Juan Camilo Roa Baez

Interview with Juan Camilo Roa Baez

1. When were you an active member of BI Case Teams and at which campus did you study? 

During my third year of bachelor's in the Oslo Campus (2023/2024).  

2. Why did you decide to join BI Case Teams? 

I decided to join BI Case Teams as I saw the opportunity to apply concepts from our classes to real life problems and get some skills that usually we use to underestimate, such as making decent PowerPoint or presenting ideas properly. These were interesting aspects I was not really acquainted with, but I was interested in learning, therefore my main motivation to join BI Case Teams. I wanted to learn new skills that require practice and put effort in that could boost my professional profile in the future. Nowadays, I believe that those skills learnt during my time in BI Case Teams have helped me through diverse challenges both in my professional life and my studies.

3. What was the name of your case team(s) and what did you do to create a good team dynamic?  

We had two different names, we started with TechThreads, and then changed to Compact Consulting. There was good communication from the beginning, about our capabilities our expectations, and what we wanted to achieve with the program. Some of us knew each other from before, but competing together allowed us to know our strengths and weaknesses. Once you understand these points, it becomes easier to work together and create a good synergy between all.  

4. Did you have a specific role in your team?  

I was in charge of all the strategy parts and recommendation explanations. Also, I did most of the PowerPoint formatting and the general flow and cohesion of the presentation.  

5. Which case competitions did you take part in (national and international)?  

I participated in two competitions outside Norway and two within Norway. On the international level, I participated in the Nordic Case Challenge 2024 in Tampere, Finland, and the Corvinus Undergraduate Business Experience 2024 in Budapest, Hungary. On the national level, I participated in BI National Casa Competition 2023 and Oslo Handelsstands Forening’s Case Battle 2023.  

6. What is your best memory from your case journey at BI? 

Definitely I would say my time in Finland, we became good friends with the home team from Finland. They showed us around, secret spots in the city and we had such a great time together during our free time.  

7. What are your top three takeaways from case training and competitions? 

1. I learned how to properly analyze and structure a problem to give a logical and innovative solution adapted to the information available under time constraints.  
2. I learned how to use digital tools properly, such as PowerPoint. I reduced a lot the time I spent doing a presentation and I increased the quality of my work.
3. I got better insight into the professional sector within the consultancy sector and expectations from it, and I feel more prepared for my professional life after presenting so many cases.  

8. What skills did you learn from participating in case which were relevant to your development/career and how? 

My time during the BI Case Teams allowed me to finally learn how to use PowerPoint efficiently and deliver good quality work, we usually underestimate how difficult and time-consuming creating and presenting a presentation can be.

Also, I became better at public speaking and organizing my ideas and words better, which was a problem as I was saying too much but giving too little information. The case competition allowed me to learn when is enough and say only what is relevant.  

9. Do you have any advice to students who are curious about BI Case Teams?

BI Case Teams is a great opportunity, I am really happy to be part of it even when it got really tough and stressed. If you are interested in BI Case Teams, you should be aware that the success of the program depends a lot on how much you want to learn and improve.

The results of this programme are the result of commitment plus organisation with your team (and yourself too!) to practice and improve together. During international competitions, as soon as you step into the auditorium you can feel if you are prepared or not and it is not a nice feeling knowing you cannot win against other schools. Spending more time and effort in it will improve your chances to win comps and job interviews, and overall sharpen your abilities in problem-solving, presentation, and digital tools use.

For me, it became really easy to use PowerPoint and other software which I was not very good at before and daring to talk in public as if I were an expert in the matter.