We represented Cambridge Judge Business School at the LBS Strategy& International Case Competition and we won the second prize. It seems like we have come a long way along the timeline of this case competition.
Back in September 2023, our MBA had not yet commenced. The four of us hadn’t met; we just decided to team up, over WhatsApp. Who are these ‘We’?
Kashmira Jirafe – #energywizard: BCG Consultant, the artist, and last but not least, friendly and approachable.
Vir Gandhi – #techexpert: an extremely talented techie, the IITian who hardly sleeps.
Kaviraj Khurana – #datamastero: the lucky charm, the powerhouse, and extremely smart. Wow! This is his second case competition win.
And, of course, myself.
The case was about emerging economies, and being a dentist, I was not very familiar with emerging economies. Obviously! I decided to take up the challenge because that’s what an MBA is about – challenging yourself and learning from every single experience. I definitely made the most of it.
Before the first round, we spent a few weeks doing the case study, preparing the deck, and creating strategic recommendations. Personally, it was novel, insightful, fun, and at times, slightly stressful because of the hectic curriculum. Even though it was demanding, my team made sure we sailed through it. We studied the case meticulously, communicated our ideas, distributed our tasks, and collaborated with each other regularly. As a team, we identified our strengths and weaknesses and acted accordingly.
Out of 56 teams from top B-schools, we were one of the six finalists. We were obviously happy to get to the final round. We worked on our presentation skills before the final round. It took multiple practice sessions, providing feedback to each other, taking feedback from friends which was vital (Our friend Ashutosh heard our presentation 1000 times before the D-day), and all this with an added spice of regular classes, career sessions.
Finally, the weekend to present at London Business School arrived, and I had only one feeling before the event – gratitude. Yes, I am glad to be a part of a diverse cohort and this talented team.
Lastly, I appreciate the efforts of the Strategy& team for organising our case competition seamlessly. During the weekend at LBS, we got to network with the brilliant teams from INSEAD, LBS, HEC Paris, organisers from LBS, and the very warm Strategy& team. Winning the second prize was a happy moment; however, an equally important aspect was that I got to meet extremely talented people and make some great memories.
Forever thankful to the Cambridge Judge Business School for providing a platform to portray our work.
Thank you and until next time – Stay healthy and stay inspired!