Broad MBA Team Wins Big Ten Case Competition

A team of Broad MBA students from the full-time, two-year MBA Program
won the 7th annual Big Ten Case Competition held Jan. 22-23 at The Ohio
State University in Columbus. It was the first win for MBA students from The
Eli Broad Graduate School of Management at Michigan State University.

"The Big Ten Case Competition is an opportunity for our students to
measure themselves against other quality MBA programs," said Harold
Sollenberger, Broad associate dean, MBA Programs. "We have done very
well in recent years, but to place first is a real credit to our students in
general, to this team of students in particular, and to the faculty who advised
and prepared them."

The students were given 24 hours to review a case involving the KFC
Corporation. After studying the facts of the case, they developed
recommendations to make in a presentation before a panel of corporate
judges. The presentation was 25 minutes long, followed by a 25-minute
question and answer session conducted by the judges. The students beat
Penn State and Purdue in the first round to advance to the finals, where they
competed against Illinois and Indiana. Judges unanimously selected MSU
as the winning team.

Srini Ramegowda, a second-year MBA student from India who also
competed on the Broad team which came in third last year, said things went
well this time because the students had complementary skills with which to
approach the case they were presented.

"The Case Competition is a test of your analytical skills, general business
knowledge, work experience and presentation skills," he said. "You have to
make a convincing argument for your recommendations. But most of all, it is
a test of teamwork. And we were thrilled to win for MSU."

First-year student Kevin Darnell and second-year students Todd Kozlowski
and Tolga Tanguler also participated on the winning team. They were
advised by Broad management professor Amy Hillman.

"We are very proud of the Broad team," said Sollenberger. "Todd, Kevin,
Srini and Tolga prepared extensively and worked hard on their presentation.
They and Amy Hillman represented themselves, the Broad School and MSU
at the highest level."

Winning the Big Ten Case Competition qualified the team to participate in
an international case competition hosted by Rutgers University later this
year. It will be the first time the Broad School has been invited to participate
at the international level.