Case competitions
Case competitions are like intellectual sport events with a special learning climate and progress. As in all types of competition, the training and coaching leading up to the actual competition is motivating. At LUSEM, case competitions are arranged in corporation with the student union LundaEkonomerna, sponsoring partner organisations, and our case academy faculty. LUSEM students have also for many years participated in competitions abroad, like the John Molson case competition.
Case competition training activities
LUSEM case competition training activities for students have both general and more specialised formats and content. First of all, the student gets a solid grounding in case solving in a class format. At least once a year, an open seminar about competing with cases is arranged for all LUSEMs students, preparing them to excel in different case competition formats.
A more niched format is the Case Competition Training programme. The purpose of this format is to replicate an international case competition format. Twelve participants in the training programme are invited based on recommendations by faculty and/or the student union. To qualify, exceptional study results, teamwork spirit and high analytical and presentation skills are necessary.
Over a two-week period, three cases are solved under time pressure in groups of four students. In each case session, each team of four will be given three hours to deliberate on the business case at hand. During this time, teams review the issue, develop a recommendation – including alternatives, implementation plan, and financial considerations – and create a presentation to be delivered to the panel of judges.
The three teams’ presentations are followed by a question and answer session, with the judges of LUSEM faculty and invited external executives providing detailed evaluation forms and direct feedback.
Interaction with society and business
The case method of teaching and learning, as applied at LUSEM, helps students develop ways of understanding a corporation’s problems and contributing to their solution. Working with cases in general, and case competitions in particular, provides a natural intersection for university students to engage with society and learn about business in different contexts and industries, and vice versa. Examples of case-related co-operations include:
- A corporation serving as a live case
- Experienced managers acting as judges in case competitions
- Corporations working together with a case writer to produce cases
