Our case solving team wins a bronze medal in Thailand

20 of the world’s leading business schools were represented at the Chulalongkorn International Business Case Competition (CIBCC) for bachelor students. Our students beat teams from the National University of Singapore, the University of Technology Sydney, Chulalongkorn University and Mahidol University, to reach the finals of the competition, where they finished in an outstanding third place. Our university was represented by four students, Anna Kálmán, Noémi Kopka, Márton Nyikos and Trisztán Tóth. 

“When we saw this list of names, we took a deep breath, because we are talking about the best business universities in the world, and then we thought that all things considered, we can also perform at a very high level. In fact, it turned out from subsequent conversation that the other teams were as afraid of us as we were of them,” recalled Márton Nyikos of the initial fears. 

The result was achieved thanks to the thorough preparation that preceded the competition, led by the team’s mentor, Dr. Miklós Stocker, Head of the Institute of Strategy and Management. “We solved a total of 5 cases during the preparations, which were the backbone of our training. The focus was on forminga cohesive team, so that we could work as effectively as possible in a fierce competition. I think we did a good job, and we worked well together to come up with relevant and high-quality solutions for the cases, which enabled us to stand our ground in the final” – said Trisztán Tóth. 

In the months leading up to the competition, our students did serious research in addition to case studies, deepening their knowledge of different industries and learning about Thai corporate culture. “To be the division winner and third at the end of the competition is unimaginable at such an event, but this result was preceded by a lot of preparation, hard work and sacrifice”, added Noémi Kopka. 

During the week-long competition, teams solved two business problems. The first 8-hour case was about a company called BeBetter Wellness, which provides personalised wellness services in a number of areas. The company was looking for a way to identify the right target group and increase revenue in the short term. The teams had 24 hours to work on the second case, which involved developing Phuket Island into a carbon-neutral place by 2040. 

“Solving the 24-hour case was challenging because it was an unusual case. The topic was the net zero commitment of Phuket Island by 2040. In this case, we had to let go of everything we were used to in terms of the structure of a lecture. We had to listen to our intuition and trust our instincts. Fortunately, thanks to our acquired knowledge and our dynamic team, we were able to come up with an unconventional solution, which the jury liked very much” – said Anna Kálmán. 

“We focused all along on making the ideas unique and creative, but still feasible, and we realised that this is not a case where we are expected to carry out a deep strategic implementation. This direction proved to be a good one, as the final winner Erasmus Rotterdam University came up with the same structure in the final”, added Márton Nyikos. 

The organisers of the competition prepared various activities for the teams throughout the week, giving our students the opportunity to meet the teams from other universities and gain an insight into Thai culture. During the week, they visited the Phuket Elephant Reserve, where they got to see the animals up close, feed them, bathe with them and make a special ointment for their skin.  

“The many prestigious universities sent many talented students to the competition, with whom we were able not only to exchange professional ideas, but also to make real contacts and friendships, which is priceless,” said Noémi Kopka. 

During their university studies, the team members completed the Case Track set of courses, which provided them with the necessary framework for business case solving. The final milestone of the Case Track in the BA studies is the Cases on International Business Strategy (CIBS) course, after which our students were selected to represent our university on the international stage. 

We thank our lecturers for preparing the students and the sudents for the work they put into Case Track. Congratulations to the team and their mentor for the outstanding achievement on the international stage among the world’s leading business schools!