International Business Case Challenge
For questions about the UConn School of Business International Case Competition and/or assistance with registration, please contact arminda.kamphausen@uconn.edu.
Visit the Global Business Programs homepage.
Thanks to all the amazing students and universities who participated in the 2021 UConn IBCC this past fall! At this time we will not be running a competition for Fall 2022, but we look forward to seeing you all again (hopefully in person) in Fall 2023! Information will be posted here early in the Spring 2023 semester. Please check back.
For current UConn students to apply to participate in the UConn International Case Challenge.
Now Closed.
For individual students who have been selected by their schools to participate in the UConn International Case Challenge.
Now Closed.
For universities to register their teams in the UConn International Case Challenge.
Now Closed.
2021 International Business Case Challenge Information
Challenge Kickoff
Saturday, October 16: Welcome, Introductions, Rules, and Case Release (Early for U.S.)
Time:
Belmont University: 7 AM
Purdue University: 8 AM
University of Connecticut: 8 AM
Florida State University: 8 AM
Williams College: 8 AM
University College Dublin: 13:00
University of Trento: 14:00
University of Mannheim: 14:00
University of Queensland: 22:00
Yogyakarta, Indonesia (Jakarta time): 19:00
Switzerland: 14:00
Team Case Preparation
Saturday, October 16 - 29
Preliminary Round Submissions
Thursday, October 28. Time: 12:00 PM EST, due via email.
Professional Development Fireside Chat followed by Preliminary Round Judge Feedback
Saturday, October 30
Time:
Belmont University: 7 AM
Purdue University: 8 AM
University of Connecticut: 8 AM
Florida State University: 8 AM
Williams College: 8 AM
University College Dublin: 13:00
University of Trento: 14:00
University of Mannheim: 14:00
University of Queensland: 22:00
Yogyakarta, Indonesia (Jakarta time): 19:00
Switzerland: 14:00
Final Round
Friday, November 5
(This event will go close to 3 hours. Given the different time zones, we will arrange the presentations accordingly and inform the teams of their presentation time at least 5 days in advance).
Time:
Belmont University: 6 AM
Purdue University: 7 AM
University of Connecticut: 7 AM
Florida State University: 7 AM
Williams College: 7 AM
University College Dublin: 11:00
University of Trento: 12:00
University of Mannheim: 12:00
University of Queensland: 21:00
Yogyakarta, Indonesia (Jakarta time): 18:00
Switzerland: 12:00
Closing Ceremony & Winners Announced
Saturday, November 6 (Immediately following Final Round)
**WebEx Links will be sent to all teams.
Time:
Belmont University: 6 AM
Purdue University: 7 AM
University of Connecticut: 7 AM
Florida State University: 7 AM
Williams College: 7 AM
University College Dublin: 11:00
University of Trento: 12:00
University of Mannheim: 12:00
University of Queensland: 21:00
Yogyakarta, Indonesia (Jakarta time): 18:00
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
- Teams do not compete as schools but are made up of students from various schools and functional areas.
- Teams will include four students with a balance between an international and U.S. business schools.
- Due to the time zone difference, you must be flexible as you plan your preparation time.
- You may use the platform of your choice to connect and meet though most students feel comfortable with Zoom and WhatsApp
- A thorough introduction and overview of the competition will be presented at the Kickoff event.
- Teams will be assigned in advance of the Kickoff, so please make sure to connect before the event and the Case Release
Each team must be comprised of four currently enrolled business students working on their first university degree (undergraduates). No alternates are permitted.
Each of the four members of the team must be degree-seeking undergraduate students registered within the business school at the university they are from, and each student will need to represent a different specific functional area in one of the following four categories: Finance (including Accounting), Marketing, Management, and Operations (including IT). Students are only permitted to participate as a team member in the UConn International Case Challenge one time.
Students from different universities will be mixed and formed into an entirely new team for the competition. Each four-student team will have at least one student from an international business school. Students will be connected prior to the competition by the UConn International Case Challenge Management Team.
2021 Student Manager: Ishita Panwar
Challenge Admin Team & Director:
Kayla Hogrefe
Angela Rodriguez
Michelle Soberal
Saitrisha Gulappa
Arminda Kamphausen: arminda.kamphausen@uconn.edu
The application for a spot in the Challenge is open to all UConn junior and senior students. Teams are made up of four different functional areas. There are four positions available in. If interested, please indicate which functional area you would like to be responsible for on your team.
- Accounting/Finance
- Management/International Business
- Marketing
- OPIM/IT/BIS
Application Deadline is Friday, September 29, 2024.
Apply to the UConn team using the button above.
