Waikato Management School Case Competition

First launched in 1996, the Waikato Management School Case Competition is a practical assignment as part of STMGT303 Applied Strategy, which is the capstone paper for the subject major in Strategic Management.

Working in teams, students are given a detailed case study of a real New Zealand company to analyse over a two-week period, much as if they were employed as real-life management consultants.

Their challenge? To develop a five-year strategy to grow the company's sales, profits and revenue, by leveraging its core strengths and expanding into new national or global markets. Each team also writes an in-depth business report about their strategy for the judges to consider.

Clients involved with the WMS Case Competition in previous years have included the likes of Zealong Tea, Zuru Toys, Annah Stretton Fashion, Yealands Wine Group, and Tainui Group Holdings Ltd, to name just a few.

How the competition works

On a day known as "Super Friday", each of the competing teams gives an inspiring presentation about their strategy to a judging panel of WMS lecturers and tutors.

The best four teams are chosen as finalists for the Waikato Management School Case Competition — proudly sponsored by PWC.

Each team gives a 10-minute presentation in front of a public audience. They must also respond to some tricky questions from the panel of external judges, comprised of industry experts.

After some healthy debate, the judges choose a winning team based on a 50:50 weighting of the written reports and presentations.

At the end of the evening, all the finalists are presented with a certificate and the winning team is announced. The winning team goes home with a $2,500 cash prize sponsored by PWC.