Ever had to make room in your carry-on for a trophy?

The Grossman School of Business claimed third place - and a beautiful glass trophy - at the Lazaridis International Case Competition (LazICC) at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. Led by lecturer Marie-France Nelson, UVM students Skyler Ayers, Alex Carrozza, DeNa Mitchell, and Will Tessmer competed against top students from universities from around the world. They won Second place for the 5 hour case and first in the 24 hour case in their division which allowed them to compete in the finals. Their division included Concordia University (Canada), Universidad Panamericana (Mexico), and Budapest Business School (Hungary).

Case competitions are great opportunities for students to meet business professionals from around the world, while gaining hands-on experience. They receive real cases from sponsoring companies and are given a certain timeframe to develop and present their own solutions to these issues.

The first step in preparing for an event like this is to create a talented team. Students often come at the recommendation of faculty members and the coach selects students based on their skillset. Marie-France Nelson, the team coach/advisor said, “I wanted to make sure when I choose students that have different concentrations - marketing, finance, analytics, accounting and can complement each other.” Since Waterloo is a tech hub, LazICC focuses on incorporating technology into business. “I also needed someone with a computer science minor to understand the technology aspect.”

Skyler Ayers ‘23 said this was her first in-person case competition and the first ever competition for her teammates, and Nelson helped them prepare. They practiced presentation and analytical skills, but also how to figure out their team dynamics. Nelson says, “They have to be a team. That’s one of the reasons we practice to figure out where everybody’s strengths are and how we solve issues when we disagree.”

In October, the team traveled to Waterloo, Canada and met students from around the world. They enjoyed social and cultural events, including Oktoberfest, Canada’s largest Bavarian festival, where they made professional and personal connections. Ayers says meeting other students from around the world is one of the reasons she does case competitions. They also had local industry experts present to the students on business topics which Nelson says helped set the stage for the competition.

For the 24 Hour Case Competition, students received a problem from a local business and were tasked with developing a solution. Nelson says, “This is consulting. They are asking undergrad students to come up with a solution to a very real business situation. These are applicable skills that potential employers really value.” The students were sequestered in their hotel room for either 5 or 24 hours to develop a solution and not allowed any contact with the outside world. Ayers says that in order to find a solution, “you use your personal experiences, your classroom knowledge and your team dynamics and say, ‘Let’s figure it out.’”

After they presented their last case, the team wasn’t sure how well they fared in their division. When their names were called for first place, Ayers says it was “a feeling that we’d never forget.” They had just a few minutes to celebrate before being called up on stage again for the finals and present in front of the entire audience.

Nelson says, “They were stellar. They are presenting in front of over a hundred people if not more. I was so proud of this team for the progress they did because where we started and where we ended were quite different places. We all put in a lot of time and hard work to get where we are. Their solution was extremely strong and implementable. Their presentation skills were phenomenal. They were clear in their story and supporting evidence and that’s what makes the difference.”

Ayers said that placing in the competition was very validating and getting a trophy felt really nice. “We did the work and we got there.”