Four students represented the Poole College of Management in 2024 at one of the top international case competitions in the world, reaching an impressive second place in their division.
Adarsh Arun, Emma Collins, Radhika Kulkarni and Truman Qu traveled to the Belgrade Business International Case Competition (BBICC) in Belgrade, Serbia.
This high-impact experience provided unique, real-world professional experience for each student while serving as a window into other cultures and how international businesses operate. The students benefited as well from the opportunity to present to and network with industry and government leaders.
The BBICC is an invite-only world-championship qualifying event and considered one of the 10 best international case competitions in the world, says Pieter Verhallen, marketing faculty in Poole’s Department of Business Management and the team’s advisor. Rankings are based on an array of factors such as the quality of cases and the judges,
Business schools from nearly every continent compete at this event, and this year’s attendees included some of the top business schools from around the world, he added.
“Competition is fierce,” Verhallen said. “If you get an invite, you go.”
One Week in Belgrade
Over the course of a week, the team completed work on three live business cases and then presented in front of judges from the respective companies for each case. The BBICC incorporated numerous cultural experiences as well, such as a scavenger hunt through the city to give participants an opportunity to explore and learn more about Belgrade’s history and culture.
“The students grow on so many different levels,” Verhallen said. “They present in front of top executives, they are challenged to perform, and they learn about Serbian society and culture.”
The impact of the experience was not lost on the students, who found they could both apply what they learned at Poole and glean new lessons to carry forward.
“The most impactful part was working under pressure to deliver a data-driven decision and crafting a top-down story-driven presentation,” Qu said. “The competition was an unparalleled exercise for developing both of these skills, and translated perfectly to a corporate environment.”
“Competition is fierce. If you get an invite, you go.”
Kulkarni, currently a junior, said she found herself drawing on everything she’d learned during her time at Poole College.
“Poole College of Management offered me an education that blends theoretical knowledge with practical application, preparing me to excel in the dynamic, challenging environment of an international case competition,” she said.
Arun, who graduated in the spring and now works as an in-house consultant for a large technology company, said he feels more prepared for his career thanks to the BBICC experience.
“Case competitions are like consulting with a shorter turnaround,” he says. “I have a higher amount of confidence now – I’ve done it before in a situation where there are stakes and it gives me a lot of confidence in my job to put my hand up and say, I know I can do this.”
Collins graduated in the spring as well. She’s one of the case competition veterans in the group, having traveled with Verhallen and other Poole students to one other international case competition. She now works with Siemens, where she said she feels confident and ready to contribute thanks, in part, to these experiences.
“Employers love when you’re efficient and some of that came from working through these fast-paced cases,” Collins said. “I know how to work under pressure, have good time management skills, and I have gained a better understanding of myself.”
A Faculty Victory
The team barely missed a spot in the finals in Belgrade, but the experience itself can be considered a win, Verhallen said. For his part, Verhallen was recognized with the Best Faculty Advisor Award at the competition.
He came to Poole College in 2021 from the Netherlands, with previous notable success in leading students in case competitions. Since then, he’s built a program at Poole College to train students to excel at analyzing business cases, developing evidence-based strategic and tactical recommendations, and presenting these recommendations persuasively to executives.
“The students grow on so many different levels.”
This program now includes the new BUS 495 Global Business Case Analysis elective course, which had a successful pilot during the fall 2024 semester. He’s worked to grow student interest and increase the number of case competitions Poole students have the opportunity to attend each year.
“These high-impact case competitions wouldn’t be possible without the support of specific individuals at NC State – first and foremost, my department head, Jon Bohlmann, who has been a strong supporter since the beginning, as well as Dean Frank Buckless and our director of High Impact Experiences, Tyler Wiersma, who have provided additional support and funding,” Verhallen said. “Without such leadership support from individuals with decision power – and where they sometimes have to take a risk as well – we wouldn’t be able to create these kinds of experiences for our students.”
