The competition provides students from the top MBA programmes in Ireland with the opportunity to solve a real-world strategy case problem
WIT MBA students won the MBA Association of Ireland All-Ireland Strategy Case Competition for the third time in five years in Dublin in June. Organised by the MBA Association of Ireland, the competition is open to all MBA programmes across Ireland, past winners have included UCD, NUIG, DIT and DCU. The competition provides students from the top MBA programmes in Ireland with the opportunity to solve a real-world strategy case problem.
Students get the case in the morning and over a long day of work prepare a strategic analysis and presentation on a complex Harvard Business Case for a panel of judges. The judges are drawn from from leadership roles in Diageo, Kingspan and Microsoft and the panel was headed by Stuart Crainer, from London Business School.
Hallmark of MBA experience
The winning SETU MBA team was Anne Keenan, Jon Hawkins, Anthony Lonergan and Tommie Murphy who performed brilliantly on the day and the reward was testament to the many hours of prior preparation which has been the hallmark of their MBA time in SETU. The team was mentored by Dr. Ray Griffin with additional support provided Professor Denis Harrington and Dr Tom Egan. The Waterford Glass trophy, presented by Alacoque McMenamin, President of the MBA Association of Ireland, is currently on view in the MBA Office and will be moving to the School’s Trophy Cabinet.
Commenting on the win Dr Tom Egan, SETU MBA Programme Director, said “Over the past 25 years, the SETU Executive MBA programme has made a huge impact in organisations across the South East of Ireland and beyond; we love this competition as it is an opportunity to go toe-to-toe with other MBA programmes, and show how strong our MBA actually is.”
Commitment to professional development
“It is a great crescendo to the students' MBA experience, rounding off two years of hard work. MBA students make a remarkable commitment to their professional development, one that has a real impact in organisations across our region,” said Dr Ray Griffin, MBA Strategy lecturer.
“It is great for our team to keep the Waterford Crystal trophy at its natural home” said Dr Denis Harrington, Head of Graduate Business SETU. “With our third win in a decade, it is clear that the SETU MBA stands up against all the other MBA programmes in Ireland.”
Alacoque McMenamin, President of the MBA Association of Ireland said “The competition is a pressure cooker environment to test the mettle of any business student or practitioner,”. “As in other years, the 2019 event was a close-run affair, with all teams demonstrating the incisive strategic analysis that is the hallmark of an MBA. The MBA community in Ireland is very strong.”