3/27/2010

The Winners of Case Competition 2010

The winners of the 5th Annual International Tech Strategy Business Case Competition 2010 have been announced!

First place: Team Abu Dhabi - London Business School












London Business School's post-win interview



Second place: Team Madrid - Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California












Third place: Team Santiago - IESE Business School. University of Narrava, Spain











Fourth place: Team Beijing - McCombs School of Business, University of Texas Austin












CONGRATULATIONS AND CELEBRATIONS teams!!

The party continues at the Cask'n Flagon...

Hans Vestberg, President and CEO of Ericsson speaks to us

We had the immense pleasure of having President and CEO of Ericsson, Hans Vestberg speak on the most important issues on his mind and close to his heart. He remarked how wonderful it was to "bring the most intelligent in the world together", he was hugely impressed by the "diversity of the group which delivered fantastic results".


















Vestberg took over as CEO in January 1, 2010 and considers the role of communication as the single most relevant platform in the world. "In 1876, Lars Magnus founded Ericsson, 130 years later, communication is still relevant". His number-shattering example of during Chinese New Year, 2010, "2.3 billion sms text messages were exchanged, and of course, this traffic was handled by Ericsson".













The 5th technological shift that has taken place over the last 200 years that Vestberg spoke about alludes to the fantasy which bears no limitation.

Vestberg illustrated how a camel buyer who would travel 3 days to sell his camel now needs only an sms to figure out demand and can fetch a higher price for his stock displays the power of instant communication and how this can help solve one of the world's biggest problem of poverty. Clearly, this has significantly changed the lives of many.

Vestberg was emotional when he spoke of how attendance in schools in India jumped signficantly because the parents were now comforted by the tracking abilty of mobile devices.

Thoughts from Geoff Hollingworth and Rehan Hassan

Geoff Hollingworth (Director of Strategy and Marketing, Ericsson, co-writer of the case question with Professor Venkat): "the industry is changing so quickly that what once was, isn't any longer". He appreciated the "intelligent thoughts and discussion" but was particularly impressed with Team Santiago's map of market segments and the different disruptions within each segment".














I asked Geoff whether Ericsson's trade secrets and direction in the future might be compromised with such wide publicity in this competition and he said the "company in this industry that win in the end are the ones who can best leverage their strengths and make new distinct differences with risk mitigation. Businesses that thrive are the ones that have a competitive advantage and talent. Success lies in how good they are in innovation. There will always be competition, but the key is to focus on what Ericsson does best".

Rehamn Hassan (Vice President, President & Head of GCC countries, Market Unit Middle East) said that "whatever was delivered in the presentations were not new, but it confirms our convinctions in those sectors discussed".

Final Presentations Complete!

With Team Santiago's final presentation completed, a hour of pre-dinner drinks accompany the wait while our panel of judges deliberate.



















The entire congregation is invited to the Atrium for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres before the banquet dinner and announcement of the 5th Annual International Tech Strategy Business Case Competition 2010!

Winner's list update will be reported live. Hold your horses, people!

Team Abu Dhabi finally done!

Team Abu Dhabi's idea of Ericsson entering the British Petroleum industry and already consider themselves part of Ericsson! The "me" has become "we".



Final Presentations Underway!

Team Beijing currently presenting their presentation to the panel of top Ericsson executives:

Sanjay Kaul (Vice President & Head of Innovation Centers South Africa, Ericsson)
Andreea Timberlake (Director of Network Solutions, Infrastructure, Ericsson)
Johan Wilbergh (Senior Vice President & Head of Business Unit Networks, Ericsson)
Ron Conway (CEO & member of the board of GSMA Association)

Some heavy technical aspects currently discussed in a grilling Q&A.














Team Madrid
are finally done with their presentation!





Preliminary Round Results

These are the 4 teams moving on to the final presentation (in no particular order):

Team Madrid
Team Beijing

Team Abu Dhabi
Team Santiago

Congratulations teams!!

Presentations start in the Auditorium promptly at 2.30pm! Watch this space for live updates!

Team Madrid Go to the Finals of Case Competition

Team Santiago in the final round

Team Abu Dhabi in the finals!

Waiting for the results!

The results were annouced during lunch.

The anticipation was building up!


Feedback for Team(s) Dusseldorf, Istanbul, Santiago and San Jose

Ajay Sood (Vice President, Ericsson): "Good analysis on metrics from the business industry. Teams found real business models which we found really relevant but the vision was not well discussed. The flow of the presentations varied and some teams were good at the hand off to the next presenter but other teams were lacking in that aspect. We would have liked to see some bold statements, the teams were too conservative in their approach!"
DSC_0815


Team Santiago

Feedback for Team(s) Sao Paolo, Tokyo, Jakarta, Abu Dhabi

"The teams are like Mozart and the panel of judges are like music critics". The teams were measured against professional consulting firms like McKinsey which had access to information and a lot more time for its report as compared to these teams which had only 24 hours. The comments provided are only as potential for improvement. Ericsson will be using all insights as strategic corporate development.

