A team of students from IES represented Charles University in the Global Case Competition at Harvard 2026

Oryna Yakovenko, Hana Holčíková, and Dung Le represented our Institute of Economic Studies and Charles University in the 11th edition of the prestigious international competition Global Case Competition at Harvard 2026. Competing against 229 teams, they reached the second-highest performance level out of five. Congratulations! 

The Global Case Competition at Harvard is the world's most prestigious student-organized case competition. Since 2016, it brings together the best students of economics and finance throughout the world and offers them opportunities to meet like-minded students, world-leading institutions, and renowned guests.

In this year’s edition, participants were tasked with preparing, over the course of three weeks, a demanding analysis and financial model of the French technology and defense company Thales, and addressing a strategic question of whether it should consider acquiring or merging with the German defense manufacturer Rheinmetall, thereby creating a European “defense champion.” The teams had to present their conclusions in the form of an online presentation (“pitch deck”), which they subsequently defended before a jury composed of experienced judges from both academia and the business world.

Our team concluded that, although the combination of digital technologies and military hardware may appear strategically attractive, the plan is economically disadvantageous from a financial perspective — Rheinmetall is too expensive, synergies are not sufficient to cover the costs, and Thales shareholders would be significantly worse off. Instead, the authors of the presentation recommend that Thales focus on AI, cybersecurity, and the acquisition of a more technologically compatible company, Hensoldt.

The jury places high demands on the quality of the presentation. The team’s placement at the second-highest level out of five means, in the organizers’ own  words, that they delivered “a well-reasoned and thoughtful entry with strong potential, a sound recommendation, and a logical structure.” To advance to the highest level, the judges would have welcomed “even deeper exploration or stronger support in either the strategic or financial dimension.”

As the MEF program director, Associate Professor Jiří Novák, who often supports students in participating in such competitions puts it: “The competition requires sophisticated analysis of companies being considered for mergers and acquisitions. Assessing something like this is no easy task. I believe our team’s placement is all the more valuable given that the competition is typically attended by MBA students who already have practical experience. Moreover, the team consisted of only three members. Most of the finalists come from very strong universities.”

And how did our participants perceive their involvement and experience themselves?
Why did they decide to participate, what did they enjoy about the competition, and what was the most challenging part?

 "Even without previous experience in assessing M&A performance, we managed to develop a solid and thoughtful solution, which makes me extremely proud of my team. It was particularly engaging to analyze a major European defense and security firm in the current geopolitical environment," confirms Oryna Yakovenko, who is studying in the first year of our Master in Economics and Finance program.

"Having the right team was our success driver and made the journey enjoyable as well. I liked the challenge of pivoting away from a Thales x Rheinmetall merger to find alternative targets, as there are so many strategic stories you can tell, " says Dung Le, a second year student of the Bachelor in Economics and Finance program. 

"My aim was to participate in a complex competition where we worked as a team. I loved how realistic the competition was - from outlining the scope of work, through sourcing data, to distributing the preparation of models and final slides among us - and collaborating with people I hadn’t worked with before.
This was the first time each of us participated in a case study competition, so many of the models were new to me and I learned a lot. The most challenging part was figuring everything out and organizing the workflow effectively,“  adds Hana Holčíková, a first-year student of the Czech Master’s programme in Economics and Finance. 

Many thanks to the whole team for representing us!