Successful applicants will be contacted by Monday, October 4 by 5:00pm EST
For more details, contact: global.business@uconn.edu
Each team will be comprised of four, currently enrolled, business students working on their first university degree (undergraduates). No alternates are permitted. Each of the four members of the team must be degree seeking undergraduate students registered within the business school at the university they are from, and each student will be representing a different specific function in the following areas : Finance/Accounting, Marketing, Management/International Business, and Operations/BIS. Students are only permitted to participate as a team member in the UConn International Case Challenge one time. Students from different universities will be mixed and formed into an entirely new team for the competition. Each 4-student team will have at least one student from an international business school. Students will be connected prior to the competition by the UConn International Case Challenge Management Team.
What is the length and nature of the case that will be analyzed?
The nature of the case that will be used, and the particular business issues involved, will be kept secret until competition packets are distributed on Thursday evening. The case is always international in nature and may address multiple geographical regions and multiple functional areas. In the past cases have focus on areas of sustainable business, the UN SDGs, M&A, tech advances and corporate agility, social enterprise, etc. To prepare for the competition teams may want to practice analyzing other business cases such as those published by Harvard Business School. These are copyrighted and can be purchased from Harvard Business School Publishing. Similar business case studies may be available from other websites or within your own university.
How will the CASE be distributed?
The case will be released simultaneously to all participants during the Challenge Kickoff. A follow up email will also be sent to each individual with all necessary information related to the case.
What’s the technology set up for the competition?
Student teams will arrange their own work/meeting schedule for the two weeks they will be engaged in “solving” the case. They may use the platforms and apps of their choice. All official Case Challenge events will be conducted via WebEx and IT support will be provided for the events. The Preliminary Round will allow students to submit their presentation (video and audio) using dropbox for the judges to review.
How many faculty advisors are there for each team? What is their function?
In the past, teams have had the option of being accompanied by an advisor. For the 2020 **Virtual** competition, this is of course not necessary. Advisors who have been responsible for selecting or preparing their students to compete are not allowed to assist in case analysis or to be in contact with their teams once the case is released on Saturday October 17th. Faculty advisors will be permitted to observe their own team members’ presentations should they be selected to advance to the Final Round on November 7th. They may contact Arminda Kamphausen to make arrangements to receive an invitation and link to the event. Attendance at the final round is mandatory for all teams.
Can teams use other consultants during case competition?
No. Teams are expected to produce original work solely attributable to the four members. Teams may not consult with advisors, other faculty, staff, team hosts, other students, or any other non-team members during preparation of the case analysis or on the day of competition. Student are welcome to use books, internet web page information, or any other non-human resource to gather information.
Any other helpful hints in regard to case preparation?
It is always an advantage to be educated about current world issues. Teams should become familiar with conducting online searches for relevant information and sources. Teams may have access to their home institution library if helpful and any other online databases.
How will Competition Day be managed?
Teams will not be allowed to make a change to their slides/physical presentation for the final round, but may adjust their speaking assignments/presentation from the preliminary submission.
On the Final Round of the Case Challenge, each team will have 35 minutes for their presentation Teams will enter the central administrative room first for a camera/mic/tech check. Then will enter the judges room at the scheduled time. Each presentation will include five minutes for set up, 20 minutes for presentation, followed by a 10-minute question-and-answer session (with the panel of judges). Teams must leave the room immediately after they have finished the Q&A session as must all audience members to allow for the judges to have a time to consult. Before the beginning of the next presentation audience members and teams who have already presented may re-enter the Judges Competition room. This format will repeat for each of the final presentation.
Teams may present their case analysis using Power Point. When preparing the Power Point presentation, teams should choose fonts carefully to ensure that all slides will show equally well on different computers (use common font styles). Team members should wear attire typical to a formal business presentation. We highly recommend that the presentation of the case solution include all team members, and be as “balanced” as possible. Teams should work to capitalize on the strengths of each individual team member!
How will the judging work?
Judging will be “blind”, meaning our judges will not be told and should not be led by the team to know which school each student represents. Teams should not include any graphics or words in the presentation that would identify your school, state, or country, and clothing should be neutral in color and not school-oriented in any way. Teams should be prepared for questions from the judges. The judges may opt to assume roles during the Q&A — for example, board members, firm officers, executives, etc. Judges of the preliminary rounds will be different than the judges for the final round of competition.
Will we receive feedback about our presentation?
We are in the process of arranging the best mode of providing judges feedback for the preliminary round submission. Recordings of final presentations can also be requested by team members, and we will work with final judges to provide their feedback as well. All feedback may turn out to be in written form this year.
