Past Case Competitions
The International Business Case Competition is an annual event in which students from different minority serving institutions and Historically Black College and Universities are tasked with solving a real-world business problem. The program provides each student with beneficial skills and experience. The structure of the event will allow students to work through multiple cross-cultural obstacles, including different study habits, and learning methods. The fields represented during the Case Competition are Finance, Accounting, Marketing, and Management & Operations.
Traditionally, selected students travel to Atlanta, GA for a two-day event. However, out of an abundance of caution and in alignment with current guidelines on large gatherings, the 2022 event will be held virtually.
During the Kick-Off Event, students are given the time to participate in a variety of events that are meant to build up their trust and familiarity with each other. Later, each team is given the case and has two weeks to prepare solutions and submit a video presentations for round one. Next, the final four teams will present live in front of a panel of judges to present their solution to the case.
The International Business Case Competition is funded by the U.S. Department of Education with a goal of mounting the competitiveness in the global market. The competition not only allows students to work together in teams, but it also prepares them to enter the global job market, in which they will be confronted by actual business problems.
This year’s international business case competition brought together 20 students on March 4-5, 2021 from the following seven universities: Albany State University, Claflin University, Georgia State University, Howard University, Johnson C. Smith University, & Oakwood University.
We received evaluations from 11 students:
- 94% of respondents felt that the experience of focusing on the case enhanced their problem-solving skills.
- According to 94% of respondents, the experience of preparing a presentation as a team was a helpful professional development experience.
- 94% of respondents would recommend others to participate in this event next year.
- As stated by 100% of respondents, the competition rules were clearly presented and explained.
- 88% of respondents express that the CIBER Team should continue to use the mixed team format for future case competitions.
- 89% of respondents think that the overall coordination of this event was very good.
- 94% of respondents characterized their experience as very beneficial and enjoyable
The event received much praise from the participants. Attendees expressed great satisfaction with the content and overall hosting of the event. Here are some representative comments:
“The innovative environment that thrives on diversified talent pool.”
“The welcoming spirit of the panel and the expert information of how the case study analysis skills are directly related to the workforce.”
“Being able to interact with complete strangers, and being able to come up with a power point and presentation.”
“Networking with new people.”
“The adjusted format for virtual presentations and the conciseness of the cases and presentations.”
“During Covid, GSU-Ciber handled the case competition with professionalism and understanding.”
On February 27-28, 2020, the International Business Case Competition brought together a total of 28 students from the following institutions: Claflin University, Georgia State University, Harris-Stowe State University, Howard University, Kentucky State University, Lincoln University and Oakwood University.
According to post-event evaluations completed by students, advisors, and judges:
- 93% felt the experience of focusing on the case enhanced their problem-solving skills.
- 93% felt the experience of preparing a presentation as a team was a helpful professional
- development experience.
- 93% felt the mixed team format should continue to be used for future competitions.
- 93% felt the overall coordination of this event was very good.
- 100% would recommend others to participate in this event next year.
- 100% characterized their experience as very beneficial and enjoyable.
The event received much praise from participants. Attendees expressed great satisfaction with the content and overall hosting of the event. See a video of student reflections.
“I loved my diverse team and how well we worked together.”
“I liked the fact that I was grouped with different students from different schools because I was able to make new relationships and they helped my experience to be fun.”
“I loved the team building exercises.”
“This truly was a great experience and I am grateful that I was selected to participate in this case competition. It was cool to work with students from other groups and I had a great time.”
“I really learned a lot from this opportunity and I hope to return back here next year.”
This year’s international business case competition brought together 28 students on March 7-8, 2019 from the following seven universities: Georgia State University, Governors State University, Howard University, Johnson C. Smith University, Lincoln University, Morehouse College, and Prairie View A&M University.
We received evaluations from 36 students:
- 96% of respondents felt that the experience of focusing on the case enhanced their problem-solving skills.
- According to 96% of respondents, the experience of preparing a presentation as a team was a helpful professional development experience.
- 96% of respondents would recommend others to participate in this event next year.
- As stated by 83% of respondents, the competition rules were clearly presented and explained.
- 80% of respondents express that the CIBER Team should continue to use the mixed team format for future case competitions.
- 100% of respondents think that the overall coordination of this event was very good.
- 96% of respondents characterized their experience as very beneficial and enjoyable
The event received much praise from the participants. Attendees expressed great satisfaction with the content and overall hosting of the event. Here are some representative comments:
“It was an amazing and life changing experience!”
“Overall, it was a great experience, everyone was very professional and made me feel welcomed. I learned a lot about myself as well.
“Great competition!”
“This was amazing and I would love to come back!”
“Great experience, I would recommend more student s to come!”
“The organization of the competition was great. I am very appreciative of the opportunity!”
