One Intense Week = Priceless Experience

By Anne Bergman on July 6, 2009 1:02 PM

Despite the concentrated schedule, junior Chase Emmerson said competing in the USC Marshall School’s fifth annual International Real Estate Case Competition may have been his best experience at the school to date.

Back in April, the National University of Singapore, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Texas, Cornell, the University of Colorado and USC Marshall — gathered in Los Angeles to vie against each other for, according to Emmerson, one highly “intense” week.

Professor Robert Bridges of USC Marshall’s Department of Finance and Business Economics, organized the event. He believes case competitions are an essential part of the school’s business curriculum.

“Competitions are a balance between industry knowledge and academics — a way for students to test practical knowledge in a formal and special context because of the pressure involved,” he said. “Everything they’ve learned academically and practically is in play.”

The competition began on a Monday when the students received an electronic copy of a hypothetical building and development case set in a fictional city and country.

“This case had a million different ways that it could have gone, from acquiring the asset, setting the appropriate pricing level, and deciding on a partner,” Bridges said. “Each team came up with a totally unique approach.”

Once USC Marshall’s six-person team — Michael Kianmahd, Margaret Schopp, Drew Addy, Phil Gregorchuck, David Kohn and Emmerson — received the case materials, it was a blur of activity.

“During the days, we would work in pairs, or often times as a whole team, from the early morning to well past midnight,” Emmerson recalled. “On Wednesday, one of the hardest-working guys on the team, Phil, started working at 8:30 in the morning and didn’t finish until 6:30 on Thursday morning [the deadline day].”

Emmerson said he and his teammates made Gregorchuck get some rest — an hour-long nap in a van parked outside Leavey Library — and then it was back to work.

Once Thursday afternoon arrived, the teams submitted their written proposals with audio-visual materials to the 15 judges, all prominent L.A.-based members from the real estate industry, including representatives from Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, CB Richard Ellis, George Smith Partners, The Bascom Group and others.

Teams made their presentations to the judges on Friday, after which the judges then selected four teams for the next round, which was held in front of an audience. After that, two teams were selected to advance to the final round, where the winner — the University of Singapore — was chosen. USC Marshall placed third, the team’s best showing ever.

But for Bridges, the victory came with the knowledge of how important it is for his students to “compare their skills to business school students all over the country. The international component is important too, with students coming from around the world. It’s good for our students to see how people tick, how their business customs are different.”

Next year Bridges hopes to lure competitors from Australia and China and is communicating with business schools in Europe. But, he said, he’s been somewhat stymied by the economy; this year a team from New Zealand had to pull out because it could not afford the trip.

“Monetary support for travel would help us,” Bridges said. “The students pay their own way. We give them as much logistical support as we can, but we can’t afford to help with airfare or the hotel.”

Bridges noted that he hopes to raise money to expand support next year in the form of grants or fellowships. “It would be a fantastic way to recognize one of the best forms of education at Marshall. As well as hoping for cash donations, we are also exploring a frequent flier-mile pool so people could donate their air miles.”

For Emmerson, the opportunity was priceless.

“Professor Bridges told us that the case competition would be the best thing we’d ever do at Marshall as undergrads,” he said. “I’m with him on that 100 percent.”

TAGS: globalization

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