Introduction
The year 2022 ended in celebration for

INTERVIEW WITH

PROFESSOR LEE Geunhee
A Case Competition at APU
through a Mentor’s Perspective:
How to guide your students tosuccessInterview date: January 2023

Q1. Please introduce yourself.
My name is Lee Geunhee, and I am from Korea. I
have been a professor at APU for 11 years, since2012. I teach marketing-related classes with ancourse, managing your own YouTube
channel, APU glee. What motivates you
to be so active, and do you recommendthat other faculty members do the same?

all APU students as APU’ s talented B
Team won the CFA Institute Research
Challenge Japan 2022-2023 held inTokyo. The CFA Institute Research
Challenge is an annual global casecompetition focusing on financial analysis
and professional ethics, well-regarded for
its refined standards and competitiveenvironment. This achievement has
inspired the students of APU’ s B Team tostart their journeys toward their future
ambitions. Along such quests, theguidance and support of mentors are ofthe utmost importance. This semester,
ALRCS’s Project Q Team is aiming toprovide insight into the role of mentorsextracurricular activity of casecompetitions. May you briefly tell us
about case competitions?
The purpose of extracurriculars is for students toduring case competitions by presenting
the perspective of two experienced
mentors and two successful students. We
hope that our articles help other professors
see the importance of case competitions atAPU, learn about what they can earn as
mentors, and discover how to guide theirstudents to success.

CFA Research Challenge Trophy

Q4. Can you elaborate on the purpose
and responsibilities of an advisor during
these competitions? How did you manage
your time teaching, advising, and doingother activities?

emphasis on consumer behavior. My current

Being a professor involves little pressure andbroaden their perspectives and hone their efforts

research focuses on viral marketing using SNS andprofessors can work at their own pace. However, I

towards a goal. Case competitions, while different

The responsibility of a mentor is not to teachco-creation between companies and consumers tobelieve that a professor should love their job andfrom regular circle activities, are neverthelessstudents by telling them what they should or

bring out unique customer experiences. Before

contribute to the university and its students, notfascinating and essential tools for students,

shouldn’t do. Instead, we must offer students

becoming an APU professor I was a businessman

only in class but through other activities as well.

especially APM students, to review and practiceprofessional, unbiased opinions on the methods andand even now I still own some Airbnb apartments.

From a management perspective, APU is awhat they have learned in class. Basically,

process of achieving their goals. Critiquing slides orMy passion is teaching and motivating others, and Icompany and its students are our consumers. As I

companies come to these competitions and offer

checking scripts, for example, are some of myalso immensely cherish the community of APU.

love this company, I wish to devote everything to

one of their problems as a case for our students toduties during case competitions. Furthermore, thegiving its customers the best experience. I hope mysolve. After attempting to find solutions, thejourney to success in any case competition isfellow professors will understand and empathize

students can receive feedback while the companies

challenging, and many students may feelwith my perspective so that we can do our best for

can receive some possible ideas, so these

demotivated along the way. Thus, advisors must

our students.

competitions are fantastic opportunities for both

morally support their students, keep them together,sides.

and assure them of the viability of their goals.

Q2. We see that you have participated inmany extracurricular activities outside ofteaching and researching, such as
joining RCAP seminars, advising at
circles and case competitions, and of

Q3. This interview will focus on theFinally, I also take care of logistical tasks such aspaperwork, traveling, or accommodation.

CFA is a competition based explicitly on finance,
and it is among the top 10 case competitions in theTo help my students, I obviously had to reduce theworld. The elimination process begins fromamount of time for myself. However, there is aregional, then national. We had three teams fromtheory I teach in my own class that can help create

APU, but we needed more professors because manybalance in a schedule. There are four aspects in life:of the finance experts were busy. Although mywork, family, community, and oneself. Sometimes

expertise is not in finance, I can be a good

there is an overlap between these four domains, but

motivator, and my team won and moved on to themost of the time, they splinter away from eachfinals.

other. Therefore, it is necessary to create andexpand overlaps to benefit both work and personal

I was lucky as the students on my team werelife. My secret to developing this crossover is to

exceptionally brilliant and motivated. We

like what I do and find fulfillment in my work,communicated through a Facebook group where thewhich is not difficult thanks to my love for APU

students kept me updated on their PowerPoint andand its students.

documents. Despite not being a finance expert, as apractitioner I could still give them feedback on

Q5. Recently, a team under yourguidance won the CFA challenge. From
your perspective, how did they succeed?

designing their presentation logically. The students
provided their solution independently, but I wasthere whenever they needed help arranging trips toTokyo or preparing documents. On the final day, I

case competitions. The topics at APU are not as

flew to Tokyo for the sole purpose of cheering themcomplex, but these competitions provide goodon and taking pictures to encourage theirtraining. The timeframe we provide for participantsconfidence in front of the audience. Although I am

is also exactly the same as national or internationala marketing professor and I have advised marketing

competitions. For example, we provide a topic, put

teams in the past, interestingly the only trophy I

students in a room without internet, and give themwon turned out to be finance.

24 hours to develop their idea. The procedure andemphases are the same. The difference is that

Q6. Currently, there are many casecompetitions held at APU. How do you
feel about the differences between
national competitions and APU
competitions?
I think that we should not make comparisons
between national and internal competitions. AtAPU, we have an organization called ORCA, whichinternal competitions do not have an advisor foreach team.

