MBAs from University of Marylands
Smith School of Business
Win National MBA Case Competition
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Left to
right: Catherine Sheehy,
Ivan Cayabyab, Michael
Carney, and Chris Nichols |
College Park - February 9, 2005
A team of four MBA students from the
University of Marylands Robert H. Smith
School of Business took first place in
the MBA case competition at the 2005
Reaching Out MBA conference in Boston,
on February 4-6. The Smith team
successfully competed against students
from Berkeley, Thunderbird, Vanderbilt,
Iowa, and Kellogg in a case that
addressed the effects of high HIV/AIDS
rates on workforce and overall
productivity for a large South African
mining conglomerate.
The Smith team included Michael
Carney and Catherine Sheehy, both
first-year MBAs, and Ivan Cayabyab, and
Christina Nichols, who are second-year
MBAs. All four are members of the
newly-formed Smith Pride Alliance, which
was created to raise awareness about
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) issues in the workplace,
encourage dialogue within the community,
build alumni relations and promote
progressive diversity within Smith.
Our
academic experiences at Smith definitely
helped prepare us for the competition,
said Sheehy.
This win is a great reflection on
the outstanding quality of Smith
students and demonstrates students'
concern for corporate responsibility,
said Cherie Scricca, associate dean of
the masters programs at the Smith
School.
More than 500 participants and 40
sponsors attended the conference, which
was hosted by Reaching Out MBA, a
student organization that promotes the
education, visibility, and networking
capabilities of LGBT business leaders
worldwide. The annual conference
provides a forum for students, recent
alumni and business leaders to share
information, build networks and promote
cooperation. It was founded in 1999 by
students at Harvard Business School and
the Yale School of Management.
The MBA case competition was
sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton. Teams
were judged on three criteria: the
quality and strength of analysis; the
strategic recommendation and solution;
and communications and presentation
skills. Judges included John Newsome,
co-author of the case and manager at
Bridgespan Group, a non-profit strategy
consulting firm affiliated with Bain &
Co.; Wendy Alexander, small business
solutions unit leader at Capital One;
Joaquin Avino, associate at Booz Allen
Hamilton; Ron Dostal, senior manager at
Deloitte and Touche, and J.D. Schramm,
associate professor at New York
Universitys Stern School of Business.
Smith students also organized a panel
on Achieving Workplace Equality, where
panelists covered the opportunities and
challenges of implementing equality in
the workplace. The panel was moderated
by George Robinson, associate of
strategic planning and operations at
Intel, and a 2002 Smith MBA graduate.
About the Robert H. Smith School
of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business
at the University of Maryland is an
internationally recognized leader in
management education and research for
the digital economy. The school offers
cross-functional study options in its
six academic departments, which include
accounting and information assurance;
decision and information technologies;
finance; logistics, business, and public
policy; management and organization; and
marketing. More information about the
Robert H. Smith School of Business can
be found at
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu.
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For more information:
Angela Toda
Robert H. Smith School of
Business
University of Maryland
(
301.405.8062
atoda@rhsmith.umd.edu
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