What was this year’s Harvard Case all about, and how did it feel to dive in?
Both: The global Harvard Case competition is one of the world's most prestigious, hypothetical M&A case competitions, attracting business and finance students from across the globe. This year was the 10th edition of the Global Harvard Case competition. The case was set in the luxury automotive industry - “Should Ferrari Acquire Pirelli?”. Our team had to work as consultants for Ferrari, analysing and advising whether they should go forward with this M&A deal or not, and if not, to propose an alternative company to acquire.
Anunay: I was thrilled when I got the news that I’d been chosen to represent ESSEC at the Harvard competition, joining a five-person team whose members came from all over and brought very different professional experiences to the table. Those three weeks were a whirlwind of brainstorming sessions, spirited debates, and plenty of curveballs—but I learned more than I ever expected. In the end, out of over 300 teams from top business schools, we made it into the top 20 and even earned an Honorable Mention.
Valentina: I am so happy to have been selected as part of the team because this was an opportunity for me to get some business experience, different from anything I’ve done before. It was an honor to be selected from a group of so many talented applicants and hopefully we made our classmates proud! Once we received the case, I was relieved to learn it was focused on Ferrari and Pirelli, two companies I am very familiar with, and an industry I am interested in. Previous years have focused on tech and AI, so it was good to get something different! At the beginning I was quite apprehensive thinking about the sheer volume of information we needed to process, analyze and represent cohesively, as a group of 5 people, but with some advice from last year's ESSEC participants, and jumping in and making the best of it, we managed and did well! I’m very proud of our effort and achievement.