Team Maine had a disappointing start in the first case against the team from the Asper School of Business (Manitoba). Asper was awarded a 8-3 win. Those familiar with the competition will recognize that the judging score is not the best way to evaluate either the value of the experience or the level of presentation performance.

The first case, “Sell or Stay”, presented the situation of a 23 year old recent MBA graduate and son of a 50% owner of a private eastern European firm dealing with the unfortunate death of the father. The questions of business strategy and personal decision were the focus of the case.

Teams have three hours to analysis the case and prepare their presentation, 25 minutes to present, and 15 minutes of a Q&A session with either a 5 or 3 panel of judges comprised of Montreal businesspeople.

At 7:30AM this morning, after spending last night at a Montreal Canadians hockey game, Team Maine gathered for another three hour preparation session on Case 2, “Technology Plus, Inc.: Moving Onward”.

Jason and I were pleased with the team’s 11:00AM Case 2 presentation and Q&A performance. More later on the judge’s opinion and the Case 3 experience scheduled for this afternoon.

The Maine Business School (MBS) team arrived safely in a very cold Montreal on Monday, January 2 and is preparing for the Molson International MBA Case Competition to begin this afternoon.

Yesterday was spent getting acclimated to the environment, a detailed case study practice session and the opening ceremonies with the team division “draw”. The UMaine team is in a division with Corvinus University of Budapest (Hungary); the Katz Graduate School of Business – University of Pittsburgh (USA); the Aalto University School of Economics (Finland); the Asper School of Business – University of Manitoba (Canada); and the Sobey School of Business – Saint Mary’s University (Nova Scotia, Canada).

Members of the UMaine MBS 2012 Molson team are Ian Burns, Caitlin Clark, Richmond Dickey and Frederick Kaiser. Timothy Stormann is the team alternate. The team is co-coached by myself and Jason Harkins.

Tim will however be competing as a member of “Team Global”, a special team organized by the Molson event to take the place of a team from Nigeria that could not participate due to visa issues. If an illness or other unforeseen event creates a problem for Team Maine, Tim would be allowed to rejoin his colleagues. His service also does not impact his expected participation at the 2013 event.

I hope you will follow the team’s performance through this blog. Your support is greatly appreciated by the team. Go Black Bears!

We needed a quick trip to Woodman’s for a beer, wings and a meal to feel right at home. Colleagues Nicole Gogan and Jason Harkins where kind to join us.

A welcomed night’s sleep and I feel refreshed and ready for the day. After years of long distance travel my body still appears to adapt quite well to distance and time changes.

Keiko and I are staying at an airport hotel in Osaka and in 12 hours time will begin our journey back to Orono Maine, arriving about 7:30PM on Saturday June 4. 24 hours of travel time.

My thanks to those who have followed our trip. Look for some reflection posts over the coming days.

As regular followers of this blog know, when we travel to Japan Keiko plans many of our activities around what we will eat! Today was no exception.

Lunch was a welcome interlude from our final shopping tasks. We found a small and inexpensive udon noodle shop that was a real treat. It proves again that while Tokyo is one of the most expensive places in the world to live or visit, you can eat quite modestly and enjoy a very wide diversity of foods.

Dinner was another family affair and the event was held at a Chinese restaurant of some renown. The chief has a Japan TV show. The meal was authentic Chinese (compared to the “Chinese” fare we get in the US) that prompted culinary memories of my days in China. Quite a treat and great way to end the day.

Tomorrow we pack and head off on another bullet train ride. Due to the nature and type of tickets we purchased for the MBA trip (and a cancelled CED trip that was to follow) we are flying to Bangor from Osaka (via Tokyo’s Narita and Detroit). Paying $700.00 in change fees seemed excessive so we will see Osaka (Japan’s second largest city) and prepare for the journey home from there. Spending the 5 hour layover at Tokyo’s Narita Airport will be made comfortable through access to the All Nippon Airline lounge –– another example of Japanese quality in product and service.