The University of Wisconsin announced Monday a team of four MBA graduate students won the second annual International Business Case Competition, which ran April 6 through April 9.
The award went to a four-member team part of the Center for International Business Education and Research, a federally funded program that receives $349,000 a year from the U.S. government.
Team captain Richard Collumb said the competition was a great experience, and winning only made it better.
"You put yourself in a lot of pressure and a lot of stress but it's really worth it," he said, adding he is proud of his team members Oleg Kolosov, Melissa Wychhocki and Eugene Yang.
According to Sachin Tuli, CIBER director and senior outreach specialist in the UW School of Business, the program aims to increase opportunities for graduate students. This includes helping them gain international experience and conduct research related to international business.
Mark Matosian, senior student services coordinator for the MBA program and advisor to the victorious UW students, said he was impressed with their performance.
"I think it is a tremendous reflection of the quality of the students that we have at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business in the MBA program," he said.
The event brought student teams from nine institutions from around the world to meet at the Fluno Center in Madison. The schools include: Bocconi University in Italy, Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, Copenhagen Business School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Ohio State University, University of Connecticut, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and the University of Washington.
The student teams were given 24 hours to analyze a business case and prepare a business strategy to present to three judges from the international community.
After each presentation, the judges were allotted time to ask the students questions about the plans they derived.
Despite the pressure that comes along with a global competition such as this one, the UW students said they felt rather confident their business proposal would win.
"We had a better presentation overall," Yang said. "[We were] kind of half expecting [to win], but judges can go either way so there was some nervousness until they actually announced it."
Both students and faculty see this competition as an advantage for the students who participate.
Matosian said the competition prepares the MBA students to be critical thinkers, an ability they will need often in the "working world."
Tuli emphasized the benefit of students making connections with professionals in the field.
"It's a good thing for them to gain additional feedback and to gain recognition from people who will be their colleagues soon," he said.
Kolosov, who was an engineer before he enrolled in UW's CIBER program, decided to earn his MBA because he "just wanted to try something different."
Kolosov saw the diverse specializations of business between the teammates as the winning group's strength.
He said they were able to cover all the basics of the case including issues of organization, operations and marketing, which allowed them to address different aspects of business in their plan.
"Wisconsin students are exceptional," Matosian said. "Our students can compete with the top MBA students in the country — and in this case — in the world."
The team members said the experience was also a fun one. Kolosov added there was little tension between teams.
"It was great to be with new friends and sharing what we learned about this case," he said.
