills to support their personal and professional development,” said Alice LUI, Manager of GBUS Program and advisor to the winning team.

RSM STAR Case Competition

Another GBUS team concluded this season of external case competitions by notching up the first runner-up prize in the RSM STAR Case Competition. Organized by the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, the theme of this year’s RSM STAR Case Competition is Future Growth! Participating teams have to solve two real-life business cases, consisting of one 12-hour case and one 24-hour case.

“CAT provides year-long training on root-cause analysis, pyramid thinking, presentation storyboarding, recommendation generation, financial modeling, and more to help students build problem-solving skills and thrive in competitions. We look forward to helping more students reach new heights in future competitions,” said Queenie LI, CAT’s Head Committee.

KPMG Ideation Challenge

Three of the WBB students who participated in JMUCC worked with a student from the University of Southern California and excelled in the KPMG Ideation Challenge. Since November 2020, 2,000 participating teams from around the world worked through multiple rounds of challenges. Four top-tier teams, including our student team, succeeded in entering the global finals.

“It was a pleasure to compete in both JMUCC and KPMG Ideation Challenge with my teammates. Solving different highly challenging cases in a virtual format, these competitions were tough but incredibly fulfilling,” said Kim BERG, the best speaker of JMUCC and a member of the two winning teams.

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