Crowned in Copenhagen
Team Wharton had the honor of meeting Prince Joachim of Denmark. The group ate at Noma, which is one of the world’s most highly rated restaurants, and the team visited the famous freetown Christiania. All this was prelude to victory at April’s Copenhagen Business School (CBS) Case Competition.
The case was a five-year growth plan for the Copenhagen Zoo. The team included then-seniors Tanay Mehta, ENG’14, W’14; Gina Ah-Fenne, W’14; Shahaab Bhanji, EE’14, ENG’14, W’14; and Varshil Patel, ENG’14, W’14. With 32 hours to prepare a solution to the case, the team visited the zoo and had just 10 minutes to meet with its CEO . At least one competing team worked without sleep. Not Wharton’s team. The group handed in the case the evening before, practiced next day’s presentation, then crashed at the hotel.
Team Wharton vanquished opponents— CBS’ own team, the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, Porto Business School and National University of Singapore—through two rounds of presentation.
“The finals were incredible—we got the chance to present in front of a room full of about 500 people, including a jury of about 30,” recalls Mehta. “In short, the CBS case competition was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The team earned top honors, and the audience voted Patel best presenter. Professor Martin Asher, adjunct finance professor and director of the Research and Scholars Programs, served as faculty adviser.
Connect with us: Read Mehta’s first-person account of the CBS Case Competition in his Student Voices blog at: http://whr.tn/cbs-case-competition.
