By Edward Harding T'16
Ed Harding is a first-year student at Tuck. He graduated with first class honours from Oxford University, and has spent the last three years working in strategy consulting, advising financial services clients in Europe, South America, and the US. He enjoys playing rugby, rock climbing and hiking, and recently became the co-chair of the Tuck Rowing Club.
As an Englishman, studying at Tuck has been an adventure: I left my home to immerse myself in small town college life in America, and have enjoyed hiking in the mountains and enjoying the peaceful woodlands—even as the temperatures dropped below zero. Last week, however, I left behind the snows of New England and headed down to Mexico City—where it was 40 degrees warmer, and with a lot more traffic on the roads—to take part in the annual IPADE business school case competition. The journey down may have taken more than 12 hours, but the four days we spent in Mexico were worth the effort.
Tuck is one of seven top business schools that is invited to this competition (three from the USA, one from Argentina, one from Canada, one from China, and IPADE itself). The competition takes place at one of the most prestigious business school’s in Latin America, IPADE, which is truly a beautiful school, located in a converted 17th century hacienda. It is comprised of several buildings built around cobbled courtyards, interspersed with lush green manicured gardens.
The competition itself is a little bit unusual. Rather than sending a full team to compete, each school sends two students (Erin Wall T'15 and I represented Tuck). The teams are then randomly selected on the day of the competition: this means that you end up working with a group of strangers, from different cultural backgrounds, and need to work together to crack the case.
The school held an official opening ceremony on Thursday evening, followed by a cocktail party held on a large balcony overlooking the gardens. The school’s president, and the two sponsors of the competition, pharmaceutical firm Novatis and professional services firm Deloitte, addressed the audience and announced the teams. We then retired to the hotel to rest up before the big day.
The details of the case were announced at 9:00 a.m. on Friday. We had until 9:00 a.m. the next day to digest the information we’d been given and present our proposals. The case this year was about the bourbon company Maker’s Mark. We had to determine a strategy and production schedule for the company, given several competitive pressures, such as the rise of craft distilleries and younger demographics becoming interested in whiskey via ‘flavored’ brands.
My team was comprised of myself, and four Mexican students. We worked hard through the day to build out a clear strategic vision, a financial model on which to base our recommendations, and a slide deck to present the next day. We went to bed just after midnight. The next day, each team presented their recommendations to the panel of judges. While my team didn’t win, it was a great experience to be able to present to senior management from the two sponsor companies. That evening, our hosts showed us some true Mexican hospitality, as they invited us to an all-school party in the high-end Polanco district, where we unwound after the previous day’s hard work. The next morning, we had a delicious traditional Mexican buffet breakfast before heading to the airport.
It was a whirlwind experience but one I will remember for a long time. It was my first time in Mexico, and a chance to really test my team-building skills. It was also a great networking opportunity—I will be keeping in touch with many of the people I met over the course of the competition, and I’m looking forward to April, when the IPADE soccer team (including many of the competition’s participants) will be venturing up to New Hampshire for Tuck’s annual World Cup competition.