Q7. Do you think APU’ s diverse
environment becomes an advantage
during national case competitions? Inreturn, can these competitions be a tool
to promote diversity and cooperation
among APU students?

is a circle that holds internal case competitions totrain students and prepare them for international

It depends on the theme during national casecompetitions. However, as most recent businessessential in attracting Japanese high school

connected, we can easily create a network to sharecases are based on globalized issues, APU’’sstudents to APU as they demonstrate our diverse

knowledge and support each other.

diversity does give us an advantage. With ayet cooperative environment.
I think that the biggest reward for students in

multicultural team, we are able to share different

Q8. Are you still in contact with thestudents whom you advised before?
Have they shared with you how theirlives have changed after thecompetition? In your opinion, what canstudents gain from these competitions?

entering case competitions is the ability to create

Can these competitions be a tool to promote

Yes, I am still in contact with them. And I try myindustry.

diversity and cooperation among APU students?

best to be a connector between generations ofYes, of course. I have a mini version of a casestudents. At APU, we have solid bonds to help

competition for the final exam in my class in which

each other to become more successful. The seniors

groups of students give a presentation on solving a

who have already participated in case competitions

case. Through this exercise, students can learn toare eager to share their knowledge with later

respect foreign perspectives by working together togenerations. That is one benefit of joining a young

Expertise is critical. I could have been a better

solve problems. Case competitions are also

university like APU. Since every generation is stilladvisor in CFA if I knew more about finance.

teams in future competitions? If so, what
are your expectations for futurecompetitions or students?

professors and students participate in these

Of course, I will continue to mentor and advise

Q11. What is your message for students
and faculty members who are interested
in joining these competitions?

perspectives compared to teams with members
from the same country. Perhaps that was why theAPU team was victorious. We succeeded because
we can see the problem from multiple angles andthink outside the cultural restrictions of eachindividual.

other professors to do the same. I became aprofessor not only to teach but also to learn frommy peers and students. In real life, especially in

relationships with friends and mentors who sharesimilar interests. These connections may last forlife and help in terms of networking for future
careers. Even now, some students still call me todiscuss their current careers and ask questions,especially students working in the marketing

However, knowledge is not the only qualification.
A great mentor should also keep the team intact
and motivate the students from the beginning up
until the very end. The CFA competition, forexample, was challenging as it took six months andwill take another six months of hard work andmental demand for the final competition. Due tothis competitive nature of high-ranking
competitions, the team members often become
tired and demotivated along the way, so keeping
them motivated to keep up their best performance
until the end is really important. Professors should

Q9. From your experience, whatqualities do you think a mentor shouldhave to help students in competitions?

also be enthusiastic and encourage students to ask
for help. Students may hesitate to “bother” aprofessor at first, but a great team, including thementor, should always be able to rely on and help
each other.

Q10. Will you continue to mentor more

activities so APU can become the perfectcommunity for mutual discussions and learning.

businesses, there is no ultimate answer. Instead, weCase competitions are challenging. Your opponents

can only utilize what we know and hope for theare competitive, the events are time-consuming, andbest result. Therefore, the key to success is

you may not win anything immediately despite

constantly expanding your knowledge via learning,your immense efforts. However, when looking

discussing, and comparing perspectives, whether

back, you will surely realize that the connections,

you are a student or a professor. Case competitions

knowledge, and experiences you earned throughare perfect opportunities for mutual discussion

these occasions are invaluable. Therefore, mybetween both sides since students present theirmessage to all students and faculty members is:

ideas to the mentors and receive feedback. This

“JOIN CASE COMPETITIONS!”

way, everyone can learn something new from eachother. In the future, I hope that more and more APU

The Project Q Team with Professor Lee

Author’s Impressions

From our little time together during the interview, I can sense
Professor LEE Geunhee’ s passion for APU and its students. I cansee this devotion in his mentoring approach, as Professor LEE
Geunhee is always there to offer guidance and support while also
encouraging students to come up with solutions on their own. I wasincredibly impressed when Professor LEE Geunhee flew to Tokyoand cheered on his students during the CFA Final while also
managing an immense workload. The professor’ s enthusiasm andaffection have certainly contributed to the victory of his students. In
the future, I wish Professor LEE Geunhee all the best in hisendeavors. Moreover, I hope his success can become an example,
inspiring other APU faculty members to become mentors and guidetheir students on the path to success.

What is [Q]?

At APU there are many professors who put together wonderful classes, andif we could get to know how these classes are planned, it would contributeto the improvement of other professors’ classes. For that purpose, we havebegun doing interviews in order to learn about class planning. These articles
have been entitled [Q], comprising a variety of meanings such as: increasing
the [Q]uality of classes, answering [Q]uestions to increase quality, andforming a [Q]ueue, or line, of class improvements. We would be very happy ifthese articles could contribute to the [Q]uest of APU professors’ classquality improvement.

Interviewer and Author
Name: PHAM Tran Duc Anh
College：APS (CSM)
Country: Vietnam
Message: Greetings! My name is An, and I ama 3rd-year Culture, Society, and Media major.
I enjoy reading and writing, and I hope tobecome a professional novelist or scriptwriterin the future. Becoming a member ofALRCS’ s Project Q has been a dream cometrue for me, as I get to contribute to ourbelov ed A PU while also practicing andimproving my writing skills. I am sincerely
grateful to you, my reader, for studying thisarticle, and I hope you can find something
precious from our discussions.

Interviewer
Name: LORENNIJ Kelly
College：APS (ED)Country: Marshall Islands
Message: Iakwe (hello)!I am Kelly, a 3rd year
Environment and Development major. I enjoy
traveling and taking my ukulele to playwherever I visit. As a member of the Project Q
team under the Academic Office’ s ALCRS, I
have been able to get an inside look at thegoals and expectations of APU faculty.
Through these articles detailing the methods
and motivations of each respective professor,
I sincerely wish each reader takes away anugget of wisdom.