In February, I flew to Madrid with three teammates and a lot of nervous energy. We were there to compete at the IE Business School Case Competition 2026, one of the most respected international case competitions in Europe, alongside universities from across the world. I came back with a lot more than I expected.
I have been thinking about what exactly changed after that week and I keep coming back to the same answer: case competitions teach you things that no lecture, no group assignment, and no internship can fully replicate. Here is what I mean:
In Segovia, we had five hours to crack a strategy case for Alma Carraovejas, a premium Spanish winery, figuring out how to scale without losing its soul. In Madrid, we had twelve hours to build a full recommendation for Amazon on whether its decarbonization investments could become a genuine competitive advantage. Both times, the clock was running from minute one. There was no time to overthink, no time to wait for more information. You build the best argument you can with what you have and you commit to it. That muscle, making a confident call under uncertainty, is one of the most transferable things I brought home.
Our team consisted of four people from three different programs: Arina Spirin and Carl Heusener, both with Business Analytics backgrounds, and Linus Forschler and me, both from Management Philosophy and Economics. On paper, that mix could go either way. In practice, it was one of the best things about the week. Watching how differently we each approached the same problem and then figuring out how to combine those approaches into one coherent story, taught me more about collaboration than most semester-long group projects ever have. You learn quickly what good teamwork actually requires: trust, clear communication and knowing when to let someone else take the lead.
A strong analysis means nothing if you cannot communicate it clearly. Case competitions force you to present your thinking to a panel of judges and defend it on the spot. That process, building a narrative around your solution and then standing behind it under questioning, is something you only get sharper at by doing. After Madrid, I feel noticeably more confident in structuring and delivering an argument. It is one of those skills that quietly compounds over time.
This one surprised me the most. Being in the room with talented students from universities all over Europe was genuinely humbling in the best way. Seeing how other teams framed problems, the angles they approached cases from and what they prioritized and why made me acutely aware of the gaps in my own thinking. That kind of awareness is hard to get in a classroom. It made me want to read more, think differently and come back better prepared next time.
By the end of the week, after late nights, bad coffee and long debrief sessions, the four of us had built something real. Not just a polished deck, but actual trust, shared inside jokes and a friendship that came out of having genuinely been in the trenches together. I did not expect that to be a highlight. It absolutely was.
If you are interested in joining a future case competition or want to learn more about FS Business Case, please email me at martha_maria.zoller@fs-students.de or Tomislav Aleksic at tomislav.aleksic@fs-students.de. We welcome students from all programmes who are curious about participating.
I would like to say a huge thank you to our advisor, Cindy Lehmann, Prof. Jerry Guo, for the preparation sessions as well as the Frankfurt School Förderverein for making the trip possible. It means a lot to be trusted to represent Frankfurt School on an international stage like this and it is a reminder of how extraordinary it is to study at a university that actively invests in giving its students experiences beyond the classroom.
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