Undergraduates earn finalist spot in Global Business Case Competition
Apr 22, 2015
The Beedie 2015 GBCC team. From left to right: Team coach Matt Martell, Antony Suktenic, Gwen Wong, Mira Havelock-Rice, and Jordan Schwartz.
Beedie School of Business undergraduates continued their run of good form in case competitions in 2015 as they earned a finalist spot in the 17th annual Global Business Case Competition (GBCC).
The Beedie team, consisting of undergraduate students Mira Havelock-Rice, Jordan Schwartz, Antony Suktenic, and Gwen Wong, were one of three teams to finish runners-up in the final of the competition, won this year by Chinese University of Hong Kong.
GBCC is an international case competition hosted by the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business that brings together undergraduate students from across the globe. This year’s competition, held from April 13 to 18, welcomed teams from the US, Norway, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Sudan.
The weeklong program provides students with an opportunity to build cross-cultural relationships, experience the city of Seattle, and participate in a real-world case study to analyze and develop a business recommendation within 48 hours.
Coached by Beedie alumnus and founder of the Beedie Case Competition Training Program Matt Martell, the team presented their case in front of a panel of seven industry judges consisting of CEOs, partners, and senior managers.
The Beedie team impressed the judges with their multi-country approach to help a US-based solar energy company to compete against lower cost Chinese competition.
“The team can be very proud of their performance – in both rounds they were complimented on their clarity, presentation, level of detail and overall solution by the judges, faculty, participants, and audience,” said Martell. “Overall this was a great experience and showing for Beedie at a very tough competition, and we look forward to returning in future.”
In addition to the case competition, students participating in the GBCC program this year presented a mini-case to managers at local companies including Costco, and F5 networks. The program also allowed the students time away from focusing on business – participating students this year were taught how to swing dance.
For more information on GBCC visit http://foster.uw.edu/centers/gbc/competitions/gbcc/