Cases, Caffeine, Chaos.

Twelve teams participated from all around the world. Students travelled from Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, Thailand, Lebanon, Romania, Denmark, the Philippines, and Mexico, to compete with our home team from NHH. 

A case challenges a team of four students to come up with innovative and strategic solutions to solve a company's issue or achieve a specific goal. A case competition also requires the participants to present their solution in front of a panel of judges, followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. 

NHH ICC consisted of one five-hour case, and another 24-hour case. The 24-hour case was worth double the points of the five-hour case. The points were summed together to extract the three best teams. These teams later presented their solution to eight judges who together decided on one winner.

24 Hours and 24 Red Bulls

The week started with the five-hour case where all the teams researched a Bergen based startup, a biotech company called Green Tech Innovators. 

The main event, the 24-hour case on Elkjøp Nordic took place later during the week, and lasted from Wednesday to Thursday. 

Thomas Hegerlund, the COO of Elkjøp Nordic stated that one of his colleagues was previously part of the case club at NHH and encouraged Elkjøp to seize the opportunity to participate as this year's case company. 

– With growing pressure from EU regulations, changing consumer expectations, and the environmental impact of e-waste, Elkjøp is seeking ways to increase its share of circular revenue while maintaining profitability and customer satisfaction. The case challenges participants to explore how Elkjøp can accelerate its shift toward a more circular business model, which Hegerlund summarized when describing Elkjøp’s case. 

The teams didn't waste any time. Many of them opted to stay at school all night and spent 24 hours solving the case. 

– We were supplied with lethal amounts of Red Bull. Together we could have made a pyramid of 20 Red Bulls, said the team from NHH, Nova Consulting.

Balázs Biró, one of the members of Nova Consulting, defied human limits by surviving nine Red Bulls and 28 hours without rest.

When the team from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, Ascend Advisory, was questioned on how much sleep they got during the case solving, their answer was clear:

– Zero hours. Zero minutes. 

The Norwegian Culture of Bread and Beer

Along with her board, the president of this year's competition, Aurora Mittun Kvilekval, made sure the participants experienced not only the plain walls of NHH, but also what Bergen has to offer. 

– It's crazy because this is the third time I'm involved in organizing the competition and every single year the weather has been amazing, she said happily.

From arranged dinners at restaurants to fjord cruises, the participants witnessed much of Norwegian culture, leading to a few culture shocks along the way.

The team from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand was shocked that every Norwegian meal comes with a side of bread. The team from University of Alberta in Canada found the prices of beer, double of what they were used to, to be the most shocking aspect of being here in Norway.

In contrast, the team from NHH wasn't as impressed experiencing the Norwegian culture, but still appreciated the benefits of competing. 

– I'm a student with a low budget, so a whole week with free dinners and beverages covered is extremely nice, said Felix Thomas, a member of Nova Consulting. 

Gold medals, Airpods and Parties

After tears, sweat and Red Bull, the gold medalists turned out to be Ascend Advisory from Chulalongkorn University. 

– Our solution was to leverage the current circular economy services through the use of AI integration and create a loyalty program for Elkjøp's customers. We also wanted to reduce the cost for Elkjøp before expanding into bigger markets, Ascend Advisory explained proudly while holding the new Airpods they won from Elkjøp. 

An amazing week of new experiences and hard work was officially completed with a banquet dinner at Fløyen restaurant followed by an after-party at Biblioteket bar.

Even the Canadians enjoyed the full Norwegian nightlife experience in Bergen, despite the price of beer. Or maybe the price just got blurry?