2022 BComp Case Competition: Back on campus

The BCom Case Competition (BComp) is a fantastic opportunity for students to apply their knowledge to solve a real business challenge faced by an organisation. Offering exposure to the work of consultants, students are able to develop their problem-solving, analytical thinking and presentation skills throughout the competition.

This year, the University partnered with U Ethical, one of the oldest responsible investment managers in Australia. Teams were tasked with developing a new investment product and marketing strategy for U Ethical’s portfolio. As market demand for responsible investing grows, this case required students to understand the motivations driving this trend in creating a product that would appeal to high-net-worth individuals. Returning to in-person delivery after two years online, it was wonderful to see students at the Case Launch and Presenting to Win workshop, where they had the opportunity to meet and network with one another. With over 200 students taking part in the competition, the 52 teams proved they were up to the challenge, providing a range of ideas to expand U Ethical’s product offerings. Finalist teams chose to focus investment on the technology and healthcare sectors in leveraging U Ethical’s capabilities and appealing to the values of high-net-worth individuals, coming up with highly creative and feasible solutions.

“The quality of the presentations has been fantastic and I’m blown away every year by the talent on display, and their structured problem-solving, creativity and presentation skills” – David Mackay (Partner, SPP)

Consulting for U Ethical presented competitors with a unique challenge to consider their strategies around the business and its broader ESG focus. After this year’s case writer, Dean Magee, introduced the case, competitors spent the next half a week case-cracking, with the top 16 teams making it into the preliminary round with thoughtful and innovative solutions. With another week of preparation, teams further developed presentation skills from the Presenting to Win workshop run by International Case Competition alumni, and impressed the judges from SPP, UBS, and CFA Society Melbourne.

“You could see that people had integrated what they’ve been learning and really taken that into the context of the problem put towards them, a tremendous array of issues that they had anticipated, thought through and been able to apply” – Rosemary Addis (Director and Strategist (Impact, Sustainability and Innovation), The University of Melbourne)

Congratulations must go to the top four teams: Green Eggs & Sam​, Jemima​, Soul Advisory​ and Zut Consulting, which made it into the final round. Finalists were awarded a share of $8500 prize money, and the winning team - Green Eggs & Sam - is guaranteed an interview for the International Case Competition program.

"You don’t really realise how applicable your course work can be, but you start to realise as you’re doing a case there are segments from a tutorial or a lecture that you can apply” – Samuel Roussos (Member of winning team Green Eggs & Sam)

“The whole process was definitely a challenge but to be able to crack the case amongst collaborating with all my team members has been a really enjoyable experience” - Vea Gunawan (Member of winning team Green Eggs & Sam)

The 2022 BCom Case Competition Committee would like to take this opportunity to thank SPP (Principal Partner), UBS (Major Partner), CFA Society Melbourne (Major Partner), and all workshop presenters and judges, for their generous support of this year’s edition of the competition.