Heavener students record another impressive finish at international case competition

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Four students from the Heavener School of Business finished in second place at the International Case Competition at Maastricht University (The Netherlands) on April 21-27.

The Heavener School’s notable finish in Maastricht marked the second time Heavener had reached the finals of an international case competition in April. The Heavener School finished fourth at the Royal Roads University International Undergraduate Case Competition on April 4-6 at Royal Roads University in Colwood, Greater Victoria, British Columbia.

Heavener’s team of seniors Matt Masaro (Economics), Anya Petrova (Economics), Alice Sykes (Management) and Andy Zaleski (Accounting) was one of only four teams in the 16-team field to reach the final round. Petrova and Sykes also competed at the Royal Roads competition alongside John Bryan and Stephen Howard.

At Maastricht, teams were presented with three cases. Rounds 1 and 2 consisted of two “short cases” with three hours to prepare for each. The final round consisted of a “long case” and finalists had 24 hours to prepare. Teams had 20 minutes to present their case to judges.

The University of Porto (Portugal) won the competition.

In most case competitions, teams must come up with solutions for a hypothetical company or business. In the final round of this event, the Heavener team was tasked with creating a solution for the city of Maastricht in its quest to be designated as the European Union’s European Capital of Culture.

“Maastricht was unlike any other case competition we had been to or been prepared for,” Petrova said. “It was challenging for us to create a solution that encompassed a foreign city in the greater spectrum of Europe as a whole. Yet, because we were a close team of friends—not just individuals—we were able to play off each member’s strength to create a unique overall solution during our strategic planning.”