UW Business Students Place First in Case Competition

March 11, 2009
Two men and two women
Winning Team -- Members of the first place UW College of Business team that competed in a case competition are Travis Heitsch, Jenna Robbins and Ashley Powell, all from Cheyenne, and Chesney Rathbun of Sundance.

A four-person University of Wyoming College of Business team placed first in a competition that introduced students to the realities of decision making.

Representatives from UW's Beta Nu chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi took part in the Principled Business Leadership Institute's case competition in Reno, Nev., where they defeated several universities from western North America, including teams from the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of California-Davis and the University of Calgary.

Members of UW's winning team were Travis Heitsch, business administration, Ashley Powell, finance, and Jenna Robbins, marketing, all seniors from Cheyenne, and Chesney Rathbun, business administration junior from Sundance.

This year's case study focused on a mid-size manufacturing firm converting from a departmental organization with a "traditional" machine shop hierarchy to a team-based environment.

Student teams competing dealt with the concepts of team development, change management, business analysis, problem solving, marketing and creativity in order to develop a thoughtful response to the case that was presented. This case was designed to introduce students to the realities of decision-making and helped them to think critically and analyze a realistic business situation, providing them with first-hand experience.

"This competition was a unique, unforgettable experience that will benefit us all in the future," Robbins says. "From the case we were able to develop critical problem-solving skills essential for success in the business world."

Alpha Kappa Psi is the nation's oldest and largest professional business honorary and has chapters around the world. Every year, members meet for a weekend of business seminars and also for the case competition.

Alpha Kappa Psi has more than 200,000 members worldwide and chartered at more than 300 campuses in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. This is or the third year that the Alpha Kappa Psi Foundation sponsored the case competition.

Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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