Queen’s case competition team wins first place title in Hong Kong

Hong Kong competition marks sixth win for QCCU in 2017

Image supplied by: Supplied by Daina Norkus
Panelists and the winning team post-victory in Hong Kong.

The Queen’s Case Competition Union claimed its six first-place title of 2017 following an international case competition win in Hong Kong on Oct. 26. 

The Queen’s Case Competition Union (QCCU) is a union made up of 20 students who regularly work together to practice and prepare for international business case competitions. Smaller teams are repeatedly formed and reworked depending on students’ availability for competitions. 

Fifteen teams from around the world competed in the Citi-HKUST International Case Competition (CICC) Case Competition in Hong Kong between Oct. 21 and 26. The competition began with shorter practice cases and ended in a final 22-hour case problem. Teams were required to present their solutions to a panel of judges made up of representatives from various companies.

Prior to the event, Daina Norkus, Comm ’19, said the team had a lot of prepping to do.

“The four of us were chosen to attend the competition at Hong Kong, so we went through a couple weeks of training and practice and got to know each other in a stronger way,” she said. 

“After a whole week together, the four of us got really close,” Bonnie Zhang, Comm ’19, added. “After you do a 22-hour case together, grinding out a long difficult problem, it really brings the team together.” 

Two other team members — Evan Goldman, Comm ‘19, and Alice Ma, Comm and ArtSci ’18 — joined Norkus and Zhang in Hong Kong.

“Usually we take on different roles,” Goldman said. According to him, team members assigned different tasks amongst themselves based on their strengths and interests. 

The CICC win marks the fourth first-place finish in a row for QCCU this year. Other QCCU teams also placed first in the Norwegian School of Economics International Case Competition in Norway, the Chulalongkorn International Business Case Competition in Thailand and the Rotterdam School of Management Case Competition in Netherlands earlier this year.

For Norkus, these wins are a team effort.

“QCCU has been around for five years now and everyone involved has worked so hard to develop the resources and the capabilities that we have,” she said. “Because of the hard work of our co-captains and the Commerce Office, we’ve been really fortunate to have the international exposure and success that we’ve had.” 

For Goldman, the exposure to international business practices and companies has been the most rewarding aspect of his experience. “Personally, I am really interested in pursuing a career in Hong Kong,” he said. “I think that all of us would agree that in the countries that we visit, we get a lot of really great exposure both culturally and professionally, which gives us really good insights into how working there would actually be.”

At CICC, the team competed against 14 other schools from around the globe. “It’s interesting to see the top teams and the different perspectives they bring to each case problem,” Norkus said. “Getting to see different education systems at work, what different schools will bring to the table and in that environment, is really interesting to me.”

According to Norkus, one of the biggest challenges the team faces is adjusting to the complexity of the cases and the competitive atmosphere. “But ultimately, if you are prepared, set a schedule and support your team, you have the recipe for success,” Norkus said.

The team said their experience was extremely rewarding and they all hope to remain part of the QCCU team next year. 

“QCCU is by far the best learning experience I have had at Queen’s,” Norkus said. “It not only exposes you to different cases you can work on for a real-life company, but also allows you to travel and get that cultural experience that develops a really strong network.”

Tags

Business, case competition, Queen's Case Competition Union

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