"If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you," said Prof. Dr. Jan-Philipp Büchler to his students on their way to Ireland for a very special challenge. The students Lara Schwirkus, Leonie Redeker, Vanessa Mey and Luke Nikulski from the 5th semester of Business Administration had previously distinguished themselves in the summer semester 2022 with their excellent analytical and rhetorical skills and qualified for participation in the "WILO Case Competition" on the topic of Smart Service Innovation in the Corporate Management module.
Under the guidance of research assistant Anna Weiland, the Dortmund team prepared intensively for Dublin in the winter semester 2022/23. The students were supported by Flora Baumgärtel and Janik Herkelmann, who themselves had successfully taken part in international case competitions in previous years.
The team benefited greatly from their wide-ranging knowledge, constructive feedback and experience-based tips during the preparation phase. A well-coordinated team of professors (Jan-Philipp Büchler, Gregor Brüggelambert, Axel Faix and Lars Fischer) challenged the team with case studies during this time. Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Gregor Brüggelambert, the team then traveled to Dublin for end-of-semester training.
Developing solution ideas under time pressure
On site in Dublin, the students got to know selected international case teams. Over three exciting days, the students worked with teams from Dublin, Rotterdam and South Carolina in a concentrated manner and under time pressure to develop their proposed solutions for the tricky and complex issues faced by SMEs and presented them to an international jury. International university colleagues such as Patrick J. DeMouy from the University of South Carolina and Dr. Eoghan O'Grady from TU Dublin coached the FH Dortmund students in various areas, including marketing, financial analysis and storytelling.
On the second day, the participants even had the unique opportunity to work on a case in randomly mixed teams with students from other countries within two hours, present it in a fifteen-minute presentation and then answer the jury's questions. The focus was on learning from each other and broadening one's own perspectives, getting to know different approaches and cultural differences. On the last day of the training, the original teams were able to apply what they had learned to another case under real competition conditions and present it to a jury of lecturers from South Carolina, Dublin, Rotterdam and Maastricht.
"The case training in Dublin is an ideal learning experience and a real challenge," summarizes Leonie Redeker. "You rarely get so much impact and such intensive feedback that optimizes us in the shortest possible time! We take a lot away with us for our studies and career entry," adds team colleague Lara Schwirkus.
The participation was supported by ISL funds from Fachhochschule Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts as well as funds from the Center for Applied Studies & Education (CASEM) at Fachhochschule Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts under the direction of Professor Dr. Jan-Philipp Büchler and a significant special financial allocation from Professor Dr. Gregor Brüggelambert.