Historical Background

The Inspiration

Back in 2000, a team of students from Copenhagen Business School (CBS) participated in the McIntire International Case Competition at the University of Virginia, US. This was no particular news, since teams of students from CBS had been participating in international case competitions for some time already. However, the story of two of the participating students would prove it differently. Seeing what they saw, they came up with a novel idea: Why not start up an international case competition for undergraduate business students in Europe? – So far case competitions had predominantly been a North American phenomena.

The two students felt so inspired by the concept that they decided to investigate the possibilities of creating a case competition at CBS. As it turned out, President of CBS, Finn Junge-Jensen, fully supported the idea, and in March 2002 the first annual case competition at Copenhagen Business School was a reality.

The Creation

Already from its inception the founders were determined that this particular Case Competition should dare to be different and stand out on a number of features.

• The case in use should be made especially for the competition to ensure high quality and relevance
• The competition should have a Scandinavian feel to it, with emphasis on having a nice and friendly atmosphere around the competition
• It should be a student-run event, developed in close collaboration with the Danish business community

The goal was to succeed in creating the leading international Case Competition for undergraduate business students in Europe.

The heritage from the founders have put its mark on all CBS Case Competitions arranged since then, and by being constantly passed on from one generation of organisers to the next, will surely be prone to come to life yet again in week nine 2010!