UNSW Business School students win prestigious global business Case Competition

Photo: Catherine Hu, Tom Du, Anita Wu and Henry O'Callaghan

Four talented UNSW Business School students have won the prestigious Copenhagen Business School (CBS) Case Competition, one of the world’s most highly regarded student challenges in this field. 

Anita Wu, Catherine Hu, Henry O’Callaghan and Tom Du competed against teams of students from some of the world’s best business schools including Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), University of Florida, and CBS, presenting their winning business idea in front of a judging panel of senior industry executives from companies including Deloitte, Microsoft, Google and Carlsberg Brewery. 

Hosted by CBS, the Case Competition invites teams of four students from universities across the globe to compete against each other to solve a real, present business challenge faced by a large international company. During the final round of the 2018 competition, teams were asked to advise Arla Foods, the fourth largest dairy company in the world, on how to successfully market milk to young people in a currently declining market in Europe. 

Member of the Business School’s winning team Anita Wu said: “The past week has been incredible and an experience of a lifetime that we will never forget! I'm honestly so grateful for the countless friends I have made along the way and would recommend this experience to anyone.”

The UNSW Business School Team, mentored by School of Accounting’s Lecturer Brian Burfitt, won the judges over with their pitch for a new milk-based product range and rebrand of the main Arla brand to help build trust with the millennial consumer group. 

“This result is the reward of months and months of training, coaching with UNSW Consulting Club and hard work from the students to hone their skills,” said Brian. 

 “This victory lays testament to our reputation as a globally competitive business school that prepares incredibly talented, work-ready graduates.

“Opportunities to participate in prestigious international business case competitions like the CBS Case Competition are vital for our students to gain relevant, real-world experience, build employability skills and get in front of potential employers on the global stage. The support of the UNSW Consulting club together with UNSW Business School’s Dr Jeff Coulton in training our team has been invaluable in putting UNSW’s name on the world stage.

 “We took our strongest team, prepared them well, and they executed to the best of their abilities. The team should be very proud of their efforts, they have certainly made UNSW proud.”

As well as its international reputation for rigour, the CBS Case Competition is renowned for its strong focus on personal development, offering students an opportunity to explore their potential with an incredible learning journey that pushes boundaries and takes participants out of their comfort zones. 

Australia’s Ambassador to Denmark, Mary Ellen Miller, also offered her congratulations to the UNSW Business School team via Twitter: “Congratulations to the UNSW team who not only made the finals of one of the globe’s most prestigious business competitions-  they won it! Well done team, you’ve made Australia very proud.”

Photo: The winning team with their mentor Brian Burfitt and their trophy