Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s School of Business held its third Management Case Competition on Friday, Dec. 6. Hosted in Dunham Hall, the student competition consisted of four teams analyzing and presenting their findings of a Harvard Business Review case.
Instructor Katie Robberson said the competition was first held in the spring. Robberson created the competition with Associate Professor Mary Sue Love, Ph.D. and fellow Instructor Jenni Hunt, as part of their Managing Group Projects classes. The competition was open to 270 students in the class and took place during the semester. The final four teams competed last Friday.
“The students learn important team presentation skills, along with fine tuning the case analysis skills they have been working on during the semester,” said Robberson. “It is an excellent opportunity to learn how to respond to questions from professionals in the business world.”
Robberson and Hunt reached out to School of Business alumni Sarah K. Anderson BS ’02, and Bill Anderson BS ’98, MS ’00, to serve as judges for the competition. Chair of the Department of Management and Marketing Edmund Hershberger, Ph.D. also sat on the judging panel.
At the end of the competition, Team Managerial Success was named the winner. The winning team consisted of Martin Lamar, Alex Kniel, Nick Lombardo, and Kelsey Zobrist. For winning, each student earned 5-percent extra credit toward their final course grade.
Lombardo, a junior business administration major from Alton, found the competition to be a valuable experience that provided him with beneficial skills to take into his future.
“Having to combine minds with people you are initially unfamiliar with, learning to work together, developing relationships with them, communicating and ultimately presenting our work were all things I know will be valuable experiences down the road when we fall into our subsequent careers,” added Lombardo.
Photo: SIUE Sophomore finance major Michael Liedtke participated in the third School of Business Management Case Study Competition.