Students of the Faculty of Economics from the Master’s program in Finance excelled in the “Ulysses Competition” 2023
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Eric Gesswein (l.) and Till Herrmann, who study at the Faculty of Economics at the TUC, were successful in the “Ulysses Competition” 2023. Prof. Dr. Friedrich Thießen, holder of the professorship for finance and banking. Photo: private
Eric Gesswein and Till Herrmannwho at the Technical University of Chemnitz im Master’s program (M.Sc.) Finance study, achieved second place as the “TEAC SOLUTIONS” team on May 23, 2023 in the international “Ulysses Contest”. In addition to Gesswein and Herrman, the team included one male and one male student from the Free University of Bozen (Italy). Already in the first round of the international case study competition, they had prevailed as one of nine out of more than 20 teams from 25 countries. Second place is worth 1,500 euros.
Complex problems structured and practical solutions worked out
Jörg Müller, research associate at the Chair of Finance and Banking Management (Head: Prof. Dr. Friedrich Thiessen) looked after the two Chemnitz participants: “The challenge required skills from different business areas. The students managed to structure the complex problems, to identify suitable theoretical concepts for their solutions and to apply them in a practical context.”
Mastered the balancing act between theoretical knowledge and transfer to a concrete case in an international context
“The transnational composition of the teams required digital work over long distances and intercultural communication. This is more important than ever in today’s workplace. Second place shows that students from the TUC and especially from the Faculty of Economics have mastered the required balancing act between existing knowledge, quick familiarization with new problems, good research and the development of complex solutions. We warmly congratulate the award winners,” says Prof. Dr. Friedrich Thiessen.
To be successful, the team from Chemnitz and Bozen had to set themselves two tasks, each of which had to be solved within a period of two weeks. The written elaborations were sent to the jury and evaluated there.
On the one hand, it was about strengthening the profitability of a publishing house by developing a concept that addresses as many house and location factors as possible. On the other hand, the team had to develop a sustainability concept for a family business. The particular challenge here was that the manager’s personal details were uncertain due to professional and private circumstances and this factor had to be taken into account.
Background: “Ulysses Contest”
The case study competition is about putting business knowledge acquired at universities into practice. 93 students in 23 teams from 25 countries took part in the contest.
The Ulysses (German: Odysseus) project was set up with partners from four European countries under the leadership of the University of Szeged (Hungary) and supported by the EU within the framework of the Erasmus+program promoted.
Matthias Fejes
01.06.2023