Louis Grenez

"Do not hesitate to find 3 other friends that might be interested as well to join with you. If you do not have a team prior to joining, it’s not a problem, you will be assigned a team, and be able to meet new people and network!"

When were you an active case student at BI and at which campus?
My case competition journey at BI started in Spring 2017 at the Oslo Campus. BI’s case club organized a promotion event and a case competition in partnership with Norsk Hydro. My team made it to the finals and that’s when I realized the level that was expected from us. It motivated me to join more events and improve my case solving skills.

Why did you decide to join BI’s case activities?
Solving cases is a major part of every single job. From the job interview to the everyday corporate life. It’s important to master all aspects of it such as analyzing financial data, designing intuitive and comprehensive slides summing up your researches and presenting your findings in front of professors, professionals and industry experts. So, joining the case club seemed like the best way to get a head start.

What was the name of your case team and how did you find your teammates?
My team was Lagrange Consulting, I was lucky enough to have friends sharing the same passion for case solving as I did, so the team formed naturally and instantly.

Did you have a specific role on your team?
We had a shared leadership organizational structure within the team, meaning that there was no official leader. The team was self-managed, and we often exchanged roles from one case to another. I was mainly taking care of the financial due-diligence and the design of the slides.

Which case competitions did you take part in?
I took part in 3 official case competitions. The first one being BI’s National Case Competition (BINCC) in 2017, then National University of Singapore International Case Competition in Singapore in 2018 and BI’s own international case competition (BIICC) in 2019.

What is your best memory from your case journey at BI?
In my view, the whole Singapore trip experience was my best memory. The competition in itself was grandiose, we got to meet bright students from the best business schools in the world, the events surrounding the competition were superb, the city of Singapore was amazing and all the fun we had with my teammates and friends was awesome.

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

1. Growth perfectly defines my team’s journey in the case club. We started at a rather low level and through extensive trainings and competitions we saw our level elevating until being able to represent our university at international case competitions.
2. Excitement was also one of the main factors making my experience memorable. Having 12 to 24 hours to solve a case, prepare slides and rehearse your presentation is stressful and insightful.
3. Networking is also a great aspect of the case club. You get to meet, work and compete with motivated and smart students from all over the world. This is an amazing opportunity to strengthen your network.
4. And, if I could add a fourth point it would be to have been able to be coached by the unique and highly knowledgeable case director Svein Lund without whom we would not have been able to achieve such level.

What skills did you learn from participating in case which were relevant to your development/career and how?
Teamwork is probably the main skill I have improved throughout this whole case club experience. Being able to work as a team regardless of the situation and the pressure is definitely a key asset that I still apply every single project in my master education.

Persistence has been an important part of my learning journey as a member of the case club. Being able to keep the motivation high and the will to achieve better results even after having lost a competition is primordial, and key to improvement.

Finally, crisis management is another useful skill I acquired thanks to the multiple case competitions I have taken part in. Being able to keep the working outflow at its highest while facing high pressure and difficult situation such as lack of time, no sleep and discords within the team is essential to winning a case competition and performing well at work and school projects.

Do you have any advice to students who are curious about case?
My first advise would be to go for it! Do not hesitate to find 3 other friends that might be interested as well to join with you. If you do not have a team prior to joining, it’s not a problem, you will be assigned a team, and be able to meet new people and network!

Be open to criticism and improvement. Remember that what you will be learning during this journey will be useful every step of your future career.

Finally, remember that a case competition is a role play, you are consultants/analysts that have to come up with the best solution to a problem and need to present it in front of your board. Be professional and do your best!