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..