Mentorship Methods for Successful Case Competition Teams

ABSTRACT: Students at all academic levels have a rare opportunity to integrate and synthesize what they learn in the classroom into an applied real-world environment by using the case construct in case competitions. Since the majority of these competitions are ungraded, feedback from mentors, instructors, and students on both sides of the figurative desk can be extremely candid without causing awkward situations, making it more constructive, changing the atmosphere in a traditional classroom or the students' grade point average, or having an effect on teaching evaluations. The end product is frequently a rigorously analytical paper or PowerPoint presentation where students can deftly illustrate their understanding of the material, persuasively argue their recommendations, participate in insightful Q&A sessions, and adhere to best practices for teamwork. The purpose of this research is to investigate how undergraduate and graduate academic programs advise and coach case competition teams. The two most important variables that determine a case competition rank are "Effort Invested as a Team" and "Mentor Hours." KEYWORDS: case competitions, mentorship methods, teamwork, coaching strategies