BGSU Team Captures Bronze in International Case Competition

Being the only U.S. competitors selected for the Final Round of an international case competition put pressure on American students to represent not only their country well but also to create a positive impression of Bowling Green State University. The BGSU team succeeded by placing third in the International Institute for Business Development (IIBD) Case Competition held at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines.

The team of Lily Szymanski, Rosanna Baskin, Luke Zemanek, and Brian Pavilonis presented their recommendations for a case involving Chipotle and a sustainability communication strategy. Faculty co-advisor, Dr. Mark Bennion, marketing professor, traveled with the team to serve as the team’s coach. Dr. Janet Hartley, professor of management, was the team’s other faculty advisor.

The final round teams were given the Chipotle business case and had six hours to research and analyze the case, then developed a set of action plans and recommendations for the presentation. Each team had 20 minutes for the presentation, followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session with a panel of judges. Criteria used to determine the winners included depth, comprehensiveness, relevance, originality and persuasiveness, as well as the team’s ability to present arguments and recommendations.

This is the third time in four years the BGSU case competition team was selected for the final round and served as the only U.S. representatives in the competition.

The 2014 competition was jointly organized by Ateneo de Manila University, Wing Lung Bank International Institute for Business Development and Chinese Businesses Case Centre, School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU).