The Pacific Rim Real Estate Society Property Case Competition 2010
About: A Case Competition is a business simulation for teams of four undergraduate students. Teams are provided with information about a company and given five hours to analyse the case, develop a solution and prepare a presentation. They then present their solution to a panel of business practitioners and defend it against questions.
Benefits for Students:
The (PRESS) Competition provides students with an opportunity to:
- apply theory to property business
- understand property as an integration of all business disciplines
- be profiled before industry practitioners and case programme alumni
- network with other talented students
- develop an awareness of personal working style
- understand how personal working style can affect team mates and how to apply that understanding to improve team performance
- be benchmarked with the best talent from the university, the country and around the world
In January 2010 the
Property students from the
School of Commerce, UniSA took part in the Property Case Competition
organised by the Pacific Rim Real Estate
Society (PRRES) Wellington, New Zealand. The Competition’s case study
presented an array of challenges faced by a property development company and
invited students to devise appropriate strategies to successfully overcome
them.
UniSA’s Property students and their counterparts from: University of Auckland, University of Southern California, National University of Singapore and University of Technology Sydney, in terns delivered their suggested solutions to the panel of judges.
Following a fierce competition and a very close match, the team from the University of Auckland emerged as an overall winner. UniSA’s Property students commented on the valuable learning experience that they’d enjoyed while taking part in this prestigious PRRES Property Case Competition.
What our students say:
UniSA Property Team: Mr Peter Hansen
"My experience with the PRRES Case Competition was unforgettable. I found it to be such a valuable experience in many respects, for example not only from meeting other people at the property conference, but also from the skills which I learned while participating in the actual competition, and from learning how other teams approached the dilemma in the case study. I highly recommend participating if ever given the chance in the future.
I can think of very few improvements because the competition was very well arranged. There were some logistical hiccups on the day of the final presentations where the finalist teams had to prepare at a different location to that which they were presenting. This issue was unavoidable at the time, and a contingency plan was implemented immediately. In a way, it made the conclusion of the event more interesting because the finalists were presenting to a number of attendees of the conference.
Wellington is a city with lots of interesting architecture, including a mix of well restored heritage buildings and modern commercial buildings. We were able to do some sightseeing for a short time during our stay. This included seeing the Botanic Gardens, Government House and “The Bee Hive”, and the old Railway Station. Wellington also has a very busy nightlife. Courtney Place is filled with small to medium sized pubs and nightclubs, which are also often filled with people. Everything is so close and within walking distance that we found ourselves being able to walk to most places within a few minutes.
A major benefit of the trip has been the experience both on a social note and in a professional sense. Socially, when there were no commitments the next day, the four members of our team together with all the other competitors enjoyed numerous restaurant dinners, followed by extensively exploring Wellington’s night life. We exchanged contact details with all the other competitors and believe that it was a very important networking opportunity. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and consider it to be such a valuable experience in so many ways."
UniSA Property Team: Miss Brianna Chappell
"From Saturday the 23rd of January 2010 until Thursday the 28th of January, myself and three other team mates ventured across the Tasman Sea to Wellington, New Zealand, where we were greeted by four other teams who had travelled from near and far from Auckland, Sydney, Singapore and Southern California.
We were all in NZ to partake in the Pacific Rim Real Estate Society (PRRES) Case Study Competition. Now you may be asking yourself what is a Case Study Competition?
In short, teams of four have five hours to read through a hypothetical business problem (usually 10-20 pages of text) and prepare a 10 minute presentation which addresses some of the issues in the case. After the presentation the judges gave us ten minutes of questions on our proposal.
Completing case studies means that you are problem solving, using analytical thinking, issue identification, practicing public speaking, and above all, it’s a chance to use the theory from our course in a ‘real life’ situation. Gaining the skills learned by doing case studies will be very valuable for my future career, and I believe Case Studies should be included in the University Curriculum.
The best part of the New Zealand trip was the chance to network with other like-minded property students from around the world. We had an amazing time at the local Wellington night spots. A highlight was singing at Karaoke Night on Australia Day in one of the pubs, needless to say, my rendition of ‘Land Down Under’ by Men At Work didn’t go down as well as expected with the New Zealanders!"
UniSA Property Team: Mr Alastair Boucaut
"Nothing compares to the experience of the international case competition. The 2010 competition was held in the capital of New Zealand, Wellington, where 5 teams from Adelaide, Sydney, Auckland, Singapore and California met to compete. After analysing the case, the five teams presented their findings in the preliminary rounds. The two finalists, Auckland and California, were then to present the following day on a different case.
Although UniSA didn't make it to the finals, we were commended for a problem solving idea we came up with. Case competition aside, the trip was a great learning curve and networking opportunity. We had the opportunity to talk to other students studying the same or similar degree at different schools and to see and hear the differences and similarities of these degrees.
Free time was provided to attend the conference and industry days which were, again, a great way to benchmark the curriculum at UniSA. It is important to remember that these events do just happen. Behind the team was a great supportive base of staff that travelled with us, and staff that remained in Adelaide. Without the staff and university support, this opportunity would not have been possible."