With the end of the 2016-17 school year, IU’s Kelley School of Business announced Monday the results of its case competitions.
IU students came away with 13 top-six finishes and seven victories out of the 18 competition, according to an IU press release. Kelley placed among the top teams 13 times.
Case competitions are designed to allow students to work with teams to apply business-concepts, formulate solutions to problems and present their findings to judges.
Case competitions began as a tool for MBA classes and they have grown in importance for undergraduate business students.
“We are building an incredible reputation among business schools nationally and internationally, spreading word of our outstanding school, curriculum and students with each one of these competitions,” Jeanette Heidewald, a senior lecturer of business communication said in the release.
Heidewald coached Kelley’s winning team at the inaugural National Women’s Case Competition in April at the University of Texas.
One of the seven teams to win their competitions was a group of four who traveled to Hon Kong for the Citi-HKUST International Case Competition, one of the most prestigious competitions in business education. The group won and were one of 12 teams to qualify for the Champions Trophy Case Competition, in Auckland, New Zealand.
Graduating senior Caroline Cronin was one of the four members of that team. Other teammates included Michael Kokot, Rachael Yi Fan Sun and Man Hei Lui.
“We came in as perceived underdog,” Cronin said in the release. “We were a little too friendly and enthusiastic, so no one saw us as the formidable team to beat. But that’s also why we work so well together; ‘Mikey’ is a whizz at financials, Michael keeps his cool under pressure and plays devil’s advocate, and Rachael is an all-around star, but we never take ourselves too seriously.”
Lukas Leftwich, the director of Kelly’s undergraduate program, said in the release that students have been successful in a wide variety of disciplines and types of competitions, showing that they are ready to enter any industry.
“Case competitions provide our students with a way to measure themselves against students from many of the top business schools in the world,” Joel Rubin, clinical professor of business law and ethics, said in the release. “Over the past couple of years, we have proven that we can compete with anyone.”
Andrew Hussey
