A team of four University of Alabama students traveled to Columbia, South Carolina earlier this month to compete at the Darla Moore School of Business Consulting Summit and Case Competition. The team won the competition and a $1000 award. The students, who are all part of the Management Consulting Academy learning experience advised by Quoc Hoang, were (pictured, L-R) mechanical engineering and economics double major Lauren Geisler; environmental engineering and STEM Path to the MBA student Gabriella Gaston; economics, finance & operations management major Kelby Olson; and accounting major Jack Reinig.
The case prompt focused on Monolith, a company committed to helping builders and developers build better through providing superior insulated concrete foam (ICF) solutions. Teams were tasked with developing an international market entry strategy for a high-potential market and a related implementation plan. The Culverhouse team was one of eight teams selected from the virtual first round to travel to Columbia to present their findings to a judging panel that included professionals from McKinsey & Company. The team was one of four to proceed to the finals, ultimately placing first and earning a $1000 award.
“This was our first case competition so there were a lot of nerves and excitement going into it,” said Kelby Olson. “The case was about new concrete construction material, so we had almost no background knowledge on the industry, which was intimidating at first. However, building our knowledge and recommendation through research allowed us to clearly present our thought process and findings. I also enjoyed getting to talk to the founder of the startup that sponsored the case as he was genuinely interested in using our ideas to improve his company.”
The University of Alabama’s Management Consulting Academy (MCA) educates undergraduate students about the field of strategy consulting while preparing them professionally for the industry. MCA uses a multi-faceted, experiential learning approach that addresses the job demands of strategy consulting, the interview process, and other pre-professional work.
MCA training also builds confidence in undergraduate students. Gabriella (Gabby) Gaston noted she was able to “confidently answer a judge’s question during Q&A,“ a setting that usually causes her significant stress.