April 21, 1999
UW bringing together students from around the world for first Global Business Challenge competition
As University of Washington Business School students prepare to enter the global marketplace, they are bringing peers from around the globe to Seattle for a week of events culminating in the West Coast’s first international business case competition. More than 60 students representing a dozen countries will tour the region, visit prominent local companies and match wits in solving an international business case study as part of the 1999 Global Business Challenge.
“This is the first of what we expect to be an annual event attracting students from the best business schools from around the world,” says Jerry Ralston, a senior lecturer in the UW Business School and faculty director of the Global Business Challenge. “No other university in the country is doing anything like this so it enhances the reputation of the UW Business School as a leader in international business education.”
Beginning on April 25, members of the 16 participating teams will begin arriving from Chile, Ecuador, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and five U.S. universities. Leading up to the competition, they will tour Boeing, Costco, the Port of Seattle, the Red Hook Ale Brewery and various Seattle tourist destinations.
On April 29, the four-person teams will for the first time be given the case study outlining the international business issue to be addressed in the competition. They will have 48 hours to prepare a professional presentation outlining a solution to the problem or issue raised in the case. The case can address any area of business from accounting to marketing and information technology. Business leaders from academia and industry will judge the presentations. Winners of four preliminary brackets will advance to a final round of competition at 2 p.m. May 1 in the Boeing Auditorium at the Seafirst Executive Center on the UW campus. The final round is open to the public.
“I look forward to interacting with students from schools around the world for this international cultural and academic exchange,” says Ana Garzon, a student in the UW Business School’s Certificate of International Studies in Business program and one of the organizers of the Global Business Challenge. “It’s been a great experience to work with business leaders in the region in planning this event, which we hope will raise awareness about business issues and education in the global marketplace.
Sponsors for the Global Business Challenge include Boeing, Costco, UW and San Diego State University centers for international business education and research, Charles L. Spence, The Washington Export Council, Washington First International Bank and Deloitte & Touche.
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For more information, contact Garzon at (206) 543-4988 and global99@u.washington.edu or Debbie Conn in the UW Certificate of International Studies in Business program office at (206) 543-5985.
