The University of South Carolina wins the NHH International Case Competition 2026

Teams came from across the world, from Lebanon to Hong Kong. A total of 46 participants have taken part and Red Bull consumption has certainly been high during the week.

Two Cases, Nerida Energy and DOF

The competition consisted of two cases, one five-hour case and one 24-hour case. Both giving points to the teams based on their results. 

The judges have ranked the teams solutions on strategy, market analysis, the financial and the presentation itself. The strategy counts for 40% of the points and the rest, 20% each. 

The five-hour case was made in collaboration with Nerida Energy. A newly started maritime battery technology company. The task that the teams got was how Nerida energy should expand into a global company. 

The next case was the 24 hour case. Here the company DOF was the case partner and this year's main partner for the NHHICC. 

DOF delivers offshore- and subsea-services with headquarters in Austevoll, just outside of Bergen. They’re a major player in the sector. The case teams got a good introduction to the company from the CFO himself before the case. Under the presentation the CFO, a former NHH student and a case club member, stated the importance of getting new perspectives from younger students. 

NHH’s team won in their first round

In the first case, NHH’s team took the first place in their group together with Copenhagen Business School and the University of Sydney who won their respective groups. 

The team from NHH won over The University Of Beirut, University of South Carolina and University of Alberta. Due to the 5-hour case only adding up to ⅓ of the total points, NHH did not make it to the final after a fourth place finish in the 24-hour case. 

South Carolina came winning out of the finals

The teams that ended up with the most points after the 24-hour case and met in the final were CBS, the University of Sydney and the University of South Carolina. 

In the final, the teams presented their 24-hour case once more in front of new judges. The judges included the CFO of DOF - Martin Lundberg, CFO of Norwegian hull club - Per Gustav Blom and Sverre Simen Hov, the Leader of Bergen Næringsråd. 

The winner of the final and therefore also the winner overall was The University of South Carolina. The judges said the winning team was the team that “to the biggest extent utilized the company's position and foundation to create meaningful added value”. Behind came CBS and Sydney.

Sick team member and 40 redbulls

Before the presentation of the 24 hour case one of the team members on the South carolina team got sick. The team stated  “that was a clear roadblock we were not expecting but we were able to pivot and meet together to find a solution that ultimately worked out well” 

During the week South Carolina definitely drank a lot of Redbull, some team members contributed more than others but in total the team said they drank around 40 redbulls during the case. One of the team members, Ben, was the heaviest drinker and during the 24-hour case he drank 11 redbulls and a total of 18 through the week. He later won the social prize “the caffeine addict” handed out by the board. 

Clear correlation between number of redbulls and result

The board of the NHHICC said that “the team that drank the most red bull was definitely South Carolina, followed by CBS and Sydney”. 

They stated that from their point of view there was a clear correlation between the red bull consumption and the results in the competition. Maybe something to consider in the future?