Hewlett Packard Enterprise: Winner of the 9th Business Case Competition

The two-day Business Case Competition, known as the Case Study Competition (CSC), organized by the Croatian Alumni Club of IEDC-Bled School of Management, has concluded in Zagreb.

After the final presentations from teams of all seven companies (CEMEX, KONČAR FINA, HEP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), INA, and T-HT), the competition leader, Dr. Nenad Filipović, Academic Director of IEDC, announced that the Hewlett Packard team – represented by Tajana Hašperger, Dunja Kvitek, Lovro Međurečan, Hrvoje Cerjan, Lara Sučić, and Antonija Porobija – had best solved the assigned business challenge. Dr. Filipović, known as an expert in strategic management, lectured to an audience of over 100 Croatian managers on this occasion.

In line with the mission of developing business thinking, confronting young managers with current challenges in companies, and promoting teamwork, IEDC-Bled School of Management traditionally organizes an international business case competition.

This year, for the ninth consecutive time, with the organization of the IEDC Alumni Club Croatia, chaired by Zagreb lawyer Anita Hukelj, seven leading Croatian companies – FINA, T-HT, CEMEX, KONČAR, HEP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), and INA – participated in the following challenge: to solve a demanding case from a real business situation within 24 hours. After the final presentations, the jury, composed of members of the IEDC Alumni Club Croatia Ante Sarjanović, Mireo d.d., and Maja Kuzmanović, ARHIGRUPA, along with Dr. Nenad Filipović from IEDC, declared the winner: the Hewlett Packard team, which demonstrated the most thorough approach, balanced analysis, and proposed solution.

„The competition was truly an excellent experience. Even though our team works in so-called open space offices, we have not collaborated this intensely before. We really connected as a team. We learned a lot, especially because the example was based on a real case, a real company. Above all, we also had fun.  We are very proud to have won against real top competition. Thank you, IEDC!“, concluded the winning team consisting of Tajana Hašperger, Dunja Kvitek, Lovro Međurečan, Lara Sučić, Hrvoje Cerjan, and Antonija Porobija (in the photo).

In addition to the business-educational experience, the winning team received a prize for their company, a two-day seminar from IEDC-Bled School of Management tailored to the specific needs of the company, valued at 9,000 euros, and the opportunity to compete for the grand prize at the so-called Global Case Study Competition. At the end of the year, the Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) team will measure their strengths against winners from other countries in the fight for the international title, and the grand prize for the winning team at the Global Case Study Competition is education for the company that sent that team, valued at 20,000 euros.

After the competition concluded, IEDC-Bled School of Management organized an open lecture known as MBA for a day. Dr. Nenad Filipović, Academic Director of IEDC, professor of management and business ethics, delivered an interactive lecture using film art on the topic ‘Decision Making Under Pressure’. Dr. Filipović, known as an expert in strategic management, lectured to an audience of over 100 Croatian managers on this occasion. „The ability to make decisions under pressure should be the foundation of managerial success,” says Dr. Filipović. “We often do not understand why we made certain decisions or what kind of thinking contributes to the quality of the decision,” emphasizes Dr. Filipović, highlighting one of the major challenges of strategic management.