Final stage of Azerbaijan Business Case Competition 2019

On December 8th the US-Educated Azerbaijani Alumni Association organized the final stage of the Azerbaijan Business Case Competition at the Hilton Hotel in Baku. This year’s competition is sponsored by  SOCAR-AQS, Azercell, BP, AzSığorta, Deloitte, and EY, with organizational support from the U.S. Embassy.

The Azerbaijan Business Case Competition is the most prestigious business competition in Azerbaijan for undergraduate and graduate students who are studying in the fields of finance, business, and economics.  During the competition students are given Harvard Business School Case Studies for analysis based on real-life business problems companies have faced.

During the semi-final round, teams presented their projects to the juries, made up of representatives of local and international business companies.  In the final round, the four winning teams from the semi-final stage presented their analyses to the judges in the fight for first place.

Finalists were required to develop solutions for the cases, and the final evaluation of the teams was based on their critical business thinking, financial analysis, marketing strategy, presentation skills, and their preparation for the Q&A round.  The winning teams received 10,000 AZN in total (1st place – 6,000 AZN, 2nd place - 3,000 AZN, and 3rd place - 1,000 AZN).

This year 26 teams from 7 universities, including ADA University, Baku Engineering University, Azerbaijan State Economic University, Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, Moscow State University, Architecture and Construction University, and the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan have participated in the competition.  During the past six weeks, the teams have been engaged in training sessions on business analysis, strategy development, presentation skills, and other topics. 

Only 16 teams out of 26 entries made it to the semi-final stage, and the top 4 teams competed in the final round and shared the below places in the finals:

-           I  place: –Sabir Javadov, Sabina Hasanzada, Alexandr Plavskiy and Nadir Mammadli, Baku Branch of the Moscow State University

-           II place –  Arzu Tofigli, Miralam Akbarli, Samir Mammadov, Ayla Aliyeva, Azerbajian State University of Economics

-           III place – Rashad Agayev, Eltaj Huseynli, Elsun Rzayev, Jeyhun Fatalov, Azerbaijan State University of Economics

-           IV place – Nigar Valiyeva, Javad Aliyev, Anar Sultanzada, Matin Babayev, Azerbaijan State University of Economics

The Azerbaijan Business Case Competition is an annual contest where teams of students from Azerbaijan’s top universities compete to solve real business cases by applying their skills in the fields of finance, marketing, accounting, technology and administration, and later presenting them to the judges, made up of representatives of various business companies in Azerbaijan.

The competition has been held since 2002, to increase opportunities for students to get practical experience in analyzing business challenges.  Since 2006 the competition has been organized by the US-Educated Azerbaijani Alumni Association (AAA), and over 2,000 very talented students have participated so far.  The event helps the students develop their analytical, management, and presentation skills, and contributes to their future career development.

The US-Educated Azerbaijani Alumni Association (AAA) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization that brings together alumni of the United States Department of State’s educational exchange programs, Azerbaijan State Program alumni and self-funded Azerbaijani students who have studied in the United States.  The AAA was established in October 2003 by a group of U.S.-educated Azerbaijani alumni with the aim of uniting these exchange alumni under one umbrella and using their knowledge and skills to contribute to the development of Azerbaijan.