UW Foster Team Wins Ace the Case Global Business Challenge
The Global Business Center is pleased to announce that the team representing the Foster School in the first annual Ace the Case Global Business Challenge has taken first place! We are incredibly proud of the work done by Full-time MBA students Xianjin Cai, Zeyu Sun, Nathan Yuan, and Patsachon Kriengwatana.
UW Foster team with Aloy3d CEO, Cesar Rodriguez.
The Ace the Case Global Business Challenge was the result of a collaboration between the University of Washington Michael G. Foster School of Business, the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business and Florida International University’s Center for International Business Education and Research. The competition hosted nine teams, from eight universities, across four countries. The competing universities were:
- Birla Institute of Management Technology (India)
- ESIC Business & Marketing School (Spain)
- Florida International University (USA)
- Richard J. Fox School of Business at Temple University (USA)
- New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business (USA)
- SKEMA Business School Paris (France)
- University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business (USA)
- University of Washington Michael G. Foster School of Business (USA)
The competition focused on Aloy3d, the first certified 3-d printing service bureau in Mexico, headquartered in Sonora. Teams were tasked with formulating a strategy to help this small business recover from a significant reduction in revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The teams that advanced to the final rounds were UW Foster, NYU Stern, UMD Smith, and Temple Fox. While the first round, which took place on February 20, was in a case interview format, the second round required a slide deck and recorded presentation. Judges from across the country, including the CEO of Aloy3d, reviewed the presentations and determined the champion. The winning solution, announced on March 5 and submitted by the UW Foster team, was formulated as a “3E Strategy”: Expand customer leads through digital marketing, Expedite growth through a university campaign, and Explore new industries such as entertainment, fashion and furniture. Judges found this solution most effectively addressed both the short-term needs and long-term goals of Aloy3d.
The student team shared that “this was a super valuable experience to all of us, even if we do not enter into the consulting industry. The competition tested us on whether we could work under pressure and whether we could quickly gather the information, absorb it, analyze it and, eventually, develop a feasible solution. It also reminded us that we are in a globalized business world. It is very likely that we will work with international clients or teams in our future careers. Therefore, it is important to have a sense of how things like cultural differences, time zone differences, or the working environment play an important role in our work.”
Congratulations again to the winning team and their excellent job representing Foster in the Ace the Case Global Business Challenge!
The Ace the Case Global Business Challenge was made possible through the support of a Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) grant, a Title VI grant administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
