Fifteen

Issue date: 11/7/06 Section: MITSloan News

The way to solve Lufthansa's problems. . .

. . . starts with forgetting your own

Over six hundred MBA teams across the world recently developed a strategy for Lufthansa Airlines to expand presence in Eastern and Central Europe. Their goal was to become a finalist in the Business Masters International Case Competition, held each year at the University of Karlsruhe in southwestern Germany. This year, two teams from our school have been selected as finalists: Wasabi Brothers and Ace Jack Suited.

Judges reviewed team presentations along with team members' resumes and selected twelve finalists in early October. These teams competed in person on November 2nd and 3rd at the University. Travel, board, and lodging expenses were covered by sponsors Lufthansa and Booz Allen Hamilton. Results were not known when this edition went to press.

The Wasabi Brothers team is comprised of second years Yu Hironaka '07, Kentaro Kita '07, and Kentaro Yoshimura '07. Ace Jack Suited claims three second years hailing from the Pacific Ocean: Dan Gagne '07, Philip Reimann '07, and David Wheeler '07. This is the same ocean that produced last year's A.T. Kearney Global Prize Champions.

"Our real motivation to participate in the Business Masters competition was to expose ourselves to the stimulus brought in from all over the world and to add a unique taste to it," said Hironaka. "This is the very reason we came up with a name Wasabi Brothers - sushi does not taste the same without wasabi, you know! We are a team of Japanese students learning at one of the top business schools in the US, trying to work out problems in a European setting. We're sure this is going to be a learning experience for us all."

"We'd like to thank Johnnie Walker HK for their inspiration", a spokesman for Ace Jack Suited stated, referring to the 2006 winners of the A.T. Kearney Global Prize. "Like them, we plan to go into the final round with a goal of just enjoying the experience and not be 'in it to win it.' Hopefully this strategy works out for us. If it does not, we will blame Johnnie Walker HK for our loss."

"Like most great team names, ours is a pun that has a double meaning, yet isn't very funny. We all enjoy playing cards, especially poker and blackjack. In Texas Hold'em, Ace Jack Suited is a pretty good starting hand. It's not the best, but with luck can win. We felt this was a good analogy to our team in the Business Masters competition. The double meaning is in the word 'Suited' because we will be following Euro-professional standards and adorning fine suits while we are in Germany."

The MIT Sloan teams will be joined by the other ten finalists, including two Chinese teams from MIT Sloan's sister schools, Fudan University (Shanghai) and Tsinghua University (Beijing). Most of the other teams are from Europe.

Event organizers have prepared a thorough social schedule that includes drinks at the hotel bar the night of arrival and clubbing for nights two and three. In addition, on Saturday of the event, teams will be treated to a guided tour of the famous Heidelberg Castle in Baden-Württemberg.

Business Masters is truly a global case competition and participants will enjoy the unique opportunity to present strategic recommendations to Lufthansa while meeting fellow MBA students from around the globe.

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