Ine Sjølyst

1.       When were you an active case student at BI and at which campus?

I was a case student from October 2021 to March 2022 at campus Stavanger.

2.       Why did you decide to join BI’s case activities?

I saw a great opportunity I just had to seize!

In case activities you get multidisciplinary training, so you get the opportunity to learn everything from strategy, finance, marketing, HR, working under pressure, teamwork, and presentation skills.

You also get to meet new people and broaden your network, both other case participants but also representatives from the case companies.

I knew that joining BI’s case activities would give me the opportunity to develop myself both on a professional and personal level. And there´s no denying that it also looks good on my CV.

3.       What was the name of your case team and how did you find your teammates?

When we competed nationally, we called our case team Spire Consulting, symbolizing growth.

When we competed internationally, we called our case team Arbor Consulting, which means “Tree” in Latin. This was supposed to symbolize our own growth as a team from a sprout (Spire) to a tree (Arbor), as well as stability and growth.

4.       Did you have a specific role on your team?

I naturally took the leader role sometimes, but we did not have any defined, specific roles. We went with a flat structure with no dedicated leaders or hierarchy.

When working cases/competing, I had the role as a timekeeper.

I made custom time schedules for each case, consisting of when we were brainstorming, doing research, storyboarding, rehearsals, breaks etc., and how much time we had for each activity. I also kept track that we were indeed following this plan and adjusted it continuously.

5.       Which case competitions did you take part in?

I took part in the BI National Case Competition 2021 (BINCC), BI International Case Competition Open (BIICC Open) 2022 and CBS Case Competition Invitational 2022 (CCC Invitational).

My team won the BINCC 2021 and the BIICC Open 2022. Winning the BINCC 2021 gave us the opportunity take part in an international case competition, and we got to go to the CBS Case Competition which was a once in a lifetime experience!

6.       What is your best memory from your case journey at BI?

It’s hard to choose, both winning the BINCC and the whole week in Copenhagen at CCC was amazing.

But winning the national case competition of 2021 with our Posten case was truly a special moment that I will remember for the rest of my life. There were so many feelings involved. I was overwhelmed and proud of me and my teammates and what we had achieved.

We felt we were underdogs in the competition, and when you then turn it around and come out as winners, that is a great feeling and should encourage everyone to take on this challenge.

7.       What are your top three takeaways from case training and competitions?

1. I´m able to achieve more than I thought I could, and have increased my self-belief through the hard work we put in.  
2. Working in a team under so much pressure is a really beneficial experience. You will see both the good and the bad sides from each other – and managing to work in the same direction even though it´s hard sometimes is a great experience to have.
3. You learn a lot about presentations and presentation techniques that will come in handy for the rest of my life. Also, the experience from presenting to a large crowd is something that will benefit me in the future.

8.       What skills did you learn from participating in case which were relevant to your development/career and how?

The multidisciplinary work, creative thinking and learning research methods to problem solve has been useful. How to present a case to a management group/board has been useful as well. And of course, it’s always an advantage to get some experience with teamwork. I think all these skills will be very relevant both for my Master´s degree and eventually when I start working

9.       Do you have any advice to students who are curious about case?

Just do it.

There are so many benefits from joining the case activities! Of course, it takes time and effort, but I can promise you it’s worth it.