Our students obtain a special award and a division win in the United States

Our alumni members returned home with outstanding results from the international case study competition hosted by the University of Vermont in the US, where they won a special award for the best presenter in the division and also secured one first-place finish in their group. The international competition – often referred to as the “World Cup” of family businesses – took place between January 6-10, 2026, and featured teams from 21 prestigious universities across four continents.

The members of the team Representing the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of Babeș-Bolyai University (BBU) in Cluj-Napoca and the GTK Business Consulting Club were Ábel Dimény-Varga, Gergő Kolozsi, and Krisztián Tófalvi (all first-year students in the Data-Driven Management master’s program). The training and preparation of the team was coordinated by dr. Levente Szász, dr. Lehel Györfy, and dr. Béla-Gergely Rácz, as well as PhD student Réka Izsák, who also accompanied the students to the competition.

In the first round of the qualifiers, our students finished in second place, in the second round, they placed first in their division, and in the third round, they finished second. Ultimately, ESADE Business School from Spain advanced to the final from the group, finishing only one point ahead of the BBU team. In recognition of the outstanding group performance, Krisztián Tófalvi also received an individual distinction: he won the “Best Presenter Award” given to the best-presenting student in the division.

During the qualifying rounds, the teams developed solutions to complex, real-world economic challenges. These included designing a succession plan and expansion strategy for a family-owned company manufacturing premium crystal glassware and chandeliers; analyzing strategic challenges related to generational transition at a U.S.-based IT services company; and planning the succession and growth strategy of a U.S. food industry company. The “Master’s League World Cup” was ultimately won by the team from Sasin School of Management in Thailand, with ESADE Business School of Spain taking silver, and the University of Heilbronn from Germany finishing third.

Congratulations to our alumni members on their outstanding achievement on the international stage, which once again demonstrates the world-class competitiveness of business education at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca.