Entrepreneurship Socity at the University of Notre Dame

The Challenge? To Problem Solve and Persuade...or your team shall Perish

Which team will be crowned as the next Entrepreneurship Idol at Notre Dame? Will it be the savvy Google group? Will it be the feisty ESPN team?  Or perhaps the winning team will champion a company that perhaps you have never heard of before.

Founded in 2007, the ultra-competitive Case Study Challenge has quickly evolved into the Entrepreneurship Society of Notre Dame’s signature annual event.  The competition requires teams of five underclassmen students to select a fascinating entrepreneurial company to study.  Then, each team analyzes the selected company’s past, present, and projected future growth.  The teams highlight the significance of the different strategic aspects of the company through an engaging presentation to hundreds of students, Irish Angels (Notre Dame affiliated Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs), and celebrity judges.  Finally, the teams passionately pitch why their selected company offers the most for the audience to learn from.

The roots of the Case Study Challenge can be traced back to the Harvard Business School’s eminent “Case” method.  The Harvard Business School teach through case studies, exposing business leaders to a variety of hypothetical situations.  By discussing the merits of the different approaches to overcoming the challenges in these cases, the business leaders become more prepared to make effective decisions as executives in the real world.

The Case Study Challenge is divided into two rounds: a Preliminary Round and a Championship Round. The Preliminary Round will take place on Tuesday, October 28, 2008. However, only the top three teams will advance to the Championship Round of the Case Study Challenge, which will be held three weeks later on November 18, 2008. 

Past winners have built synchronized presentations around college-friendly, multi-billion dollar companies such as Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook.com and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.  The event has been popular among the participants and the audience members. 

Past winners said the atmosphere was electric 

“The Case Study Challenge has become a center-piece of the Entrepreneurship Society,” said sophomore Inoh Choe, the Director of the Case Study Challenge.  The native of Hawaii and dual major in Psychology and Consulting continued, “Almost eighty percent of the officers of the Entrepreneurship Society first made a name for themselves by standing up in front of an audience and displaying their analytics, poise, and creativity.  The Competition is an opportunity for a young member to show off their collaborative nature and their willingness to be challenged.”

Choe emphasized the long-term effects on the members, “this experience has cemented our members’ enthusiasm for Entrepreneurship and many of the students become friends with one another through the competition.”

Mark Bennett, a senior and Co-President of the Entrepreneurship Society, commented on where the Case Study Challenge is heading. “The vision for the Case Study Challenge is to expose hundreds of first and second year students at Notre Dame to the Holy Grail of the Leadership Learning Model – the Case Method.  We want this competition to be training students to become more effective leaders each and every year.  Going through this competition has so many benefits - regardless of one’s major or future aspirations.”

Why else is the Case Study Challenge so appealing to those entering the competition and those in the audience? The answer lies in paradoxical nature of the Case Study Challenge.  The presentations are competitive yet they are also collaborative; they require structure yet they also require creativity; they require poise but also require enthusiasm.  The integration of researching, public speaking, and strategizing can be a capstone experience for a first year member.  And the work of the students doesn’t end there.  It is also their task to recruit, operate, and market for the Championship Round. 

On November 18th, a new winner will be crowned.  With potential prizes, upperclassmen coaches, and grand entrances expected, the 2008 Case Study Challenge promises to deliver an intense battle featuring creativity and professionalism rarely seen by nineteen year olds anywhere on the planet. Who knows. We may be lucky enough to witness a few star entrepreneurs of the next generation developing right before our own eyes. 

 Parting Words:

Remember that every person who attends the Case Study Challenge will be given a voice in the voting system; your vote can be the difference between your favorite team’s majority decision win and a tie ending in eternal controversy. 

Fill the auditorium

Inoh Choe is the Director of the Case Study Challenge.  For more information, please contact him at jchoe@nd.edu.