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In Part 1 of this three-part series on case competitions, I shared some information about case competitions, who can participate and how they work.
In Part 2, I share my experience of flying across the globe to compete in an international case competition to represent the University of Alberta at the 25th Thammasat Undergraduate Business Challenge in Bangkok, Thailand.
My first International case competition
After having had the opportunity to compete in various internal case competitions, some hosted by student clubs at the Alberta School of Business and others by various organizations, like AIESEC and the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society (CTC) in the city of Edmonton, it was now time for me to level up and experience what it was like to compete in an international case competition. Business schools around the world host such competitions in partnership with local businesses to benefit from creative solutions to foster their development and, at the same time, invite students from around the world to experience the beauty of their hometown. What a win-win situation, right?
This October, I had the opportunity to compete at the 25th edition of Thammasat Undergraduate Business Challenge (TUBC) in Bangkok, Thailand. TUBC is an international business challenge where 20 teams from around the world compete to pitch a feasible solution to the business problem presented by the TUBC committee. Traditionally, it has been a business originated in Thailand or a company with a focus on improving its reach in the Thai market. This year, we had Great Wall Motor (GWM), an electric vehicle (EV) company that originated in China in 1984, as the case sponsor. We had to pitch a solution to the current challenge faced by GWM in order to build consumer trust in Thailand. It was a very interesting case, which took not only our sleep but also a lot of brainstorming during the 28-hour resolution period!
A Timeline of my trip
August 15: Pre- Competition
I came to know early in August about my selection to compete at TUBC this year. I was super excited and thrilled to have made it to the U of A team. Knowing that TUBC is hosted every year in the first week of October, I knew it would be quite a challenge to manage school and a 10-day international trip right at the peak of midterms. With a full course load semester right around the corner, I was ready to undertake what I knew would be the most exciting and adventurous semester of my university life so far. I decided to put my heart and soul into making it all happen while striving to maintain a decent academic standing in the Fall 2022 semester.
September 30: It all begins tomorrow!
Throughout the month of September, I had the chance to do a few case practices with my team members: Alex, Lucille and Theresa. Alex and Lucille left for Thailand a week prior to me because they had some time on hand.. Theresa left a day prior to me, and I had an early morning flight on Oct 1, 2022. The night before, I was trying to pack for the next 10 days in Thailand while sending emails to all my professors asking for extensions on my assignments and deferment of midterms. Luckily, all my professors were willing to accommodate me and were actually more excited than me for this trip, which is very funny and heartwarming at the same time. Sadly, I also experienced the loss of my grandpa right before my departure from Edmonton, and it was quite overwhelming. Life happens to you when you are busy making other plans, and it happened to me the night before I was about to undertake my first international case competition journey. I knew I had to stay strong!
6:15 a.m., October 1
I took a bus from Century Park station to Edmonton International Airport. The airport was a little busy as most flights to Vancouver depart around 7:30 am from Edmonton. I had a long trip with numerous layovers in between, and Vancouver was my first stop. I handed off my luggage, got my boarding passes and made my way to check-in on my first flight on this adventure!
I dozed off on my flight to Vancouver.
9 a.m., October 1
Safely landed in Vancouver and had some coffee for breakfast. Now, I was left in a dilemma: complete my sociology assignment or visit Stanley Park before my next flight to Tokyo?
My decision: Stanley Park! All day long!
(Ishan, exploring Stanley Park during his 4-hour layover at Vancouver International Airport)
2:15 p.m., October 1
Got back to the airport in time and was ready to board my next flight! Off to Tokyo!
3:10 p.m., October 2
Landed in Tokyo at 3pm (JST)! My first reaction upon stepping inside Narita International Airport was “This is amazing!” The airport was spotless and had all the high-tech features you would expect Japanese stores to have. My next flight to Bangkok was at 5:25 p.m. so I had some time to spare. I decided to try some Japanese fruit cakes while counting the number of times I heard “Arigato Gozaimasu” in an hour.
(Ishan: Looking for a perfect selfie at Narita International Airport, Tokyo)
5:25 p.m., October 2
Boarded my flight to Bangkok and decided to watch some movies only to realize later that I would fall asleep the entire way.
9:55 p.m., October 2
I landed in Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. It was quite warm and humid, and I decided to take a taxi to my hotel as I was a little tired and hungry at the same time. I spent 500 Thai Baht (18.58 CAD) on a taxi home, and breathed a sigh of relief upon entering my hotel room.
October 3 - 8
I met my team members the next day and also got to meet a few more people. The competition began on Tuesday, October 4 with an amazing ceremony and some opening remarks by the hosting committee. The competition was divided into 5 days.
Day 1: Opening ceremony
I could feel the excitement in the air. 20 teams, from all around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Canada, USA, just to name a few. We came to know our pool and were looking forward to a fun excursion day.
( Left to Right: Theresa Buis, Alex Webb, Lucille Galdamez, Ishan Arora, Doug Leong)
Team U of A at TUBC 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Day 2: Excursion Day
It was a wonderful day filled with a visit to the famous Wat Phra Si Sanphet temple, a fun experience of Muay Thai, a delicious Thai lunch and a relaxing Thai massage to end the day.
(Taking the ferry with all teams to explore Bangkok on Day 2)
Day 3: Case Hand-out (2pm)
Cometh the moment, cometh Peak Consulting; it was now time for us to solve the business challenge we had traveled 12,000 kms for. Time to go team Alberta!
Day 4: Case Submission (6pm)
After having spent 28 hours analyzing GWM and its operations in Thailand, we were happy to have made our submission on time. We breathed a sigh of relief and were looking forward to a good night’s sleep before presenting our solution to industry professionals the next day.
Day 5: The Finals
We missed the finals by a small margin, however, we had a great time presenting our solution and learning from the presentations of other teams. It was a great learning experience!
And that’s how it went! I left Bangkok on October 9 and had the same route back to Edmonton. This time I gained half a day on the time difference because I was rerouting to MDT from JST.
(Team U of A on the last day of the competition at GWM showroom in IconSiam, Bangkok)
And my midterms? Well, I am still catching up on them. Given the chance, I would do it all over again because it was an experience of a lifetime! I not only got to meet people from around the world but also developed my case analysis and presentation skills. Thanks to Alberta School of Business and Doug Leong for such a wonderful opportunity!
Dedicated to Mr. Kasturi Lal Arora, my grandfather who lived a life dedicated to his family while upholding the values of honesty, kindness and continuous hard work. I love you Nanaji and thank you for everything!
Yours,
Ishu lal
