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| press release, February 2007 |
Student teams from top business schools in head-to-head case challenge
The Boston Consulting Group supports Europe's premier student event in the case study calendar
Sixteen leading European business schools are to compete in the 2007 European Business Schools Case Challenge, announces Jeffrey Gray, Director of ecch, the event organiser. For the first time, the case challenge is to be supported by international strategy and general management consulting firm, The Boston Consulting Group.
The case challenge will take place at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France from 13-14 April 2007. INSEAD was the overall winner of the 2005 event.
Mr Gray commented that the case challenge looks set to become the premier competitive case study event in European business education. He welcomed the support of BCG, which will help in bringing the event to a broader audience and will reinforce the role of ecch in promoting case studies in management education. Senior Vice President and Head of People Team of BCG, Mr Michel Fredeau, said: "We have taken an active role in the development of several case studies in Europe, with a focus on innovation, strategic advantage and social entrepreneurship. We are delighted to have this opportunity to co-operate with ecch and look forward to adding to the effectiveness, insight and impact of this exciting case challenge at INSEAD."
The participating schools are all from the top ranked business schools in Europe*. Teams of five MBA students from each competing school will work over an intense two days to evaluate issues in a previously unpublished case study based upon real events, and produce well-argued recommendations. The teams' proposals will be appraised by an independent, international panel of experienced judges drawn from business and academia.
The sixteen participating business schools represent eight European nations: two from France, Ireland and Spain, one each from Belgium, Finland, Germany and Switzerland, and six from the UK. The members of each team will be selected entirely at the discretion of the participating business school from their current MBA programme.
"The first of these regular events, held at the Said Business School in Oxford in 2005, proved the effectiveness of the format," explains Jeffrey Gray. "We have refined this since then, but the principle remains the same. Future business leaders will gather at INSEAD to prove their ability to work in smallteams, under pressure and within a very tight timetable. They will face a searching test of their learning when they propose their recommendations for complex, demanding real-life problems and issues. We are all looking forward to seeing the quality of thinking that the case challenge brings out at this high level of business education. It will be hard work but a memorable and, we expect, enjoyable few days."
As well as the David Hall trophy, the winning team will receive a cheque for EUR7,500. Trophies will also be awarded to the second and third placed teams.
* according to The Financial Times Top 50 European Business Schools, published in December 2005.
Participating business schools
Cass Business School, City University, London; Cranfield School of Management; ESADE Business School, Barcelona and Madrid; Groupe HEC Paris; Helsinki School of Economics; IESE Business School, Barcelona and Madrid; IMD, Lausanne; INSEAD, Fontainebleau; Judge Business School, University of Cambridge; London Business School; Manchester Business School; Saïd Business School, University of Oxford; Solvay Business School, Brussels; Trinity College Dublin; UCD Michael Smurfit School of Business, Dublin and WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar.
Notes for editors
About ecch
ecch is the largest single source of case studies in the world, with, currently, in excess of 46,000 items in its case catalogue available to all through www.ecch.com. ecch is dedicated to supporting authors and users of case studies and promoting the case method of learning. It is an independent membership-based, non-profit organisation with offices at Cranfield University in the UK and Babson College in the USA. It provides the interface between the authors of cases and the educational institutions and businesses that use them for teaching and learning purposes. ecch has an extensive international programme of workshops and events on case writing and teaching.
About The Boston Consulting Group
Since its founding in 1963, The Boston Consulting Group has focused on helping clients achieve competitive advantage. "Our firm believes that best practices or benchmarks are rarely enough to create lasting value and that positive change requires new insight into economics and markets and the organisational capabilities to chart and deliver on winning strategies. We consider every assignment to be a unique set of opportunities and constraints for which no standard solution will be adequate." BCG has 63 offices in 37 countries and serves companies in all industries and markets.
For further information, please visit our website at www.bcg.com.
The case method
The case method of learning, pioneered in the early 20th Century at Harvard University, has become the favoured teaching method of most of the world's leading business schools. A process of discussion and analysis, guided by a skilled case teacher, leads class participants to deeper insights into management issues and their resolution. Faculty and students familiar with the case method universally regard it as the most effective and enjoyable way to learn.
Fuller details of the European Business Schools Case Challenge 2007
w www.ecch.com/casechallenge
For interviews and further information, please contact:
Roger Haywood, Public Relations Adviser to the case challenge
t +44 (0)1692 651573 or mobile +44 (0)7802 874584
e r.haywood@ecch.com
Margarita Garijo, Marketing and Communication Director to BCG, Paris
t +33 (0) 14017 1568
e garijo.margarita@bcg.com
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