UA Team Wins SEC MBA Case Competition

UA Team Wins SEC MBA Case Competition

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama took first place in the 2016 SEC MBA Case Competition held at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville bringing home the travelling trophy Saturday.

This was the fourth SEC MBA Case Competition and is the first win for The University of Alabama.

UA MBA students hold up the SEC MBA Case Champions Trophy in celebration. L-R: Katie Grayson, Matt Collins, Katie Lamberth, Abhinav Bhattacharya.
UA MBA students hold up the SEC MBA Case Champions Trophy in celebration. L-R: Katie Grayson, Matt Collins, Katie Lamberth, Abhinav Bhattacharya.

UA’s Manderson MBA Case Team from the Culverhouse College of Commerce includes Katie Lamberth, of Alexander City, Abhinav Bhattacharya, of Kolkata, India, Matt Collins, of Greensboro, and Katie Grayson, of Fayette.

“I could not be more excited right now, because this team worked incredibly hard all year long and represented us with excellence,” said Tut Wilson, director of MBA recruiting and admissions and case team advisor at UA. “I am so proud of how they competed today. They are exhausted, yet elated, and I’m thrilled for them.”

Two team members also won individual awards. Lamberth won Best Presenter and Bhattacharya won Best Q&A in the divisional round against Auburn and Kentucky.

Moving into the finals, UA won out over previous winner and second place team Florida, while third place went to Texas A&M and Mississippi State placed fourth.

A team of four MBA students from each of the 14 SEC universities was presented a business case by Henkel, a multinational company that produces consumer and industrial products in the laundry and home, beauty care and adhesive technologies sectors.

The 14 SEC teams were divided into four divisions and had just 24 hours to develop a solution to a business issue facing Henkel. The teams presented their solutions to judges, including Henkel executives, and the best team from each division advanced to the finals.

“The experience you gain through a competition like this is invaluable,” said second-year MBA student Lamberth. “You have to come up with realistic solutions, and you can’t be wrong because the judges are a part of the company, and they know their company. The intensity is on a completely different level.”

The competition provides an opportunity for students to showcase their skills at solving real-world problems that are developed and presented to the students by a real business.

The University of Florida will host the 2017 SEC MBA Case Competition. UA hosted the second annual competition in April of 2014.

The SEC MBA Case Competition is part of SECU, the academic initiative of the Southeastern Conference. SECU provides support for the academic endeavors and achievements of students and faculty at the SEC’s 14 member universities.

Contact

Edith Parten, UA media relations, 205/348-8318, eparten@Culverhouse.ua.edu