The University of South Carolina Case Competition team came in first place in the University of Navarra International Case Competition (UNICC), an academic competition on business case studies. The final case, on the auditing firm Ernst and Young (EY)lasted 24 hours. The Chinese University of Hong Kong team came in second place and the team from the University of Alberta (Canada) came in third.

A total of64 students from 16 universities in nine countries participated in the 6th edition of this competition, which is the only one of its kind held at a university in Spain. The event is organized entirely by students in the School of Economics and Business Administration.

For six days, participants in the International Case Competition assumed the role of professional consultants and tried to solve the problems of one Navarre company (Bodegas Ochoa) and two multinationals (Orbed Private Label and Ernst and Young) before a judging panel of 37 professionals from companies such as Gamesa, Volkswagen Navarra and Bankinter.

Sixteen groups of students participated in the 24-hour final round on the auditing firm Ernst and Young held at Tres Reyes Hotel and the School of Economics and Business Administration. The team from the University of South Carolina claimed the victory in the competition on this case, which was presented before business professionals such as the Senior Associate for Brand, Marketing and Communication, a Senior Advisor at Ernst and Young Madrid, and the Manager of Tax Consulting at Ernst and Young Pamplona. In addition to being awarded with the certificate for this international competition, the members of the winning team are now also eligible to participate in IESE Business School’s Young Talent Path, an MBA prep programme.

The event also included time for other activities besides competing as professional consultants. The teams from the United States, Canada, Norway, Singapore, Ireland, Germany, China, Thailand and Spain became familiar with Navarre gastronomy and culture thanks to the cultural ambassadors who took them on guided tours of attractions such as Pamplona’s old town and Bodegas Ochoa in Olite.

Collaboration instead of competition

As a new feature in this year’s edition, Economics students in the School of Economics and Business Administration’s Leadership and Governance Programme organized the first Collaboration Caseat the University of Navarra. This competition model consisted of group analysis of the UNICC's final case on the auditing firm Ernst and Young.

Students in all five years of the programme analysed the strategy of each team in the24-hour case study. They also tried to solve the same case and find a solution they all agreed on through collaboration between the teams of consultants instead of competition.

All the students participated in the diagnostic phase, proposal for the plan of action and presentation. A final proposal was then presented to the members of the judging panel and executives from Ernst and Young.