Tag: Case competition

It is a rare opportunity for us to announce that a team of PMBA Students not only found the time to enter and to participate in an international competition – but they also walked away with a “Top Three” finish in the NIBC Investment Banking Competition held in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Pictured above from left to right: Bernd Peters, Zach Beckmann, Charles Hlinak and Sam Kenning (aka BHKP Partners).

In the early rounds more than 90 schools competed out of which 23 graduate student teams advanced to the finals including teams from: IE, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, University of Toronto, Cal-Berkeley, USC, MIT, Yale, and others.

Ultimately, the MBA competition was won by a team from the Ivey Business School in Western Ontario.  The final three showdown was reported to be ever so close.

All of Olin Nation joins in congratulating our team!

Pictured above from left to right:  Bernd Peters, Zach Beckmann, Charles Hlinak and Sam Kenning (aka BHKP Partners).

Images: National Investment Banking Competition & Conference

Teams from 11 top business schools will compete this month in Olin’s inaugural case competition Nov. 14-15. Initiated and organized by Leah Kraft, BSBA’16, the Olin Case Competition will tackle a challenge proposed by lead sponsor Capital One.

Leah sums up the case this way, “Provide a recommendation on how Capital One can best leverage its national lending products, the Capital One 360 business, and its retail banking business to most effectively grow its banking relationships in the U.S.” She says the teams are asked to consider this problem from multiple perspectives (financial, branding, etc.), to provide a comprehensive solution for Capital One.

Teams from these top business schools will compete: Boston College, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, Indiana University, UNC, Notre Dame, USC, UT-Austin, University of Virginia, and Wake Forrest University.

The MBA Class of 2015 wrapped their semester with the annual ICE Week competition on Thursday, December 19.  Groups were assigned during orientation (GO! Program) in July and worked together throughtout the Core curriculum.  Their last test of endurance and knowledge included two case competions during the final week of the semester.

Olin Business School and the Marketing and Communications Department provided the first case “Full-time MBA Branding Campaign 2014.” It generated an abundance of ideas for message points and the visual identity of the program.  Of course, only one team could win and they will have the opportunity to work with Paula Crews and her team on implementing their ideas in to the strategic plan for Olin.

The second case was provided by Michael Gavornik (MBA 2003) of Metal Container Corporation, a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev.  Facing a strategic dilemma with ABI, students were challenged to come up with solutions for ABI to better utilize MCC to deliver value to ABI and execution of the strategy.  The winning team will have the opportunity to consult with MCC as they continue to address this issue.

In true MBA fashion, the week was brought to a close with the ICE Breaker Party at the Knight Center.  Students not only celebrated the end of ICE Week but also the completion of their first semester in the program.

First year MBA’s are undergoing a grueling test of fortitude, team work, and caffeine-fueled all-nighters to compete in the Integrative Case Experience, better known as ICE week. There are two business cases this year for teams to tackle and they have less than 24 hours to study each case, research, and prepare a presentation for a panel of judges.

The class was presented with the first case focused on re-branding Olin’s full time MBA program on Monday afternoon immediately following their Finance final exam.  Most of the students were in a semi-zombie state as they received packets and a presentation about a new business strategy and branding plan for Olin.  They were challenged to deliver a new tag line for the MBA program, a messaging hierarchy, and a visual identity for the website home page.

Teams began presenting at 11am Tuesday morning in front of judges and wrapped up at 4 p.m., just in time to assemble again in May Auditorium to learn about their second case that will be due Wednesday morning. Winning teams will be announced at an ‘Ice-Breaker’ reception on Thursday.

Stay chill Class of 2015 and carry on!

Pictured above members of Team 5: Daniel Shuster, Bobby Kanefsky, Manman Shang, Ashwin Ramanan, and Stephanie Meldrum.

On-Campus dining will be the focus of the 2014 Olin Sustainability Case Competition. Learn about the case and the competition at two upcoming info sessions:

Thursday, Nov. 21, 4:00 p.m., Simon Hall, room 110
Monday, Nov. 25, 11:45 a.m., Simon Hall, May Auditorium

Watch video announcement from OSCC Chairperson Vibha Vemana by clicking on the main image above.

The OSCC encourages interdisciplinary student teams from across the Washington University campus to develop creative solutions related to sustainable on-campus dining solutions.

About the Olin Sustainability Case Competition

The Olin Sustainability Case Competition (OSCC) began during the 2009-2010 academic year as a way to increase awareness and expand educational opportunities about sustainable business practices at the Olin Business School. Open to all Washington University students in both undergraduate and graduate level programs, the case competition provides participants with a chance to learn about practical, real-world applications of corporate responsibility and sustainability concepts, so that they can make an impact in the world around them.

The OSCC is presented by the Olin MBA Programs office in conjunction with the Olin Strategy and Consulting Association (OSCA) and the Washington University chapter of Net Impact.

Designed as a traditional business case study, the competition is based on a current business problem and prepared with the assistance of leading experts in the field of sustainability and Olin faculty.

Any student enrolled in any academic program at WashU may participate. Teams can be made up of two to five students from any school.

Please contact the OSCC Committee at oscc@olin.wustl.edu with any questions or comments.