Accenture MBA Case Competition Highlights

The Accenture MBA Case Competition, the third of four experiential learning modules (ELMs) for Smith School MBAs, took place May 3-8, 2002.

Undoubtedly the most anticipated ELM, the case competition is the first comprehensive test of strategic thinking and analytical skills that first-year MBAs encounter. At the start of the five-day competition, teams composed of three to five students are given a general management case dealing with broad strategy issues facing a company. The teams submit their analyses and recommendations in written and oral presentations. Four teams advance to the final round, which is judged by a panel of senior executives who play the role of the company's board of directors.

This year, teams were challenged with giving an unbiased analysis of the market dynamics and its own strategic options over the next several years for The Walt Disney Company.

The winning team (C3) had a strategy with a "family fun" theme. Members included: Brandon Griesel, Ty Wilkins, Sarah Garwood, Nicole Welch, and Ali Kemal Karakaya

The other teams advancing to the finals were: 

Silver: Jon Lee, Elisa Foltz, Peter Feret (back row), Tushar Adya, Jeff Henry (Team D8) 

Bronze: Riyuske Kuwahara, Teresa Clark, Cara Mattison, Estie Kearney, and Tim Benesh (Team A3) 

Bronze: Laura Grandy, Sean Ranking, Natalia Culiuc, Satish Ravella, Mei-fong Long (Team B11) 

Final Round Judges:

Mark Burdett, senior director of corporate marketing and partnerships for the Baltimore Ravens, and Rudolph Lamone, former dean of the Smith School, founder of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, and co-founder of DirectGene, a local biotechnology firm, Dean Howard Frank, and Howard Ruddell, vice president of operations at Lockheed Martin Information Technology (IT).