The University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management’s annual Co-Management Information Systems competition was held this past week, featuring a new case study.

The student-run competition brings schools from across the world together to compete in a 24-hour case study to simulate real-world business conditions. In the competition, students work to solve a business problem of a Minneapolis-based company. 

The competition was held March 31 through April 4. Though typically held at the Carlson School, construction pushed the competition to the Graduate Hotel and Folwell Hall. 

Teams of three arrived starting Monday for the week-long competition. By week’s end, Simon Fraser University from Burnaby, British Columbia secured the first place win. Washington University in St. Louis placed second and University of Texas-Dallas took third place.

Of the 16 teams competing this year, five were international universities in Canada, Romania, Hungary and Kuwait. 

Shree Ganesan, a CoMIS co-chair, said the competition is unique because it is a student-led initiative providing students of diverse backgrounds an opportunity to gain business experience. 

“It’s really fun to see different teams with different backgrounds and diverse experiences coming together to put their business acumen and experience to the test,” Ganesan said. “Seeing the different approaches to the case presentations has really opened my eyes to how people are applying their own backgrounds, their own business backgrounds, into their cases.”

Sajid Siddiq, the other CoMIS co-chair, said some universities will compete each year but the students competing are different. This is an intentional feature of the competition. 

“It’s always a fresh group of students,” Siddiq said. “This is really nice because you’re able to experience everything for the first time and it’s really beneficial.” 

Siddiq said he and Ganesan hope to make their mark in this leadership role with the additional case added this year. 

“In the 13 years we had had CoMIS, we only had one case, and it was a shorter week period,” Siddiq said. “The feedback was this is worthwhile, especially for international schools because if they’re making a trip all the way to Minnesota, they want to make sure they’re getting a lot for their students.” 

Siddiq and Ganesan said the planning for the competition has been in the works since last summer. The planning committee included nine other Carlson business students in addition to the co-chairs, who worked closely with Farrah Al-Humayani, the Carlson Office and Event Coordinator, to make the event possible. 

“With so many moving parts, CoMIS is a complex process — but absolutely worth it to support student leadership in action and contribute to the ongoing success of this renowned event,” Al-Humayani said in a statement. “I’m excited to continually refine the planning process with each iteration of CoMIS and have deep respect for the student board that volunteers its time and efforts.”

The eight-hour case study took place on Wednesday in Folwell Hall. Teams presented solutions that were critiqued by panels of three judges worth 30% of their final competition score. 

The case sponsor was The Good Acre, a nonprofit that supports farmers in the region through personalized support and market development.

On Thursday, competitors spent the day at the Graduate Hotel where they deliberated to prepare for the second presentation on Friday, worth 70% of their final score. The 24-hour case sponsor was Bauhaus Brew Labs, a brewery in Northeast Minneapolis. 

The preliminary round started Friday morning and was followed by lightning round presentations where second-place teams competed for a chance to join the final round. 

Before the competition, CoMIS students got to explore the Twin Cities area and connect with one another, visiting the Mall of America and attending a networking dinner on Tuesday, according to the competition itinerary. 

Niko Taha, a competitor from the University of Texas-Dallas, said the competition was an experience that benefited the competitors in more ways than one. 

“This is as close as you can get to solving real-world business problems as a college student,” Taha said. “We’re professionally enriching ourselves with this huge network and we’re also socially enriching ourselves, I’ve made so many friends here.” 

One student liaison from the University was assigned to each competing team. Liaisons assisted with leading the teams to various locations on campus and making sure the teams had what they needed throughout the competition. 

Erica Theisen, a University of Minnesota student and liaison for Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania, said the competition requires teamwork and collaboration, and this year’s teams and board worked hard to make the event a success. 

“A lot went into making this event happen, we’re really close with a lot of people on the board so seeing what they had to do along with what we had to do, it all really came together,” Theisen said.  “Also the teams, collaborating and working hard to get their cases in, as well as being reliable and being able to lean on each other has been important.” 

Ganesan, a fourth-year student majoring in management information systems with a minor in business management, said being a co-chair for CoMIS and working with the planning committee is beneficial because it allows her to continue developing communication and organizational skills. 

“CoMIS is like one big school group project,” Ganesan said. “It’s taught me how to better communicate in terms of delegating responsibility, making sure things are getting done on time, and just having effective and clear communication overall.”