Smith MBA Students Take the LOreal e-Strat Challenge

Hans-Joachim Schuetze, Gokce Ataman, and Koutayba Yamak, members of the XCeed team, and first-year Smith MBA students, discuss strategy for their next round of decisions.

(Feb. 24, 2003) Last week, as the LOreal e-Strat challenge entered a crucial stage, two Smith teams were sitting proudly in first and second place in the North American standings. The competition is far from over, but the leading 176 teams globally will be invited to submit a business plan in addition to their final round of decisions. Ten lucky teams will meet in Paris, April 22, for the finals.

Now in its third year, LOreals e-Strat business simulation had over 17,000 students from 80 countries register for the Challenge, as it is known. A final 827 teams were selected to compete, with 87 teams representing the top business schools in the United States, three of them from Smith.

Smiths XCeed team, comprised of Gokce Ataman, Hans-Joachim Schuetze, and Koutayba Yamak, is a frontrunner in the competition - currently fourth place in North America (32 globally). In the previous round, they were in first place and number five globally. Yamak, a first-year MBA Smith student, says that their classes have helped them, to be more data driven in our decision making. We are very analytical in our approach and let the data rather than our opinions shape our thinking.

First-year MBA student Schuetze said the Marketplace business simulation that first-year Smith MBA students take as part of their orientation gave them a head start. It helped us to think a few moves ahead; it teaches you how the decisions you make early on will have ramifications for the future.

But do the time demands of the LOreal simulation eat into their classroom commitments? Yamak says no. Sure it adds more stress, but you just have to plan your time better. We are now encountering classroom situations and concepts that we have already dealt with in the simulation, so its adding to our classroom experience.

LOreals Jenna Sheldon, director of human resources and corporate strategic recruiting, and coordinator for the e-Strat simulation, describes e-Strat as a realistic online simulation that allows students to apply what they are learning in the classroom to an actual situation. It tests their skills in marketing, finance, and deeper strategic- level thinking. The simulation places students in control of a global cosmetic business where managerial skills, the ability to make critical decisions, strategic thinking, and leadership potential are all put to the test. Sheldon notes that the competition allows LOreal, to identify top recruitment candidates from around the world.

Each team, comprised of three students, does not compete against each other, but rather against four virtual cosmetic companies vying for market share. The three-month competition will end on April 22 in Paris, when three teams will be selected as the international winners and nine teams will receive special recognition. Thats close to final examination time, but that doesnt bother any of the Smith team members. If we are fortunate enough to get to the finals, says XCeeds Yamak, we would love the opportunity to represent Smith and to show how Smith students match up against the best in the world!

The other Smith teams competing in the challenge are the Terps (#13, U.S.) comprised of Zhana Kukova, Sanjay Agarwal, and Marius Stefan; and Bindi with Anne Pinto, Brett Ulrich and Eze-Anyanwu Uloma. All are first-year MBA students.

LOreal is a leading cosmetic company, present in 140 countries. For more information on the e-Strat challenge, visit www.e-Strat.loreal.com.

March 3, 2003 Update
Smith's XCeed team has made it to the semi-finals as one of 25 U.S. competitors. They were ranked number five nationally in the fifth round. Only one round remains until the international final. International finalists will be announced on March 19.

March 20, 2003 Update
XCeed finished the competition sixth in North America and 54th internationally.