Each stage of the competition requires teams of five current MBA students to work under time pressure to evaluate issues in a previously unpublished business case study, based on real events, and produce recommendations. In each round, the case challenge incorporates a tough deadline to simulate the real experience of managers in business. The teams' proposals will be appraised by an independent international panel of experienced judges drawn from business and academia. The winning team will receive a substantial cash award, the winning school a trophy and the title of European Business Schools Case Challenge Winner 2007.
Jeffrey Gray, director of ecch, the organiser of the event commented, "The European Business Schools Case Challenge is now established as the major European competitive event in the business school calendar. Case studies are widely recognised as the most effective and enjoyable way to teach business. The competing teams face a searching test of their skills and judgement - and this must be some measure of the quality of their business education. The first biennial case challenge, won by INSEAD, was held in 2005, when 14 schools competed. Subsequent interest from other schools across Europe was so great that we have decided to introduce the qualifying round to enable more schools to take part. The case challenge will provide a unique insight into students' potential as future business leaders."
Notes for editors
About ecch
ecch is the largest single source of case studies in the world, with, currently, in excess of 40,000 items in its case catalogue available to all through www.ecch.com. ecch is dedicated to supporting authors and users of case studies and promoting the case method of learning. It is an independent membership-based, non-profit organisation with offices at Cranfield University in the UK and Babson College in the USA. It provides the interface between the authors of cases and the educational institutions and businesses that use them for teaching and learning purposes. Presented annually by ecch, the European Case Awards recognise and celebrate the success of the authors and institutions of cases that have achieved the highest rates of growth in popularity worldwide. ecch has an extensive international programme of workshops and events on case writing and teaching.
The case method
The case method of learning, pioneered in the early 20th Century at Harvard University, has become the favoured teaching method of most of the world's leading business schools. A process of discussion and analysis, guided by a skilled case teacher, leads class participants to deeper insights into management issues and their resolution. Faculty and students familiar with the case method universally regard it as the most effective and enjoyable way to learn.
Fuller details of the European Business Schools Case Challenge 2006-2007 www.ecch.com/casechallenge
FT European Business Schools Rankings 2005
(i) The top 50 eligible schools have been selected according to the annual survey of European business schools, published in the Financial Times on 5 December 2005. ( http://rankings.ft.com/rankings/ebs)
Rank Business school Country
1 London Business School UK
2 NSEAD France/
Singapore
3 IMD Switzerland
4 IESE Business School Spain
5 Instituto de Empresa Spain
6 HEC Paris France
7 University of Oxford: Said UK
8 London School of Economics and Political Science UK
9 City University: Cass UK
9 Imperial College London: Tanaka UK
11 University of Cambridge: Judge UK
12 WHU: Beisheim Germany
13 ESADE Business School Spain
14 Warwick Business School UK
15 Grenoble Graduate School of Business France
16 Cranfield School of Management UK
17 RSM Erasmus University Netherlands
17 Manchester Business School UK
19 University of Cologne, Faculty of Management Germany
20 University of Bradford/Universiteit Nimbas UK/
Netherlands/
Germany
21 ESSEC Business School France
22 Audencia France
23 Ashridge UK
23 Lancaster University Management School UK
25 ESCP-EAP France
26 Solvay Business School Belgium
27 SDA Bocconi Italy
28 Henley Management College UK
29 University of Bath School of Management UK
30 University College Dublin: Smurfit Ireland
30 Aston Business School UK
32 Universitaet St Gallen Switzerland
33 EM Lyon France
34 Birmingham Business School UK
35 University of Durham Business School UK
36 Edinburgh University Management School UK.
37 Copenhagen Business School Denmark
38 EDHEC Business School France
39 University of Strathclyde Graduate School
of Business UK
40 Trinity College Dublin Ireland
41 Vienna University of Economics and Business Austria
42 Corvinus University Hungary
43 Vlerick Leuven Gent Belgium
44 Stockholm School of Economics Sweden
45 Nyenrode Business Universiteit Netherlands
46 BI Norwegian School of Management Norway
47 Helsinki School of Economics Finland
48 Leeds University Business School UK
49 Nottingham University Business School UK
50 NHH Norway