Team Sao Paolo: "Work on time management and work on organization. Your team had very heavy slides which were at times difficult to follow".

Team Abu Dhabi: "Well structured, clear executive summary, which is very good for me, an old guy to follow. Well documented, borad overview into monetization model".

Team Tokyo: "Interesting comparison to a used case, unclear analysis of the value chain and for the large part, lacked realism. Need more meat to the bones. You discussed the industry of healthcase in India but we were confused why the implementation was in North America and Europe".

Team Jakarta: "Good presentation, well connected slides. You chose to focus on the car industry, easy to follow straight forward concept but we would like to have seen some analysis on barriers to entry and competitive landscape".


Feedback for Team(s) Madrid, Stockholm, Cairo, Johannesburg

"Within 24 hours, we know how hard it is to do a job well done. We were impressed with the various ideas and the industries considered. However, the evaluation was based on the balance of the 3 requirements: (a) task, (b) execution and (c) financial projections. There were great technical ideas and innovative thoughts but Ericsson was more concerned with profitability growth and the showings of revenue potential".

The judges did not provide individual feedback to the teams but were "happy to talk to the individual teams after lunch".

Team Cairo











Team Johannesburg

Feedback for Team(s) Delhi, Beijing, Istanbul, Dallas

The judges were shocked by the high level of reseearch and analysis done by all 4 teams in the last 24 hours. Individual feedback was given to all the teams:

Team Delhi: "Very professional slides and well timed presentation. Excellent Q&A displayed and analysis was comprehensive and well packaged. However, the business direction that the team took was not as compelling as Ericsson would have liked to seen. In addition, the team did not take the judges through the theme of "Nagivating the Sea of Connectivity".

Team Beijing: The team selected the machine industry which was the same industry Ericsson was also looking at. However, the judges felt that the team underexplained various aspects of their analysis. Another tip to the team was to reherse more before the presentation and the interaction between the various team members was lacking.











Team Istanbul: Logical and recommendation to go into the cloud was compelling but was the tiered pricing model really relevant?

Team Dallas: Good analysis and landscape. The key algorithm recommendation provided a good framework. However, the concern from the judges was how to bring the algorithm to practice, what is the impact in revenue and again what is the relevance of network intelligence in the :Sea of Connectivity"

Waiting for the results!

The results were annouced during lunch.

The anticipation was building up!


Pre Lunch Preliminary Round Comments from the Judges!

Patrick Melampy (Chief Technology Officer, Acme Packet) commented that the 4 presentations saw lots of "innovative ideas and good solutions" although the teams "did not completely think through the profitablity and growth perspectives". They were looking forward to the teams making bolder statements and assumptions.













Ian Hall (Head of Strategic Business Development): "The lack of data and information should not deter the teams from making financial and profitability projections. 2 teams out of the 4 teams did not provide the financials that the judges were most interested in. More importantly, none of the teams "provided any estimation of costs, investment plan that were critical to the overall credibility of the analysis.
















"One team stood out by utlizing a human perspective to the solution and approach" and with Ericsson as a global company, the case question provided an interesting view of the world (not just the US) but across regions and vertical industries".
Ajay Sood (Vice President, Ericsson) thought that the teams "covered the objectives quite well and clearly understood what was expected of them". Helena Ola "it was interesting to see the trends emerging in the market" but thought that the assumptions of the 4 teams were of a strking range and were of a wide spectrum.










A venture capitalist, Charley Lax (Managing General Partner, GrandBanks Capital) was hoping for bolder ideas and suggested that "instead of ties, the teams might be more creative with no ties and T-Shirts".

IPADE hard at work

Too Conservative!

Team Santiago had a little under an hour's sleep last night

but "did what they could". The judges jumped straight into their financial projections and were of the view that the team were too conservative with their projections! The team was put under pressure during the Q&A but were able to answer confidently and were hopeful that they managed to pull it off.

Borrowed Suit and Tie

Hareesh Chander from Team Johannesburg used a borrowed suit and tie during the formal presentation.



The team was very concerned with the financial slide that they forgot in the slide deck as the team had loaded 3 versions of their slides and had unfortunately removed the version that they had intended to present. The judges further grilled them about the technical aspect of the presentation. I hope that the unfortunate incident will not ruin their chances at success!