This year’s international business case competition brought together 28 students on March 8 9, 2018 from the following seven universities : Alabama A&M University, Claflin University , Georgia State University, Harris Stowe State University, Johnson C. Smith University, Morehouse College and Xavier University.
We received evaluations from 28 students and 9 faculty advisors:
- 96 % of respondents felt the experience of focusing on the case enhanced their problem solving skills.
- According to 96 % of respondents, the experience of preparing a presentation as a team was a helpful professional development experience.
- 91 % of respondents would recommend others to participate in the event next year.
- According to 97 % of respondents, the competition rules were clearly presented and explained.
- 84 % of respondents expressed the CIBER team should continue to use the mixed team format for future case competitions.
- 91 of respondents think that the overall coordination of this event was very good.
- 94 % of respondents characterized their experience as very beneficial and enjoyable.
The students and faculty advisors said the following about the case competition:
“Thank you for hosting this wonderful learning opportunity for our students.”
“Everything was great, and I have already recommended it to a few friends of mine for next year!”
“Excellent — well managed and structured”
“This pushed me more than any other experience I’ve been a part of this year. Thank you.”
“I liked talking to the judges. Hoping to have lunch with one after spring break.”
“I wanted to let you know that our student participants mentioned they gained valuable experience and will encourage junior students to participate in similar c om petitions in the future! Wish you all the best and hope that events like this will sustain and thrive in the future.”
This year’s international business case competition brings together 40 students from following 10 universities around the country on March 2-3, 2017 in Atlanta, GA: Alabama A&M University, Albany State University, Bowie State University, Claflin University, Florida Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Howard University, Johnson C. Smith University, Saint Augustine's University and Savannah State University.
We received evaluations from 36 students:
- 81% of respondents felt that the experience of focusing on the case enhanced their problem-solving skills.
- According to 92% of respondents, the experience of preparing a presentation as a team was a helpful professional development experience.
- 89% of respondents would recommend others to participate in this event next year.
- As stated by 75% of respondents, the competition rules were clearly presented and explained.
- 83% of respondents express that the CIBER Team should continue to use the mixed team format for future case competitions.
- 86% of respondents think that the overall coordination of this event is very good.
- 92% of respondents characterized their experience as very beneficial and enjoyable.
Ciber Case Challenge
The event received much praise from the participants. Attendees expressed great satisfaction with the content and overall hosting of the event. Here are some representative comments:
“This is a fantastic event. Keep up the good work.”
“This has been an excellent experience. I am so thankful to have gotten to be a part of it.”
“Great event!”
“I truly enjoyed my experience here and took a lot from this competition. I am thankful for the opportunity.”
“I will like to thank the organizers of the CIBER Case Competition and they should keep doing this to encourage students.”
Who is Chisato?
Chisato Smith was born in Japan and lived there for over 20 years. She received a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature from Kyushu University in Japan. In her junior year, she studied abroad as an exchange student at University of Georgia (UGA) where she started growing her interest in foreign cultures and international business. After graduation, she worked for Emirates as a flight attendant for about 4 years and traveled to 44 countries.
The experience Chisato had at Emirates became her great asset. She truly enjoyed assisting people and developing cultural awareness. She decided to study accounting at Georgia State University (GSU) after she left Emirates.
Chisato was thrilled to participate in the CIBER international business case competition in her last semester as an undergraduate student at GSU as she saw it as an opportunity to test her ability and knowledge in international business and accounting.
The Winner Team Left to right: Meritt Rabson, Florida Institute of Technology; Chisato Smith, Georgia State University; Kelsey Washington, Savannah State University; Marcel Toran, Johnson C. Smith University
Her reflections on the IB Case Competition hosted by GSU-CIBER
“My team won the first prize of the International Business Case Competition. I believe that the biggest contributing factor to the victory is that all of us critically examined each other’s opinions and sought ways to polish them. As long as you maintain a professional manner, focus on the subject matter, and provide feedback in good faith, your feedback will contribute to improving your team’s final work and help your teammates. In fact, one of the judges asked a similar question as I had asked my teammate a night before the presentation!
Another important thing to keep in mind is preparation. We had a limited time for team building and preparation for the presentation. In order to spend the limited time efficiently, I recommend future participants to read the case and define the problem before starting the case discussion.
One thing my team should have done differently is to set a role for each team member at the beginning of the discussion (e.g., one person leading the discussion, one person creating the PowerPoint presentation, and two others researching). We figured out each member’s role during the discussion. However, if we set a role at the beginning of the discussion, our discussion could have been smoother.
Most importantly, enjoy solving the case and interacting with people! There is no right or wrong answer for the case. What most important is your thought process – whether you can critically analyze the case and offer feasible solutions. You should be confident in your opinion once you put a good amount of effort into solving the case! Also, I met many talented students from different universities. Conversations I had with highly motivated students stimulated me and broadened my view.
