Competition featuring MBA students’ case draws 700 entrants

Five MBA students from the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Managementdesigned the case, organized the judging and facilitated the Emerging Markets Institute's Corning Case Competition, "Powering Vietnam's Future: The Rise of Electric Vehicles," which attracted a record number of entrants from 15 countries.

Vinception, a team from VinUniversity in Vietnam, was chosen from eight finalists to win the $6,000 first prize, which was announced at the EMI Annual Conference 2025 on Nov. 1.

"This is not just about my team working together to create the case, or impacting my community at the Johnson School," said Kenza Bouarroudj, MBA '25, one of the students who developed the case under the guidance of Lourdes Casanova, the Gail and Roberto Cañizares Director of the Emerging Markets Institute in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. "It touches the world."

Bouarroudj and two classmates, Yash Jhavar, MBA '25, and Nisrina Nur Ulfah, MBA '25, traveled to Vietnam in June 2024 to research the EV industry and develop this year's central problem - how to manage one EV company's fast growth while facing increasing competition, operational complexities and shifting regulations - and provide in-depth context on the wide-ranging geopolitical factors influencing the EV market.

"Part of the EMI mission is to bring international content to the MBA program," Casanova said. Each year for this competition, a new case addresses a growing industry in a specific emerging country, aiming to identify and answer questions real business leaders are facing today, she said. During the pandemic, the case focused on a pharmaceutical company in India. Last year, it featured a computer chip manufacturer in Brazil. This year's case attracted a record number of entrants: 705 students on 154 teams, compared with 21 students on five teams in 2018.

In Hanoi, the students met with Quand Do, Vietnam country manager from Corning Inc., the sponsor of the competition, and then spent 10 days interviewing executives and managers at VinFast, the EV company that inspired the case, touring its facilities and factory, and spending time with students and faculty from VinUniversity, which has consulted with Cornell since 2017.

"This case could have gone in a lot of directions because this company is growing very fast," said Bouarroudj. "Where should the company go next? That was the really big question."

Being in Vietnam and talking to industry professionals brought abstract classroom concepts to life, Bouarroudj said. They learned about the company's history, product line, 1300 global showrooms and related businesses. They also gained perspective on shifting tariff policies, political stability, trade agreements, infrastructure, environmental challenges, differences in consumer decision-making by country and the state of the automotive industry in Vietnam and around the world.

"In Vietnam, we could actually ask the deputy CEO, 'Why did you go into a ride-hailing business? It doesn't make sense to us,'" Bouarroudj said. "They said their mission was bigger than producing electric vehicles - they wanted to bring Vietnam to the global forefront."

Jhavar said seeing the production of cars firsthand offered an understanding that just couldn't be learned from a Zoom call or an article.

"Going to the factory was a dream come true for me," Jhavar said. "I could see how sheets of metal were converted to cars through the use of advanced robotics and automation. The facility was state of the art. Learning from the executives - that really helped us understand their strategy."

Once the students returned home, they drafted the case and received feedback from reviewers, including Casanova, EMI fellows, a Corning representative and classmates. After finalizing the case in September, student competitors from around the world had seven days to craft their proposal and submit their slide decks and recorded presentations. In a process managed by case competition co-chairs, Iris Fernanda Arguedas Salgado, MBA '25, and Niyonika Chhabra, MBA '25, a large team of judges rated presentations using a detailed rubric and selected the finalists.

On Oct. 31, the finalists, from India, Mexico, Colombia, Japan, Vietnam, and the United States, presented live to a panel of judges.

The winning team, Vinception, proposed streamlining production by reducing the number of vehicle models offered, using software to optimize design, partnering with a battery manufacturer and ridesharing companies, developing regional manufacturing hubs to buffer risks from tariffs and focusing on free trade agreements with Indonesia and Philippines. Teams from Japan and the United States placed second and third, respectively.

"With 700 plus students it's really a tough competition," said Nur Ulfah. "I was really excited to see different perspectives from students in different countries because they can implement their knowledge from their MBA, and from their undergrad experience, in order to solve a real-life problem."

Alison Fromme is a writer for the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.

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