KEY POINTS:
Auckland University's Business School students are among the world's top problem solvers.
The school's trophy cabinet is bursting after wins in university business case competitions in Hong Kong, Singapore, Montreal, Los Angeles, Seattle, Sydney and New Zealand.
Director of student development Brendon Potter, who has been organising the competitions since 2002, said the university's success had changed the perceptions of both its students and their competitors.
"It recapitulates that New Zealand is an active ingredient in a global market and that with common sense, great skills, good team work, we can achieve at an international level," he said.
Teams receive a 20-page business case and have between five and 24 hours to solve it.
Having won two competitions this year, Auckland students are top of the table, equal to Thailand's Thammasat University students.
Potter said the successes had put the university on the map.
"A lot of the competitors have not heard of Auckland - Americans confuse us with Oakland in California," he said.
This year the business school, now housed in the state-of-the-art glass building on Grafton Rd, hosted a competition for the first time. The best in the world were invited. Auckland won the competition.
Auckland students involved in the competitions have gone on to become Rhodes scholars, employees of investment banks and corporate finance companies, or to further their studies at universities such as Yale, Potter said.
Khay Shern Chan, who is doing an honours degree in finance, said his involvement in case competitions helped him land a job at Deutsche Bank, and he will join the Auckland office when he completes this year's study.
"I learned about leadership, motivating people in a team and interacting with competitors - to treat them with respect, but be 'humble-confident'," Chan said.
There are another four international competitions this year, and Potter has a selection of 30 students to send. New Zealand businesses help to cover the costs of getting the teams overseas.
"People are getting an idea that there is more to a business student's education than theory," Potter said.
Auckland University's success inspired another six universities across the country to enter a national case competition pool.
