UniMelb C4 Case Competition, 05. Team 3: Grattan: Presentation.

The C4 Commerce Collaborative Case Competition. Case presentation by Team Grattan.

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Collaboration between The Faculty of Economics and Commerce and four Faculty affiliated student associations led to an exciting case competition which took place on Thursday 14 and Friday 15 May in which 16 Commerce students participated.

The C4 Case Competition provided students with the opportunity to work in mixed teams of undergraduate and graduate Commerce students representing AIESEC, the Latin American Students Association (LASA), the Melbourne GSM Student Association and the Student Entrepreneurs Club.

On Thursday evening, the participants were assigned to their teams, with each team consisting of one student association representative. A coaching session was given by Professor Greg Whitwell, Associate Dean Academic Programs, to prepare them for the case competition. In addition, Phil Doolan, Bachelor of Commerce student, and Lisa La Brooy, Bachelor of Commerce Honours student, both participants in two previous international leading case competitions, provided the students with excellent advice on presentation skills and how to solve a business problem under time-pressure.

The case was distributed on Friday morning to each team; the students were challenged to provide strategic recommendations for a premium soft drink product entering a competitive market. The teams had six and a half hours to solve the business problem and did not have any access to the internet or any reading materials during that time.

After six and a half hours of group work, the teams had to present, in the Boardroom, to a panel of academic judges: Dr Jennifer Grafton from ABIS, Professor Simon Bell from Management & Marketing, Dr Sean Pinder from Finance, Professor Greg Whitwell, Associate Dean, and former case competition participant Phil Doolan.

Professor Whitwell was the chair of the judging panel. After watching all four teams present their unique recommendations, Professor Whitwell remarked, From someone who goes to these sorts of competitions regularly and sees the worlds best, the quality of all the presentations was outstanding, particularly in light of the limited preparation time He was also impressed with the presentation and marketing skills exhibited by the students.

All the finalists received Certificates of Participation. The participants of the winning team, team Grattan, were each presented with a $100 cheque.

Case competition participant Renata Rejas, member of the Latin American Students Association, commented that participating in this case competition was a great experience; I found working with a team of people with different backgrounds very realistic towards my future work experience. Richmond Glasgow, who was part of the winning team, remarked I really enjoyed working in a team I have never had any contact with before, as well as creating recommendations on unseen material.

After the announcement of the winning team, a reception was held to thank all participants and judges and to conclude the event.

Many thanks to everyone involved in the case competition, in particular: Professor Greg Whitwell, Dr Jennifer Grafton, Professor Simon Bell, Dr Sean Pinder, Phil Doolan, Lisa La Brooy, the organisers and volunteers from AIESEC, the Latin American Students Association (LASA), the Melbourne GSM Student Association and the Student Entrepreneurs Club, the Student Experience teams from the Melbourne GSM and the Commerce Student Centre, and of course to the students themselves for all their hard work, preparation, and enthusiasm during these two days.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Case Competition
• University of Melbourne
• Commerce
• C4