By Riccardo Ziglioli
Day 3 (The “Final” Day)
On the third and final day we presented all our case analyses with the solutions in front of the jury. The jury mostly comprised of a manager, head of division, director or members of the board of directors of every company.
In the morning we were asked to face the last challenge. The final challenge was in partnership with the Zurich Insurance Group. 4 hours were given to the participants to demonstrate their talent and skills in problem solving.
Zurich Inc. Challenge: “Your team has been invited to present the new digital market approach in front of the local Management Board. Your proposal needs to cover the following elements:
1) Identify the changes in the traditional insurance value chain as a result of digitalization
2) Elaborate on future customer needs and expectations, taking into consideration the impact of technological innovations
3) Recommend a new digital market approach (e.g., product propositions, distribution channels, …) which are centered around digital trends and sufficiently address customer expectations
4) The propositions shall at least cover Life or General Insurance businesses, or even more (“eco-systems”, e.g., health). To make your case relevant, your proposal needs to be backed by sounded evidence (i.e., feasible, address a sizable market and support future customer experience)”
After the final challenge, the time for the presentation of the case solutions in front of the board of directors had finally arrived.
We were given 5 minutes to convince the jury about our idea, 5 minutes to convert a Powerpoint in a deep and structured pitch, 5 minutes to win the challenge.
Finals and Award Ceremony
At 6 p.m. the 3 finalist groups were announced. The finalists were supposed to compete with each other in a 30-minute-case.
The St. Gallen Business Game of 2016 was won by students of St. Gallen University. We had the pleasure to be associated with these participants for one of the challenges. They told us that this wasn’t the first time they were participating in this kind of event.
For the first time that IE students participated in the St. Gallen Business Game we won the following prizes among the 4 main challenges:
2nd Prize of the Nespresso Challenge was won by Maximilian Paasch and Julien Somogyi. (MIM Sept 2015)
3rd Prize of the Zurich Challenge was won by Samuel Timothy Chakwera and Riccardo Ziglioli. (MIM Feb 2016)
Our overall performance was good, given the fact that Maximilian and Julien got the overall 4th ranking in the Zurich challenge, and Samuel Timothy and I got the overall 4th ranking in the Nespresso challenge.
However, what we will always remember is not the money received for the Zurich prize, but as the president of the St. Gallen Business Games, Philip Menzi says, “it will be the fantastic overall experience.”
The new friendships fostered, the first real-life cases challenges solved, the first experience of working together with my flatmate Tim and the importance of being a part of the prestigious business game felt exhilarating. Now we know what it means to participate in such events. The atmosphere, the tasks asked to solve, the pitch presentation in front of company directors… Next time I am certain we will start more than ready.
I look forward to the next one. But looking back on this experience, those 3 fantastic days, the only thing I want to say is “Thank You”! :)
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