At the 16th Annual Race & Case Competition on March 1-2, hosted by the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business, the Manderson Case Team of Bryonna Rivera Burrows of Atlanta, Georgia; John Clary of Knoxville, Tennessee; Everette Dawkins of Mountain Brook; and Smith Hart of Independence, Virginia, yet again brought winnings home to Tuscaloosa.
The Manderson Graduate School of Business is located within the Culverhouse College of Business.
Case competitions are invitation-only events where students tackle a complex, real-life business scenario, and present a solution to two separate panels of judges that range from C-Suite professionals to industry thought leaders.
This year at Race & Case, participants were tasked with recommending breakthrough opportunities that would allow Western Union to accelerate its growth potential in the global money transfer business, while taking into consideration the ethical and reputational implications of their recommendations. In addition, each team competed in a timed ski race, held in Breckenridge.
“Race & Case provides an opportunity for us to test our business case strengths while also competing in a fun and light-hearted athletic aspect that brings the best memories. We were able to leverage our classroom skills from Manderson and natural competitiveness from the SEC and The University of Alabama,” said Burrows, the team captain.
Case Team mirrors Manderson’s collaborative classrooms and experiential opportunities. Quoc Hoang, Case Team adviser and director of experiential learning at the Culverhouse College of Business, encourages analytic evaluation and vibrant collaboration, which prepares teams for both the cases and work force.
Eleven teams were selected to compete in the competition. Ninety percent of each team’s total score came from presentation while 10 percent resulted from the race itself. For new skiers like Clary and Dawkins, this meant translating their analytical abilities to mastery of Breckinridge’s renowned powder. “Our team really knew our strengths and weaknesses from the beginning, and we were able to put a solid presentation together faster than any of my previous teams,” Dawkins said. “I felt more confident than ever going into the verbal presentation, which made the skiing part a lot more fun!”
Manderson pairs STEM, first- and second-year MBA students to foster bonds, spread knowledge and maintain innovation. First-year Hart reflected, “The combined knowledge I absorbed from Bry, Everette and John extended beyond what I learned from the case itself.” Hart was the rookie on the case, but the veteran on the slopes, clocking 00:32:24.
Manderson finished third to the Booth School of Business at The University of Chicago and the Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech University. The team collected $2,000 in addition to continuing Manderson’s tradition of placing every year in its history of participating in the Race & Case competition.
For more information about MBA Case Team, contact Quoc Hoang at qhoang@culverhouse.ua.edu.