It’s always exciting when Syracuse University competes against Duke University. But, this time it wasn’t on the basketball court. Three students from the Whitman School of Management traveled to the Duke campus in November to compete in the final round of the 12th Annual 2024 Energy in Emerging Markets Case Competition against teams from Duke; Alliance Manchester Business School from the United Kingdom; and York University and McGill University from Canada. The Orange came home with the win—and a $10,000 first place prize.
Aakanksha Maheshwari ’25 MSBA, Vaijayanthi Kadhiravan ’26 MBA/M.A. (international relations, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs) and Trang Nguyen ’25 MBA didn’t even know each other before they joined together to compete in the competition sponsored by the James E. Rogers Energy Access Project at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke. Thanks to introductions from mutual friends and the Whitman Women in Business Club, the three came together due to their diversity of talents to enter the competition along with 71 teams from 35 schools in 10 countries. Maheshwari reached out to Erin Draper, director of experiential learning, who helped the group secure funding to travel to the competition in North Carolina and offered the team assistance in preparing for the event.
“Each of us brought our strengths to the competition,” says Maheshwari. “I am good at research and market analysis. Trang is good at financial modeling, and Vaijayanthi has expertise in geographical research and a background in geopolitics. One thing we all have in common, though, is that we are all so organized and structured. We decided to go for this and test our research competition skills. And, we are grateful that the Whitman School is so supportive of experiential learning opportunities like this and provided us with the financial support we needed to get to the finals.”
The case competition was based around Zembo, an emobility pioneer based in Uganda that is striving to build the country’s largest battery-swapping network for e-motorcycles. The two-wheelers provide affordable transportation while reducing carbon emissions.
In Uganda alone, there are more than 600,000 self-employed motorcycle taxi drivers (known as boda boda drivers) providing transportation to approximately 60% of the population. The competing teams worked on a case study that looked at whether Zembo should supply a hybrid model or use internal investments to expand, particularly because the e-motorcycles require recharging by swapping out the entire battery again and again.
“Our teamwork was excellent. Each of us took ownership of various tasks, which gave us time to think of ideas, and no one was cross-checking or micromanaging,” says Nguyen, of the team’s preparation for the competition.
“Team OG,” as the three Whitman students called themselves, made it through Stage 1 with a summary document of a proposed solution and Stage 2 with a PowerPoint presentation explaining their solution to Zembo senior managers. Then, they were invited to Duke University to compete in the finals, giving a 20-minute in-person presentation in front of a panel of judges.
The Whitman team proposed a hybrid solution that utilized a franchisee and internal investment model with multiple charging outlets established at malls, gas stations and commercial and residential buildings. Their idea proposed that Zembo could share the cost of building an entire infrastructure, while also outlining the financials of what the project might look like in seven years.
Presenting last in the competition, the team’s creative approach in the final round ensured they had the judges’ full attention by intermingling their slides with short videos and a role playing scenario between a fictitious investor and CEO to more clearly explain their proposal.
In the end, the Whitman team took first place and a $10,000 cash prize. All three are not only enjoying the prize money but, more importantly, valuing what they learned by competing together in this competition.
“As the only first-year graduate student on my team, I had the opportunity to learn so many things from my teammates,” says Kadhiravan. “Students at Whitman are busy as bees. Had it not been for the competition, I don’t think there would have been as many chances for me to interact so deeply with those who knew more than me.”
“I have been skeptical about what field I want to pursue. But, during this case study competition I really liked the research and think I will continue exploring this further, particularly in the field of AI,” Maheshwari says. “It was a great experience in getting to know myself, and I think we have all become more confident from this competition. We are proud to have brought first place home for Syracuse University and the Whitman School.”