Lastly, I would like to thank Dr. Cavusgil and Dr. White for giving me this great opportunity to intellectually challenge myself. I enjoyed every moment of the competition and feel more confident in tackling issues in the real business world after the competition.”
Now a great tradition, this year’s MSI international business case competition brought together 28 students from the following universities on February 25-26, 2016 in Atlanta, GA: Claflin University, Florida Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Howard University, Johnson C. Smith University, Morehouse College and Oakwood University. Also attending were one or more facultyadvisors from each of the participating universities.
- 93% of participants (N=28) felt that the experience of focusing on the case enhanced their problem-
solving skills. - According to 96% of respondents, the experience of preparing an executive presentation as a team
was a helpful professional development experience. - 96% of respondents would recommend others to participate in this event next year.
- 89% of respondents would stay in touch with members of their team or other students.
- As stated by 89% of respondents, the competition rules were clearly presented and explained.
- 93% of respondents expressed that we should continue to use the mixed team format in the future.
- 89% of respondents assessed the overall coordination of the event to be ‘very good.’
- 93% of respondents characterized their overall experience as ‘very beneficial and enjoyable.’
The event received much praise from the participants. Attendees expressed great satisfaction with the content and overall hosting of the event. Here are some representative comments:
“I had a great experience working with students I never met before.”
“Good food; impressive judges; very helpful and hospitable staff.”
“Overall, great experience, I am very grateful I attended!”
“It gave us students a chance to improve our communication, analytical, and critical thinking skills.”
“It is a great experience and I had a lot of fun.”
“We appreciate the opportunity to participate in this wonderful student learning experience.”
“We would love to be invited back again to participate next year.”
The best thing about the IB Case Competition was:
“Working with students from different universities and learning from them.”
“Meeting new people and making connections.”
“The challenge, the need to focus. It taught me a lot about problem-solving.”
“Being able to test my critical thinking skills.”
“Mixing the teams up between schools and majors.”
GSU-CIBER hosted the 2nd International Business Case Competition at Georgia State University as part as the Minority Serving Institute Consortium.
The competition was held March 26-27, 2015, and was structured as previous CIBER competitions with approximately 9 teams of 4 students with different majors from Albany State University, Clark Atlanta University, Florida Institute of Technology, Georgia Perimeter College, Georgia State, Kennesaw State University, LaGrange College, Oakwood University and Southern University at New Orleans. On the first day of the competition, the students had an opportunity to socialize and get to know their team members. A visit to the World of Coca Cola was included in the program.
Following the introduction, students received an international business case and guidelines about the submission procedures, as well as overall ground rules. Students then began working on their solutions due that evening. On the morning of March 27th, four non-GSU faculty members and four senior executives from the Atlanta business community, including Rahm Sitaraman, retired dir., Eurasia and Africa Franchise Leadership Development, the Coca-Cola Co.; Frank Blount, CEO and chairman of the venture capital company, JI Ventures Inc., Trevor Williams, Global Atlanta’s managing editor, and Rahim Charania, founder and CEO of American Fueling Systems, formed a panel of judges. Upon completion of round 1, two semi-finalist teams proceeded to round 2. The judges jointly selected a winning team after Round 2. The winning team was composed of Brieanna Cannon, Oakwood University; Yahjah Brown, Southern University of New Orleans; Victor Westerlund, Florida Institute of Technology and Alexander Cann, Georgia Perimeter College. The competition concluded with an award ceremony for all participating students, faculty, advisors, and judges.
This competition provided participating students with a real-life exposure to real business problems dealing with the concept of international business. It also provided an opportunity to improve their research and presentation skills. Additionally, students also had the opportunity to network with many professionals from the Atlanta business community, as well as with other peers from around the nation.
GSU-CIBER hosted International Business Case Competition for the first time on March 7-8, 2013. On the first day of the competition, the students were given the whole morning to socialize and get to know their team members that they are meeting for the first time. A visit to the Georgia aquarium was included in the program. Later that day, the students received an international business case and were guided to their rooms to work on their presentation due by 11:30 pm that evening. The next morning, four senior executives from the business community and four non GSU-faculty members formed the panel of judges and were divided in two rooms. In each room, four teams presented their case, and one team from each room was selected as a finalist to proceed to the second round. The two final teams, the STARS and the ANGELS, presented their case to all eight judges, and a winning team was chosen.
The students were very well prepared, and they gave exceptional presentations with extensive analysis and convincing arguments. It was hard to believe that these students had only received the case few hours before the presentation was due. The competition was followed by an award lunch, during which the STARS team was announced as the winner, and both the first and second place teams were awarded.
