COBI teams finish first in two supply chain management case competitions

UT business students finish first in national supply chain management case competition

Supply chain management students in The University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation claimed first place in the 2013 Supply Chain Case Competition in Detroit, sponsored by General Motors and Wayne State University.

In so doing, they bested teams from 19 other universities, including BGSU, Ohio State, Michigan State, Pennsylvania State, Rutgers and the University of Maryland.

“All credit goes to the team,” observed Dr. P. S. Sundararaghavan of COBI Information Operations & Technology Management department and faculty advisor to the team. “The case analysis is entirely the responsibility of students with zero input from faculty. Faculty responsibility ends with team selection”.  The students performed magnificently, and our UT team won big…very big, beating out teams from 19 other high caliber business schools from around the country.  I want to thank COBI for their generous support and Senior Associate Dean Terribeth Gordon-Moore for all the encouragement.”

Team members were (pictured above, left to right) Justin Michael Blake, Emily Burghardt,  Dr. P.S. Sundararaghavan, Sasha VonSacken and Athreya Rajan.

“Congratulations to the team for their outstanding performance in this national competition and thanks to Dr. Sundararaghavan for motivating the team,” Dr. Gordon-Moore said. “This success shines a wonderful light on our college and is additional evidence as to why UT COBI is increasingly nationally ranked and recognized.”

During the September 19-21 competition, students also had the opportunity to participate in two employment-oriented panel discussions, several sessions on the state of automotive industry supply chain by leading experts in the field, a factory visit to the DHAM plant of GM which makes the Volt, several interviews for full-time employment and internships, and attend a Detroit Tigers game.  

International judges award UT business students first place at Global Supply Chain Management Conference case competition

Operations/supply chain management students in the University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation (COBI) won the undergraduate student case competition in front of a panel of international judges at the Sixth Global Supply Chain Management Conference in Detroit, held September 26-28.

Teams from six universities, including The University of Toledo, The University of Evansville, Western Michigan University and Rowan University, registered for the competition, with four teams selected to present their case analyses at the conference. The case analysis was entirely the responsibility of the students, with zero input from faculty.

The contest was judged by an international panel of faculty members representing The University of Tokyo (Japan), IE Business School (Spain), Old Dominion University (USA), and Western Carolina University (USA). The panel considered multiple criteria in their evaluation including the written case analysis, presentation, and questions and answers.

Pictured above is the UT COBI team: left to right, are Essa Almazni, Jingwen Zhang, Riheng Cao, and Austin Petroff. Judges praised the team’s work spirit and presentation.

During the competition, students also had the opportunity to participate in panel discussions on automotive and healthcare industry issues, sessions on up-to-date research in supply chain management, workshops, and a healthcare facility tour.  

The Sixth Global Supply Chain Management Conference was co-organized by The University of Toledo and Michigan State University. The affiliation of the teams was not released to the judges until the final decision was made.