Hear From Past Participants
2020 International Business Case Challenge Participants and Winners
Team Awards
First Place: CRK Consulting
- Chiara Cibelli, University of Trento
- Caitlin Corey, Florida State University
- Kelly Finn, University of Connecticut
- Ruairi McCormack, University College Dublin
Second Place: Global Assets
- Matteo Chirofonte, University of Trento
- Valerie Cornelio, Purdue University
- Joey Lim, University of Queensland
- Yvonne Zhou, University of Connecticut
Third Place: SMS Consulting
- Nalin Batra, University of Queensland
- Kayley Curtis, University College Dublin
- Fareesa Munch, Purdue University
- Yasmin Paris, Florida State University
Individual Awards
Best Presenters in the Preliminary Round
- Angela Poole, Florida State University
- Leona Chen, University College Dublin
- Valerie Cornelli, Purdue University
Best Presenter in the Final Round
- Ruairi McCormack, University College Dublin
Best Q&A in the Final Round
- Joey Lim, University of Queensland
2020 Participants
- Florida State University, College of Business (Tallahassee, Florida)
- Purdue University, Krannert School of Management (West Lafayette, Indiana)
- University of Connecticut, School of Business (Storrs, Connecticut)
- University of Trento, Department of Economics and Management (Trento, Italy)
- The University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia)
- University College Dublin (Dublin, Ireland)
Past Challenge Winners
Awards
First Place:- Santiago Altamirano, Purdue University
- Renée Ramirez, Belmont University
- Kristen Connors, University of Vermont
- Carlos Sanabria, Purdue University
- Jordan Rainville, University of Vermont
- Giovanni Verde, University of Trento
- Diego Hilsaca, Purdue University
- Madison Woodson, Belmont University
- Lily Li, University of Maryland
- Diego Hilsaca, University of Trento
- Kristin Connors, University of Vermont
- Benjamin Wolf, University of Vermont
- Lucas Füchtner, Purdue University
- Carlos Sanabria, Purdue University
- Renée Ramirez, Belmont University
Participants
- Belmont University, Jack C. Massey College of Business (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Florida State University, College of Business (Tallahassee, Florida)
- Purdue University, Krannert School of Management (West Lafayette, Indiana)
- University of Connecticut, School of Business (Storrs, Connecticut)
- University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business (College Park, Maryland)
- University of Trento, Department of Economics and Management (Trento, Italy)
- University of Vermont, Grossman School of Business (Burlington, Vermont)
Awards
Winner:
- Jenna Lemmer, University of Johannesburg
- George Scribano, Florida State University
- Nadine Eloseily, University of Maryland, College Park
- Katelyn Arrowsmith, Purdue University
Second Place:
- Diksha Garg, University of Maryland, College Park
- Susanna Bertolini, University of Trento
- Sean Grossnickle, Belmont University
- Erin Webster, Florida State University
Third Place:
- Brenna Kelly, University of Connecticut
- Maria Kissel, University of Vermont
- Filippo Perini, University of Trento
- Bongani Mokoena, University of Johannesburg
Best Q+A:
- George Scribano, Florida State University
- Filippo Perini, University of Trento
- Elizabeth Plowman, Purdue University
- Nadine Eloseily, University of Maryland, College Park
Best Presenter:
- Brenna Kelly, University of Connecticut
- Giovanni Bino, University of Trento
- Sean Grossnickle, Belmont University
- Claire Greenlaw, University of Vermont
Participants
Schools that sent participants in 2018:
- Belmont University, Jack C. Massey College of Business (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Florida State University, College of Business (Tallahassee, Florida)
- Purdue University, Krannert School of Management (West Lafayette, Indiana)
- University of Connecticut, School of Business (Storrs, Connecticut)
- University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg Business School (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business (College Park, Maryland)
- University of Trento, Department of Economics and Management (Trento, Italy)
- University of Vermont, Grossman School of Business (Burlington, Vermont)
Awards
First Place- Shruti Kansara, Bryant University
- Julia Elliot, San Diego State Universityy
- Joshua Dahlberg, Belmont University
- Kahan Soni, University of Connecticut
- Robert Jordan, Bowie State University
- Shadman Khan, Purdue University
- Colleen Kane, Florida State University
- Ludovica Grilli, University of Trento
- Kate Haagensen, University of Vermont
- Ankit Sheth, University of Maryland
- Lorenzo D'Auria, University of Trento
- Jordan Patterson, Bryant University
Best Q&A: Jordan Patterson
Participants
- Belmont University, Jack C. Massey College of Business (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Florida State University, College of Business (Tallahassee, Florida)
- Purdue University, Krannert School of Management (West Lafayette, Indiana)
- San Diego State University, College of Business Administration (San Diego, California)
- University of Connecticut, School of Business (Storrs, Connecticut)
- University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business (College Park, Maryland)
- University of Trento, Department of Economics and Management (Trento, Italy)
- University of Vermont, Grossman School of Business (Burlington, Vermont)
Awards
First Place- Mayar Dessokey, The American University in Cairo
