Smith Team Places Second at Howard MBA Exclusive Case Competition

On November 2, 2007 a team of Smith MBAs consisting of John Bullock, Tekisha Harvey and Ngozi Pole took second place at the 3rd Annual Minority MBA Exclusive Case Competition at Howard University. The competition was sponsored by LMI Government Consulting which provided participants with a case based on a real-world supply chain issue that one of their clients, National Veterinary Stockpile (NVS), is facing. This issue at hand was the ability of NVS to manage inventories of animal vaccine during a time of budget constraints, outdated vaccine production techniques and uncertainty that surrounds the threat of diseases like avian flu and mad cow.

Part-time MBA student Ngozi Pole commented that the team, leveraged information from our Smith coursework, outside research and experience to create a compelling case for supply chain optimization and cost savings. This experience was a great networking opportunity and a great learning experience.

Overall, seven teams competed in the case competition, including Penn State University, Morgan State University, Syracuse University, Howard University, Wake Forest University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. There were a total of two rounds, which both took place on Friday. The competition came to a close that evening when prizes were awarded. The Smith team received $3,000 for placing second.

Second-year full-time MBA student Tekisha Harvey really enjoyed participating in the competition. Participating in the case competition was definitely a rewarding experience. It was great to have the opportunity to synthesize our class based-knowledge with a real-life problem. All of our hard work paid off and I am proud of the result!

The case competition was part of the 12th Annual MBA Exclusive event. This is a three-day event that features a career fair, panels, keynotes and networking. For more information on the event you can visit http://www.mbaexclusive.com/

▓ Loretta Goodridge, MBA Candidate 2008, Smith Media Group