Second Round of Presenters

Team Abu Dhabi emerged from the room looking very confident and commented that "they had a good time". Although "the judges asked insightful questions", they were concerned that the judges were not paying attention during their presentation, but felt better during the Q&A when the judges intently took notes. The team were happy with the overall structure of the Q&A and felt that the team was able to bring forth more data, details and tell a better story, than they did in their presentation. "A 37.5% chance of getting into the next round". I asked if the team were on their way to the hotel to rest before lunch and Gobind Bansal remarked "NO, we're getting ready for this afternoon's presentation!"


Second Presentations are Over!

The second round of presentations are over and the third round is underway! I spoke to Team Stockholm which thought that the team "blew the judges away" but were impressed with the judges who were very interested in what they had to say and were "taking notes" although the first question during the Q&A discussion completely deflated their confidence but managed to recover quickly. The team took a radical approach to the case but hopes that the chances they took, albeit risky, might gain them high returns. The team feels that they have about a 25% chance and although missed their initial target of 12 hours, managed to squeeze in 6 hours of sleep.


First Team Presentations are Over!

With the first 4 teams presentations over, they were really looking forward to some well deserved breakfast. I had a chance to interview 3 teams:

Team Istanbul thought that the presentation went well and were able to flesh out more ideas where the implications and lessons in differential pricing were concerned during the Q&A panel. They said that the judges were very engaging and were genuinely interested in what they think about the business about how Ericsson can develop its strategy.












Team Moscow did not have a problem with their presentation but were concerned about their alternative argument where they advocated focusing on old technology in emerging markets. The judges however were more focused on breakthrough technology in developed markets in the sectors of gaming and video. In general, the presenters understood Team Moscow's and we hope it pays off!











Team Sao Paolo (the only 3 person team in the competition!) were able to catch a good 4 hours sleep in a hotel room that was much too cold for their comfort. I think one team member wore fleece and extra clothes to sleep. Their handicap of a 3 person team definitely did not deter the team from leaving the building at 2am. They were adamant about not "pulling an all-nighter". Roberto, a former consultant remarked that "the marginal time after a certain hour is counter productive". Team Sao Paolo took a different approach on their judges and felt that "the judges did put them on the spot (which they appreciated) and thought that the judges wanted to hear what they wanted to hear. But the team took chances with their argument and what they wanted to convey".

2 teams are done!

Teams Sao Paolo and Stockholm have left Boston University and have retired for the rest of the night. Congratulations both! You're some brave souls!! It's now 2.27am in Boston, about 6 and a half hours to the start of the presentations!

Exactly what they had in mind

Team Jakarta apparently has been thinking about the issues raised in the case question for the past month and commented that they "loved" the question that was presented. With all the thinking and analysis that the team did for a month prior to the event, the team seemed to have an advantage over the rest of the teams.











Due to present at 11.15am, the team's position looked probably the strongest among all the teams. The team members were in high spirits and were all smiles when I interrupted them with my questions. At this point, they are working on refining and fine-tuning their story. With a limit of a 20 minute presentation, the team is drilling down to the key points and actionable items in their analysis.

Midnight Mayhem

Team Dallas looked like the most tired of the teams.

Despite the drain, the team has developed a 45 minute presentation - Type A overachievers! They are currently working on cutting the presentation to 20 minutes.





Looking forward to going back to the Hotel

Team Moscow are keeping their productivity levels up as long as the team members "shut up and keep focused" Seems like a lot of unproductive banter going on in their room. Despite their misgivings, the team have their slides in place and are working on editing and beautifying their slides. They have their message and story in place and are looking forward to leaving the school soon and getting back to their hotel rooms for a few hours of shut-eye

Superstition

Team Santiago has been stuck in a small team room all day - no larger than a shoebox of 10 by 10. They refuse to move to the larger, more spacious classroom as they fear that might change their luck and disrupt their flow.

The team is working in parallels, editing slides and working on their analysis and figuring out the single direction of a teleco company and Ericsson as they go along. The team feels confident about their direction and story.

Their take on the case question is the "broad scope" they have to cover and the ability to keep the "big picture in mind" and focus on specific issues and provide high level and concrete views that Ericsson will appreciate.

"Icing on the cake"

As I walked into Team Madrid's practice room, I saw the slides up on the screen and a team-member looked like she was rehersing. A team member revealed that they were working on their 2nd set of presentation slides and were working on appendices as "icing on the cake". Overall, the team felt confident and thought that they were in pretty good shape.




Team Split Up!

Team Cairo has split up! In the history of my Case Competition blogging career, I have never seen a team split up and head seperate ways, especially not at 2am (when most teams are finalizing their slides)... Team Cairo due to present at 11.15am consists of 2 team-mates sleeping in the hotel (they left at 10pm and 11pm) and another 2 team-mates working away on the slides.

