A team of first-year MBA students from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business traveled to Columbus, Ohio, last week for the 23rd Ohio State University Fisher Invitational Case Competition. Expectations for Maryland were high and the Smith team did not disappoint, coming in second place for the second year in a row.
The case competition, sponsored by the National Center for the Middle Market, was a live case format, which means a real company was present to introduce the case and judge the final round. Historically exclusive to the Big 10, this year the competition was open to a select number of non-Big 10 schools. The following business schools participated:
- The Ohio State University
- University of Maryland
- Michigan State University
- University of Minnesota
- Penn State University
- University of Nebraska
- Purdue University
- University of Rochester
- University of Illinois
- Washington University in St. Louis
- University of Iowa
The participating company was Caster Connection, a multi-million dollar firm based in Columbus, Ohio, specializing in caster distribution and manufacturing. Teams were challenged with developing a new growth strategy to take Caster Connection to the next level.
Each team was assigned a color so school affiliations were kept secret from all judges. Maryland became Team Turquoise, and took the competition by storm. After a strong presentation in the preliminary round, team members Ambudhi Manchanda, Ying Chen, Tony Uhl, and Allison Davern were awarded a spot in the finals. The team put forth an excellent final round presentation and was confident that the first place prize was within reach.
“It was great to participate in the Big 10 Case Competition and represent Smith,” said Tony Uhl, a first-year MBA student. “The content was unique and very challenging. I hope the client got some good ideas from our presentation.”
After much anxious waiting, the results were announced. Smith placed second overall, and two team members won the top individual awards. Although disappointed, Smith executed a performance to be proud of and provided Caster Connection’s executive team solid insights and recommendations to take their business forward.
Allison Davern, MBA Candidate 2016, Office of Marketing Communications
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.