Team LUSEM places second in a prestigious case competition
Published: 2019-01-14
Congratulations to Hanna Rasmusson, Ella Zhao, Samuel Spjuth, Erik Månsson and coach Mats Urde for finishing second at the John Molson MBA International Case Competition 2019!
The team.
”It has been an incredible experience, and we could never had dreamed of going this far in an MBA competition! We would like to thank our fantastic coach Mats Urde for his inexhaustible support and inspiration as well as the school who has provided us with the possibility to participate. We hope that we have contributed to spreading the LUSEM case culture, and proven that our way of working with cases really is world class”, Erik Månsson says.
”This year’s theme, disruption, suited us perfectly and is a combination of our interests; brands, organizational theory, finance and digital transformation”, Erik continues.
John Molson MBA International Case Competition is open to 36 participating teams from top business schools worldwide. It is recognized as the largest case competition of its kind.
“We are extremely happy and proud with finishing second, as well with being awarded the ’Team spirit award’ for being a team that demonstrates genuine team spirit and collaboration. It is Lund’s foremost placement with margin. There are no shortcuts to a placement like this. Planning, training, training, training, leadership and the School’s case culture is among the factors behind a successful team”, coach Mats Urde says.
The LUSEM team won 4 out of 5 cases in the group play, which took them to the semi-finals. Once there, they managed to deliver their overall best solution and presentation. In the semi-finals they beat HEC Montreal and Asper Business School. They competed for the top spot with Nanyang Business School and McMaster University DeGroote School of Business. In the end, it was Nanyang Business School who won the entire competition.
How to solve a case
With up to three hours of preparation time, teams of four students must analyze and evaluate unpublished business cases using their skills, knowledge and experience. Students rely on their own abilities and limited use of Microsoft Office software, with no access to the internet. The final product is a presentation in PowerPoint format whereby students demonstrate their ability to dig into a problem and develop a feasible solution.
The students must then present their detailed plan of action to a panel of judges. More than 300 business executives serve as judges, using their unique backgrounds, experiences and perspectives to critically assess the participants’ presentations. Teams are evaluated on creativity, insight, substance and plausibility of implementation.