Q: Can you tell me general information about the case competition? How did you go or how were you selected?
Our MSU team was selected early in the semester after the completion of an on-campus interview. Deepal Chhabra, Abigail (Abby) Swanson, Dinkar Kokje, Cory Eisenhard, and I were selected to represent MSU. Professor Hittler and Wayne Hutchison administered putting the team together as well as prepping us for the competition. The MSU team was selected among the top 12 teams to compete in Nashville for the National Human Capital case competition. Other teams came from Columbia, University of Michigan, Cornell, Duke, Indiana, Vanderbilt, and University of Texas to name a few. This competition was sponsored by Deloitte and HP which was an incredible opportunity for networking. Many representatives were at the competition from both companies recruiting.
Q: What was the format of this case competition?
We were given the final case a week before the competition. We had seven days to prepare our recommendations in a slide show format. We were required to present for twenty minutes with a ten-minute Q & A session to follow. This portion of the competition was held on Friday. After every team had a chance to provide their recommendations to the judges, three teams were selected to compete again on Saturday for the final round.
Q: What was it like when you got there? How did it feel?
Once we arrived in Nashville, we prepped for our presentation. The competition was held at the beautiful Vanderbilt campus. The morning of competition, we were greeted with an introduction and then selected a time for presenting. An hour before our presentation, representatives from HP and Deloitte came into our practice room and gave us a twist to the case. This “twist” was a video recording of an emergency the company was facing. We were then asked to incorporate more recommendations based off the new material into the slide deck prior to presenting.
Q: How did it go? Were you invited to the final round?
Our team did an incredible job presenting and represented MSU well. Although we were not selected to compete in the final round on Saturday, we were able to watch the final three presentations and enjoy a night out on the town in Nashville…which we did.
Q: Do you have anything else you would like to let your fellow MBA candidates know?
I was very proud of what our team accomplished at the competition. After the conclusion of the trip, we discussed as a team how we can continue our presence in Nashville by sending future first year teams to the Human Capital competition. We see it as an opportunity to give first year Broad MBA’s an opportunity to be involved in case competitions earlier in their career as a graduate student as well as an opportunity to build our Human Capital consulting relationship with Deloitte. I encourage every MBA student to try and experience at least one during their career at MSU.