March 31, 2000
Students from 13 countries to converge April 9-15 for Global Business Challenge
The University of Washington will conduct America’s newest and most international contest for business students April 9-15, bringing young competitors from nearly every part of the planet.
Reflecting today’s border-leaping business climate, the Global Business Challenge will include undergraduates from Brazil, Columbia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey, plus four U.S. business schools (including UW).
Last year’s inaugural challenge was such a success that several top schools had to be turned away this year, said Jerry Ralston, a lecturer at the UW Business School and the event’s faculty director.
“No other university in the country is doing anything quite like this,” said Ralston.
The 64 undergraduates will arrive, in teams of four, April 9. After a few days together touring Seattle-area companies and sights, contestants will get the “case” – an actual company’s strategic problem – and have 48 hours to come up with a solution.
The event reaches its climax April 15 with live presentations before a panel of business leaders. This is a day of high drama for the young undergraduates from wildly divergent places. A banquet follows at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.
The team from Singapore took first place in last year’s challenge, which was to expand an insulin maker’s sales worldwide (the case must be international in scope). But organizers said all the teams submitted impressive proposals.
“I’m looking at future business leaders of these countries,” said Victoria Helm, managing director of the UW’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), which produces the annual competiton.
Planning and executing the event also provides valuable experience for UW undergraduates in the Certificate for International Studies in Business (CISB) program.
“For experiential learning, I don’t know what could be better than this,” said Ana Garzon, a CISB student who helped orchestrate last year’s challenge.
Sponsors include Boeing, United Airlines, Costco, Starbucks, Deloitte Consulting, US Bank, Getty Images, Washington First International Bank and Charles Spence.
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To attend or arrange interviews, contact Helm at (206) 685-3433 or vhelm@u.washington.edu, or Patricia Bailey, Business School publications director, at (206) 543-1806 or pbailey@u.washington.edu. The Global Business Challenge 2000 Web address is http://depts.washington.edu/bacisb/gbc/gbc2000/index.html.
Global Business Challenge 2000 – participating schools
1 Groupe Esc Nantes Atlantique France
2. Universit? Kaiserslautern Germany
3. Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi Italy
4. Koc University Turkey
5. Kobe University Japan
6. University of Auckland New Zealand
7. Vladivostok State University of Economics Russia
8. National University of Singapore Singapore
9. Yonsei University South Korea
10. Thammasat University Thailand
11. Escola de Administracao de Empresas Brazil
12. Universidad de los Andes Columbia
13. University of California, Berkeley U.S.
14. University of Wisconsin, Madison U.S.
15. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) U.S.
16. University of Washington U.S.
