„Our team made my experience so positive” – Our students participated in a case competition in Mexico

Our students, Anna Bozó, Petra Jenei, Alexandra Pongrácz and Dóra Kürthy, were selected after successfully completing the Cases on International Business Strategy (CIBS) course and the Case Track courses. They were chosen by Zsolt Matyusz Associate Professor of the Operations and Decisions Sciences Institute, who acted as a mentor, helping the team in preparing for the competition.  

The competition had already started at home, as the teams had to solve a one-week case, which they received the week prior to the start of the event. During the six-day competition, the teams also had to solve a 4-hour and a 24-hour case, competing against 15 teams from prestigious international universities.  

“We solved three completely different cases: one related to the healthcare sector, one related to the entertainment sector and one related to the sports management sector.” – said Anna Bozó.  

The atmosphere of the competition was characterised by variegation, both in terms of the cases and social activities. Our students had the opportunity to work with other students to solve a challenge of the company Altea Emotions, where they had to explore the possibilities of creating a theme park. The organisers, changing the usual dynamics, set up new international teams, mixing participants from different universities. In this round, Anna Bozó and her team won first place.   

Dóra Kürthy commented on the new line-up:  

“It has become clear that students from the most prestigious universities are no different from others, their skills are not unmatched, and we can and should be competing with them.”  

Working together with the new teams showed even more the importance of the original teams’ cohesion and well-practiced case-solving strategies, which our team relied on to successfully take on the challenges of the competition.  

“Our team was what made my experience so positive at the competition. With the help of our mentor, we found the process that worked best for us.” – says Alexandra Pongrácz.  

“During the preparation, we developed an efficient, collaborative brainstorming process that I can take with me to future competitions.” – says Petra Jenei about the team dynamic.  

The thorough preparation and rehearsed techniques were particularly useful for the team when they were unable to present their solution properly due to a technical mishap. Dóra Kürthy tells the following:  

“During our preparation, I managed to practice calculating realistic KPIs so well that when our presentation froze on the computer at the university and all the slides containing our background calculations disappeared during the competition, I managed to deduce it by heart to the jury, who appreciated it immensely, thus confirming my knowledge.” 

The jury also commented positively on their preparation and solutions.  

“In all three cases, we could be proud of our solutions, which was confirmed by the fact that the feedback from the jury was very positive in all cases.” – says Anna Bozó. 

Of course, the competition was not only about solving the cases, Anna, Petra, Alexandra and Dóra also took part in many exciting and interesting social activities and gained a lot of memorable experiences. Among other things, the girls visited the city of Tequila, where they gained an insight into the traditional alcohol-making process.  

Alexandra Pongrácz and Petra Jenei comment on their experiences: 

“We had the opportunity to get a taste of local music, dance, the values and stories of Día de los Muertos and explored several exciting cities. The positive impression also applies to the cases, we were given interesting challenges, and in the spirit of practice, we were able to try out the services of the case companies ourselves.” – Alexandra Pongrácz 

“I had an experience that is hard to put into words. I believe that everyone can only improve with such an experience, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.” – Petra Jenei 

We would like to congratulate the team on their success and thank the CIBS course professors and Alumni Case Track students for their help in tutoring the team!