FBE students win international business case competition

Melbourne students competed with 11 business schools from eight countries,
placing ahead of the University of Belgrade, in second place, and McGill University in third.

Acting Dean of the Faculty, Professor Deborah Cobb-Clarke commended the students.
 
"We are delighted with this win in such a prestigious competition," she said.

"This commitment towards excellence achieved by the students, academics, professional
staff and alumni involved must be commended."

The team, Ms Saranee De Silva, Mr Yetty Lulseged, Mr Nicholas MacKinnon and Mr Elias
Vitsentzatos, trained from the start of December through to mid-March, attended seminars in
the evenings and spent weekends as well as significant time outside their training program to
complete practice cases for the three-day competition.

Competitors were given 24 hours to develop a series of recommendations in response to a
strategic business issue. The team then had to present these recommendations to two
panels of leading business professionals.

For Mr McKinnon, sleep deprivation was the most difficult part of the process.

"We had to sacrifice sleep for that case, working from 9am Saturday to 9am Sunday, but it
was worth the time," he said. 

Students received extensive support from academic and professional staff, including Professor Simon Bell, Director of Executive Education, and Deputy Head of the Department of Management and Marketing and Associate Professor Jennifer Grafton from the Department of Accounting. 

Professor Bell said competitions were a way of preparing students for the business world.

"Entering competitions at this elite level allows our best students to test themselves against
the brightest in the world," he said.

Professor Bell acknowledged the alumni who helped with the training program.
 
"We couldn't do this without the support of alumni, who bring insights from their workplaces
into the practice sessions, which is very much welcomed given they work for some of the
world's leading consulting organisations such as BCG, McKinsey, and LEK," he said.

The winning team acknowledged the hard work of the University staff.

"Professors Bell and Associate Professor Grafton provided us with advice and feedback, and
gave up their weekends so that we can improve our skills and compete well against other
teams," Ms De Silva said.

"Their guidance provided us with the skills necessary to succeed at the competition," Mr
Vitsentzatos said.

"This would also not have been possible without the hard work of Monique Shears and Jacqui
Hoare who helped coordinate the logistics of the competitions and the support of the
Faculty", Mr Lulseged said.