A team of students from UCT GSB participated in the John Molson MBA International Case Competition, and won.
A team of UCT Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB), led by senior lecturer Johannes Scheuler, won the 39th annual John Molson MBA International Case Competition, or the “MBA Olympics”, making them the first African business school to win the competition.
UCT GSB was one of only 36 schools accepted to take part in the competition. “The barrier for entry is high,” Scheuler said in a statement. “And as the only business school from Africa, the competition gave the UCT GSB the opportunity to demonstrate its competence and strengthen its standing in the international context.”
Scheuler added that he is particularly proud of the fact that an African business school has prevailed against heavyweight competition from all over the globe, reminding him of his favourite Mandela quote: “It always seems impossible until it’s done”.
It is the school’s eighth time participating in the competition. The team included MBA students Shivani Ghai, Van Zyl Van Der Merwe, Jane Obree, Kate Herringer and Rihana Hoosain.
“Our team was amazing and hardworking, but more importantly, I believe we all had a thirst,” Ghai said. “It had been eight years in the making and this was Africa’s time to shine. We took the responsibility of representing not just our school and country, but also the entire continent very seriously.”
Herringer recalled the preparations for the competition as being very intense and focused. “The transformation I noticed in both myself and my teammates throughout the process was quite amazing. This progress was attributable not only to our team’s time and dedication, but also to the incredible patience and constructive feedback given by our coaches. It was so rewarding to see all the technical skills we learnt in our MBA programme come to life in the real world.”
Team co-coach and participant Rihana Hoosain said that it was a gruelling week, ending with a monumental and well-deserved victory. “We are all extremely grateful and honoured for the opportunity to have represented the UCT GSB, South Africa and Africa at this prestigious event. I can certainly say I speak for the team when I say that this has been the highlight of my MBA, especially from a learning and development perspective.”