- Andrew Hughes, Belmont University
- Robert Menzel, Florida State University
- Xin Wei, Purdue University
- Igli Bajo, Trento University
- Kelsey Rodgers, Florida State University
- Jessica Ting, University of Maryland
- Emily Weissman, Belmont University
- William Criminsi, Trento University
- Joshua Groh, Purdue University
- Hlobile Jele, University of Johannensburg
- Sopanha Mao, San Diego State University
Best Q&A: Jessica Ting
Participants
- Belmont University, Jack C. Massey College of Business (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Florida State University, College of Business (Tallahassee, Florida)
- Purdue University, Krannert School of Management (West Lafayette, Indiana)
- San Diego State University, College of Business Administration (San Diego, California)
- University of Connecticut, School of Business (Storrs, Connecticut)
- University of Johannesburg, Faculty of Management (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business (College Park, Maryland)
- University of Trento, Department of Economics and Management (Trento, Italy)
- University of Vermont, Grossman School of Business (Burlington, Vermont)
Awards
Winner: Pick-6 Consulting- Austin Coon, Purdue University
- Alandar Detwiler, University of Vermont
- Justice Dlamini, University of Johannesburg
- Parker Higgins, Belmont University
- Stacia Smart, University of Connecticut
- Gianmarco Vanin, University of Trento
- Christopher Wagner, Florida State University
- Lauren Willey, San Diego State University
- Gail Capati, San Diego State University
- Khotlello Mooka, University of Johannesburg
- Michael McGovern, University of Maryland
- Evan Silverberg, University of Vermont
Best Q&A: Christopher Wagner
Participants
- Belmont University, Jack C. Massey College of Business (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Florida State University, College of Business (Tallahassee, Florida)
- Purdue University, Krannert School of Management (West Lafayette, Indiana)
- San Diego State University, College of Business Administration (San Diego, California)
- University of Connecticut, School of Business (Storrs, Connecticut)
- University of Johannesburg, Faculty of Management (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business (College Park, Maryland)
- University of Trento, Department of Economics and Management (Trento, Italy)
- University of Vermont, Grossman School of Business (Burlington, Vermont)
Awards
Winner: 4Sight Consulting- Rebecca Frutos, University of Connecticut
- So Ikeya, Rikkyo University
- Steven Bell, Belmont University
- Haoshi Cheng, University of North Carolina
- Naoto Ito, Rikkyo University
- Vivian Yun-Ju Wang, University of North Carolina
- Cecilia Medieros, San Diego State University
- Mitchell Dupre, Bryant University
- Kassandra McGlone, Bryant University
- Sean McHugh, Belmont University
- Riley Owens, Purdue University
- Francesco Capozza, University of Trento
Best Presenter: Kassandra McGlone
Participants
Schools that sent participants in 2014:- Belmont University, Jack C. Massey College of Business (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Bryant University, College of Business (Smithfield, Rhode Island)
- Brigham Young University, Marriott School of Management (Provo, Utah)
- Purdue University, Krannert School of Management (West Lafayette, Indiana)
- Rikkyo University, Department of Global Business(Tokyo, Japan)
- San Diego State University, College of Business Administration (San Diego, California)
- Tecnológico de Monterrey, International Undergraduate Program< (Guadalajara, Mexico)
- University of Connecticut, School of Business (Storrs, Connecticut)
- University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business (College Park, Maryland)
- University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
- University of Trento, Department of Economics and Management (Trento, Italy)
Awards
Winner: LWDT Consulting- Ihinosen Dibua, University of Pittsburgh
- Ellie Lin, Purdue University
- GianMarco Taverna, University of North Carolina
- Margaret Wong, Bryant University
- Sergio Alessandro Castagnetti, University of Trento
- Nicole Green, University of Connecticut
- Ben Hsieh, University of Maryland
- Dallin Shaner, Brigham Young University
- Esther Buck, Belmont University
- Josh Emmett, University of Connecticut
- Leah Gonzalez, University of North Carolina
- Daisuke Honjo, Rikkyo University
Participants
Schools that sent participants in 2013:- Belmont University, Jack C. Massey College of Business (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Brigham Young University, Marriott School of Management (Provo, Utah)
- Bryant University, College of Business (Smithfield, Rhode Island)
- Purdue University, Krannert School of Management (West Lafayette, Indiana)
- Rikkyo University, Department of Global Business (Tokyo, Japan)
- San Diego State University, College of Business Administration (San Diego, California)
- The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business (Columbus, Ohio)
- University of Connecticut, School of Business (Storrs, Connecticut)
- University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business (College Park, Maryland)
- University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
- University of Pittsburgh, College of Business Administration (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
- University of Trento, Department of Economics and Management< (Trento, Italy)