OSU MBA Case team wins Big 12 for second consecutive year
Friday, April 17, 2009
OSU MBA students Nick Ahrens (left), Preston Pollard, Alisonn Phelps and Tommy Christian
earned top honors for the second consecutive year at the annual Big 12 Master's of
Business Administration Case Competition, held April 3 and 4 at Baylor University.
Team members Nick Ahrens, Preston Pollard, Tommy Christian and Alisonn Phelps were given a real-world case problem which required them to assess the problem, research possible solutions, write a concept proposal and give a presentation on their findings and recommendations – all within 24 hours.
“Each member of the team worked on all of the pieces to our presentation,” Pollard said. “Individually, we were responsible for leveraging our own set of skills to assist each other. It was important to have continuous debate as we worked through solutions; in the end it strengthened our ideas.”
This year the competition featured a case problem from DMX, a company based in Austin, Texas that focuses on integrated sensory branding.
“The most rewarding part of the competition was our feeling of completion,” Phelps said. “Working as hard as we did toward the case and being recognized for that work was very uplifting. Our time was well spent.”
Jan Analla, assistant director of graduate programs for the Spears School and MBA Case team adviser, said the competition challenges students to work under pressure and helped them realize how they could impact real-world issues like the one at DMX.
“The students present their idea to the executives of the company and therefore have to do an incredible amount of research to be able to support their suggested strategy,” Analla said. “The competition challenges them to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to a real world situation in a very short timeframe … the team did an outstanding job.”
The team brought home a first place trophy and a $2,500 cash prize.
“MBA case competitions force you to present your ideas to a group of experienced professionals and I wanted to be on the case team for that reason,” Pollard said. “This experience builds upon the presentation skills you already possess. [It] made me realize the amount of knowledge you must have when presenting ideas to a group of professionals … People we interact with at this level in the future will expect us to demonstrate knowledge about a subject before they will be willing to consider our suggestions.”
The competition was sponsored by American Airlines and FirstCity Financial Corporation. Executives from American Airlines, DMX and 360 Partners served on the judges panel.
For more information on the MBA Case Competition team or the MBA program, contact 405-744-2951 or visit http://spears.okstate.edu/future/graduate/degrees .