Dan Bogdan, a Perimeter College student from the STARS team, said
“I was humbled and honored to be part of a team that took very seriously the task of competing against many brilliant minds of different students from different Southeastern Colleges / Universities. Not only did we come up with a positive, factual, and credible answer, as related to the task entrusted to us, but we also learned to trust each other’s wisdom, in a collaborative manner, putting our best skills at work in a selfless way, that eventually came to reward both, the team as a whole, and each individual member of it.”
Overall, he thought the competition helped promote a culture of excellence, which is an asset that needs to be properly understood and practiced among the students if they would ever be successful in any professional, academic, or personal endeavor.
The University of Connecticut’s Center for International Business Education and Research hosted the annual CIBER Case Challenge in Storrs, Connecticut from Wednesday, October 19 – Saturday, October 22, 2011. Georgia State University, a cosponsor of this project, selected a four-member team for the case challenge where students across the U.S. and other countries competed in analyzing and presenting international business cases in front of judges on topics addressing multiple geographical regions and functional areas. This was an excellent opportunity for students to gain exposure to international business issues and participate in an international case competition. The competition also offered opportunities to meet and socialize with business students from around the globe and visit one or two local companies. GSU-CIBER was represented by Ashley Shepard, Jeremy Dollar, Ashley Knight and Jonathan Silberman. These students had the honor of taking home the first and second place awards.
GSU Students Win Big at National Case Challenge Competition by Kirstie Brown
GSU-CIBER celebrates the four undergraduate Robinson College of Business students — Jeremy Dollar, Ashley Knight, Ashley Shepard and Jonny Silberman — who competed in this year's (2011) CIBER Case Challenge at the University of Connecticut.
Established a little over one year ago, CIBER already is building a strong reputation in the annual Case Challenge competition. Last year, GSU student Lateefah Taiwo competed on the challenge's winning team. She and fellow 2010 GSU Case Challenger Alex Cannon met with this year's group to share advice. The team also received assistance from Professor Daniel Bello in the Institute of International Business, Craig Ruff in the Department of Finance, Walter Wallace and Marta White in the Department of Managerial Sciences, and the entire CIBER staff. Armed with helpful guidance, this year's Case Challengers proved they were strong competitors. Jeremy Dollar, a senior Finance and Philosophy double major, brought home the first place award, and Jonny Silberman, a senior Business Management–Economics student, took second place.
Institutional teams of four students come from 15 business schools across the United States and abroad to compete in the Case Challenge. The students are then split from their school groups into teams of four with students from other institutions, including at least one international student. A student on each team represents a different business focus: Finance (including Accounting), Marketing and Management and Operations.
On the first day, the students complete different team building activities to better acquaint themselves with their new teammates, and at 9 a.m. the next morning, they receive their international business case. This year, teams received a 20-page case study on American Express and were asked to resolve how the company could globally expand while maintaining their customer service program. Teams presented their resolutions starting at 8:30 a.m. the following morning.
A writer for the Huffington Post, Stacie Nevadomski Berdan, described her admiration for the student competitors in a recent article, saying
I was impressed by all the students for many reasons. They wanted to participate in a competitive and grueling competition. They worked through multiple cross-cultural obstacles, including different nationalities, language barriers and even diverse university cultures. But most of all I admire them for thinking globally throughout the competition.
Jeremy Dollar described the preparation process as "really grueling... We worked for about 20 hours."
Jonny Silberman said the biggest challenge was working with people from different backgrounds and commented it was difficult "coming from different perspectives."
Both Silberman and Dollar agreed the experience was well worth the sleep deprivation and large coffee consumption necessary to complete their case presentation. Silberman reflected that the greatest moment was watching the "power of a team."
Dollar and Silberman presented their awards to the CIBER office and are both eager to help next yearâs Case Challengers maintain GSU's winning tradition.
In 2010, Student Case Competition took place at the Ohio State University. This event brought together as many as 16 teams from around the world and across the U.S. to compete. Four undergraduate students participated from each university and the program began on October 27 with an opportunity for everyone to meet each other during a networking reception. The next day was filled with team building activities to enable the students to get to know each other and on the third day, the teams received an internationally focused business case. They had 24 hours to prepare their solutions and they presented them to a panel of executive judges on Saturday, October 30th. That evening, the winners were announced at a formal awards banquet. During this competition, GSU-CIBER was represented by Olufunke ("Lateefah") Taiwo, who won the overall competition, David McConico, who was announced as the "Best Presenter", Alex Cannon and Alaina Daner.
S. Tamer Cavusgil, Executive Director: [email protected]
Cuneyt Evirgen, Faculty Director: [email protected]
Paula Huntley, Managing Director: [email protected]
Michael Wallace, IIB Business Manager: [email protected]
Jamaica Villegas, Administrative & Event Coordinator: [email protected]
Location: 35 Broad Street, Suite 625, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, U.S.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 404-413-7431
Web: ciber.gsu.edu