A team from the Yonsei School of Business placed third in November at the second annual Yonsei-Aalto International Case Competition, which was co-hosted by the Yonsei University School of Business and Aalto University of Finland. This competition was formed in 2013 by the two schools to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Finland.
The first competition in 2013 was held at Yonsei University; the second competition in 2014 was held at Aalto University of Finland. The second competition expanded the qualification of participants to university students of EU countries, transforming it into an international event.
Yonsei University students, who were selected and later dispatched to Finland for this competition, began their preparation in October in Korea. Despite the difficult process of quickly analyzing the distributed business case, preparing a Power Point presentation and getting ready for the presentation within 18 hours, the preliminary participants, all business majors, showed a remarkable level of skill. Hyung-Soo Park (entering class of 2008), Yoon-Gyoo Son (entering class of 2009), Jae-Hyun Kwon (entering class of 2009), and Yong-Bum Lee (entering class of 2010) were chosen as school representatives in the preliminary round. Although they were undergraduates, they were judged as demonstrating almost-native English fluency and having a logical and persuasive presentation.
The final competition held at Aalto University of Finland adopted an Open-Case method, which differed from the previous established method of making use of given information and case. Instead the contestants had to choose one topic, and complete the presentation, along with finding data and analyzing it, within several days. Because of this, the criteria for evaluation also included the ability to find information and develop one¡¯s view of the subject. The topic for the second competition was ¡°Finland¡¯s oil refining company, Neste Oil¡¯s, renewable energy.¡± The topic was complicated in the sense that it was related to key industries and dealt with geopolitical dynamics and various political factors.
The Yonsei University team received 700 euros for its third-place finish. The team obtained excellent results, despite participating immediately in the competition without any time to adjust to jetlag or to gain any awareness of Finland¡¯s local situation that might be useful in the competition.
In the words of Jae-Hyun Kwon, one of the participants: ¡°Even though the stay in Helsinki lasted for a short period of time, I had a wonderful experience of understanding the local¡¯s lives and institutions, and I thank Yonsei University for giving us this valuable opportunity.¡± He revealed how the experience of visiting a local house, through an invitation from a Finland team, left a deep impression. ¡°I hope we are able to have the opportunity of repaying back the kindness through Yonsei University once again co-hosting the competition.
The Yonsei-Aalto International Case Competition was organized to celebrate the Yonsei Business School¡¯s 100th anniversary. They plan this year to expand the number of participating countries.