The scarcasm continues with Kevin Dugan, Team Madrid

Snippets from Ground Zero

Team Delhi talking about the higher levels of caffeine in tea as compared to coffee. (Author's note: wow, I did not know that!)

Team Madrid strolled into the graduate lounge looked around and said "you can blog about how healthily I'm eating" -promptly grabbed an energy drink (author's note: which might kill you) and strolled out of the lounge..

Team(s) Stockholm, Dusseldorf, Tokyo

Team Stockholm due to present at 9.45am are working on their presentation slides and making trying to keep their presentation under 20 minutes. They are into the 15th hour of the competition and one team member looks completely exhausted!

Although she was awake to tell us about her thoughts to the case question, she said "the question is of too broad a scope but she loves the concept of the nerve system and how up to date and relevant to the real world issues" the telecommunications industry is facing.

Team Dusseldorf was more generous with their comments expressing facing "ups and downs with the team and experiencing headaches and heartaches". There was one team member that was insistent on a single piece of data and has been working on it for the last few hours. The team shared their views on the case question "the case is so broad! And talking about such a broad scope in 18 minutes and the depth that is expected seems conflicting".













As I walked into Team Tokyo's team room, the team looked ready to present at that minute with beautiful slides. But not to alarm the rest of the teams, the team is still about 1/2 way through the deck and are still working on a draft of their deck and are refining the slides.

3/26/2010

Blog for the Blogger!!!



This blog is dedicated to the blogger by the Organizing Committee!

Kudos to Debra for keeping us all engaged through the blog ... She is tired, exhausted at this time, and feels she should go back to Singapore and get married to escape Blogging!!!

But she is still going to be up and awake all night to keep the Case Competition alive through her Blogs!!!

Cheers to her!!!

Pizza Break!

It's 10.30pm - the pizzas from Bertucci's have promptly arrived! The teams (that went without dinner) will be kept alive.. The entire graduate lounge (the new headquarters) is filled with the lovely aroma of cheese and pepperoni pizzas! I think this will definitely provide some brain boost to the teams which are well into 12 hours of the competition!


Thoughts from the teams

Gossip Update: Team Santiago remarked that they "would rather forgo the prize money of $25,000 and take ipads instead". (Just wondering why they would not use the $25,000 to buy the ipads instead!) One member of the team who had worked in the telecommunications industry had remarked that "this case was very relevant to his previous job and when he returns to the industry", he would be able to use the same learning experiences that this case competition provides.

Strolling back after dinner, Team Sao Paolo thought that the case "was definitely challenging and consisted of a lot of issues to think about". The team was now progressing with structuring the presentation and working on the slides. The team were also very statisifed with the multimedia format that the case was presented unlike the previous years where the case was distributed in paper format.

Team San Jose commented that they "were on schedule" after experiencing a slowdown for 4 to 5 hours but the "last 3 hours have a been a real burst". The team had split into 2 groups, 1 group working on research and the other working on the slide deck, it was only recently that the group got back together as a team. The team also remarked that "this year, the question was more structured as compared to last year". But overall, the team was "confident and started playing the devil's advocate and were anticipating the questions from the judges tomorrow". Looks like Team San Jose is on a roll!!!

UBurger for Dinner!

The majority of the teams are heading to UBurger at Fenway / Kenmore is the dinner choice for many teams. UBurger "Above all Burgers" is only available in Boston - the teams are experiencing a little bit about Boston all within walking distance from BU's SMG building!

Team Sao Paolo can attest to UBurger's strawberry milkshake.



Team Istanbul are 10 hours into the competition and look like they are moving swiftly along with their presentation and analysis. I asked how they were working as a team and again I got a positive response. Seems like this team has got it all together!


That's me talking to Team Abu Dhabi. This team also 10 hours into the competition have accumulated massive amounts of writing on the flip charts and chalk boards. The team is skipping dinner (to save money!) and are looking forward to free pizza at 10.30pm!

Interview with Team Abu Dhabi



Team Delhi sigining out and heading to dinner. For some strange reason, looking very traumatized (see guy on extreme right!)

Earlier interview with Team Delhi

Featuring Team Tokyo!


Team Tokyo is ready for the "big shift," they would be moving shortly to the bigger room.

When asked, how do they feel 6 hours into the case - They say they are so far "ON TRACK," -- just that they have changed their plan (read "TRACK") several times until now!!!

They love the multimedia format of case delivery, as it helps the entire team to view the case together ... but they also feel that one must have the art of deciding which videos to view ... Viewing all the videos may not be the wisest idea when just a few videos are the most relevant ones ...