January 21, 2004
UW Business School seizes second place in nation’s ‘Rose Bowl’ of MBA case competitions
Four University of Washington master’s of business administration students snagged second place in the inaugural 2004 Pac-10/Big Ten MBA Case Competition held last week at Arizona State University. The team earned high marks for its analysis of the selected case, which examined problems faced by a multinational manufacturing company.
Before selecting the competition winners, a panel of senior executives from corporations and national consulting firms questioned all participants, including UW team members Gautham Ravi, Stuart Jamieson, Thirumalai Anandanpillai and Uday Keshavdas and judged the students on their analytical, communications and presentation skills. Additionally, the UW won $3,600 and was recognized for providing the “most innovative solution” and conducting the “best question-and-answer session.”
This inaugural academic competition is named after the Pacific-10 and Big Ten athletic conferences and has been referred to by organizers and participants as the “Rose Bowl” of college case competitions.
“This was a very challenging experience, but also lots of fun,” said Keshavdas. “The judges were assigned specific roles to play and they really got into their roles by arguing with each other as well as with us. It made the experience very real. Our team is encouraging first-year students to put together teams for next year’s competition.”
Preliminary rounds began last fall, in which teams of MBA students from business schools within the Pac-10 and Big Ten conferences faced off in their respective competitions. Only the top three teams in each conference advanced to the finals. Finalists representing the Pac-10 were Arizona State University, University of Southern California, and the UW. Indiana University, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin, Madison were the Big Ten representatives. Arizona State took first place and USC finished third.
Teams received the details of an undisclosed business problem and had 24 hours to develop a solution to and prepare a presentation on the given case. After presenting to a panel of judges Saturday morning, finalists presented for a second time that afternoon.
Business School faculty who coached the UW team were professors Greg Bigley, Warren Boeker, Jennifer Koski, David Risher and Dan Turner.
“This competition required great analysis of a complex problem, effective communication and the ability to think on your feet under a barrage of tough questions,” said Dan Poston, executive director of UW’s MBA programs and faculty sponsor of the UW team. “This is what the MBA degree is about. The fact that UW students did so well against students from some of the best MBA programs in the nation speaks volumes about the quality of our MBA program and the capabilities of our students.”
Case competitions are designed to provide teams of business students with a forum to exercise the knowledge and skills acquired in class by developing solutions to hypothetical business problems within a set timeframe.
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For more information, contact Poston at (206) 685-8395 or dposton@u.washington.edu
