Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Business students place second in international competition
From left to right: Adam Franke, Courtney Mickel, Jamie Perry, Jeff Alexander, and Jacob Smith.
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Betty Vawter Senior Editor, News & Information Services 812/480-1873 Fifteen student teams from universities in Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the United States participated March 18-20 in the Royal Roads Case Competition. The USI team was one of three advancing to the finals after three rounds of case presentations. Teams representing the University of South Carolina and Royal Roads University took first and third places, respectively. USI team members were Courtney Mickel, senior marketing major from Evansville Jeff Alexander, senior management major from Boonville, Indiana Jamie Perry, junior accounting and professional services major from Winslow, Indiana Jacob Smith, senior finance major from Albion, Illinois and Adam Franke (alternate), junior management and computer information systems major from Evansville. Mickel, team leader, was an alternate member of the team in 2009, the first year for the College of Business to participate in the international competition for undergraduate business students. Jeanette Maier-Lytle, instructor in accounting Dr. Joy Peluchette, professor of management and Bryan Bourdeau, instructor in business, were faculty sponsors. Maier-Lytle and Peluchette accompanied the students on the trip. The competition is a round-robin tournament consisting of business cases. Teams apply their analytical, decision-making, and communication skills to the issues raised in the cases. They then present strategic choices and a detailed plan of action to a panel of senior business executives from a variety of business backgrounds. A question-and-answer session follows the presentation. Teams are judged on creativity, insight, and real-world applicability of their analysis and presentations. The students have three hours to analyze each case and create a PowerPoint presentation no longer than 20 minutes. They bring no books or documents of any kind into the preparation room and cannot use the Internet. Maier-Lytle said the College of Business team members prepared over a two-month period during which they learned strategic models and practiced seven cases. "Our team gave outstanding presentations," she said. "They presented with the utmost confidence and provided sound practical solutions for each of the four cases. They were phenomenal at defending their position during the 10-minute question-and-answer sessions." Peluchette also commended the students' teamwork and performance in a pressured situation. She said, "Although all the cases were based on real companies in Canada, one involved a small business from the local region. The business owner was there for the presentations. That made the students' recommendations even more relevant. Besides the competition, this was a wonderful opportunity for our students to travel outside the country and see a different part of the world." Smith said participation in the competition proved to be an outstanding academic experience. "I was able to use knowledge gained in the classroom in a real-life situation where we were required to use teamwork and time management to come up with a realistic recommendation for the company. If anything can prepare someone for the real world, this was it," he said. Royal Roads University developed the case competition to bridge the gap between the corporate and academic worlds. The competition is designed to motivate students to strive for the highest level of business professionalism. It provides an opportunity for students to display their analytical and presentation skills and for potential employers to observe them under high-pressure situations. Dr. Mohammed Khayum, dean of the USI College of Business, said the team's performance builds the reputation of the University and the College of Business outside the region and the state. |
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