A Blog Entry from Team UCLA Anderson School of Management at the Sofaer International Case Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel:
"After four days of intense strategic analysis, we finally presented our recommendations on the company IncrediMail. As a team, we worked through various levels of solutions, both from a strategic as well as financial feasibility perspective. We had been tasked with figuring out how to take a company that was generating about $30 million in revenue and growing it to $100 million by 2014. This was a daunting task and required significant out of the box thinking. As a team, we finally came up with solutions focused around increasing search capacity for this email client and monetizing significant amounts of dollars via advertising.
We had a very strong response after our presentation, but ultimately fell short of the grand prize. The prize was actually split between two Israeli teams – Ben Gurion University and Tel Aviv University. It was hard fought battle, but we felt very good for having participated and coming up with some truly unique solutions to the problem at hand. While we fell short of the goal as a team, we all felt like winners for having worked as hard as we did and participating.
Once the competition was over, we had a cocktail and food event where we were fed (incredibly well again!) for a few hours and were able to really network with everyone who had been involved in the competition. As a team, we made connections with all the visiting universities. We also were able to express our gratitude to the organizers of the competition, and it seems we will be invited again next year to compete as well. Overall, we found this competition as a phenomenal opportunity to learn about an international company operating in a global market and believe it to be an opportunity that was really positive for everyone involved.
To wrap up the week, the organizers arranged for all of the teams to take a trip to Jerusalem and tour the city the next day. We were able to walk through all parts of the Old City, starting in the Muslim Quarter, then proceeding through the Christian Quarter, followed by the Armenian Quarter and ending in the Jewish Quarter. We saw such amazing sites as the Dome of the Rock, the Wailing Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was eye opening to see such a historic place that was so impactful across three of the world’s major religions and get a perspective from the people who lived and interacted there every day. This final day was a favorite of everybody – a fitting end to an amazing trip!
On the whole, our team would like to thank the organizers of the Sofaer International Case Competition, Tel Aviv University for hosting the competition, and CIBER for sponsoring us and making this trip become a reality. IT was an amazing and touching experience, and we hope that future Anderson students are able to benefit from the experience of this competition just as we have."
