Smith MBA Students Win Supply Chain Case Competition at Rutgers

A talented team MBA students from the Robert H. Smith School of Business won the 2010 Rutgers MBA Supply Chain Case Competition held at Rutgers Business School, New Jersey. Vivek Srivastava, Jayraj Ganesh, Chia-Chia Chang, and Srivatsakumar Sarvepalli represented Smith School at the competition. Five other teams representing Rutgers University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Lehigh University, University of Delaware, and Syracuse University competed for a cash prize of $750.

The case, “From Farm to Cup: The Coffee Supply Chain in Kenya” was handed over to all the teams four days prior to the competition and all the teams prepared their responses to come up with a solution to the supply chain problems listed in the case. The Smith MBA team made a thorough analysis of each element in the value chain and enlisted a host of recommendations based on best practices in the industry like Lean Supply Chain and Sustainability to reduce the operational inefficiencies in the existing model.

The judges from Johnson and Johnson, AstraZeneca, MetLife, and Novartis, as well as the case authors, were delighted with the analysis and recommendations made by the Smith team. After the presentation the team had the opportunity to discuss the case with the authors themselves, who provided some valuable insights into the current plight of the coffee growers in Kenya. The teams had a dinner afterwards which was a great setting to interact and network with the organizers, industry executives and the students from other business schools. The team returned triumphant at the end of the day with yet another feather in the cap for the Smith School!!

Nabeel Jawad, MBA Candidate 2011, Smith Media Group