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Members of the winning team of the 2007 Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar Internal Case Competition are (left to right) Hicham Nedjari (Tepper 2009), Rooda Al Neama (Tepper 2008), Jinanne Tabra (Tepper 2008) and Samiha Kamel (Tepper 2008). for Q&A. Presentations include PowerPoint presentation and other tools to fully explain the team’s strategy. Teams are split into two brackets and the top team from each bracket is chosen by the judges to go head to head in the final afternoon round. Students are given a few hours to fine tune their presentations before going in front of the judges again. “This was the first time I’d seen a case study run as a straightforward competition and I was very impressed at the hard work done by all the teams,” says Ian Lacey, visiting special faculty and Internal Case Competition judge. “Given that this was a new experience for all the students involved it was even more impressive; they’d clearly worked long and hard through the night to develop professional presentations
the next day. As a judge, I found it to be a rewarding experience, seeing students many of whom I’d taught the previous semester tackling something new, and in a different environment to that of a classroom. I look forward to the next competition.” The winning team was made up of Rooda Al Neama (Tepper 2008), Samiha Kamel (Tepper 2008), Hicham Nedjari (Tepper 2009) and Jinanne Tabra (Tepper 2008). The other team to make it to the final was made up of Hala Abbas (Tepper 2008), Yasmine Abdelrahman (Tepper 2008), Mohammed Abu Zeinab (Tepper 2009) and Reem Khaled (Tepper 2008). Other participants included Noora Al-Ansari (Tepper 2008), Noor Alathirah (Tepper 2008), Nora Al Subai (CS 2008), Maha Al-Hanzab (Tepper 2009), Rana
El Sakhawy (Tepper 2009), Salma Kayali (Tepper 2008), Sahrr Malik (Tepper 2009) and Rasha Mkachar (Tepper 2008). Case competitions are a regular part of the business program in Pittsburgh and are typically open to only juniors and seniors in the Tepper School of Business. Since there is no senior class in Qatar, the competition was open to all sophomores and juniors-both CS and BA majors. “This Internal Case Competition was the first step in bringing opportunities like this to students in Qatar,” McGinnis says. He adds that this will become an annual event and that more and more students will be involved each year. “I also hope it will lay the foundation for other case competitions in the region.” Q April 2007 akhbar 15