April 2, 2015

Third SEC MBA Case Competition To Be Held At South Carolina

SEC MBA students compete for several awards, including the traveling trophy, at the SEC MBA Case Competition

By: Bryant Welbourne
SECU (Twitter: @TheSECU)

The University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business will host the 2015 SEC MBA Case Competition, April 9-11, in Columbia. In its third year, the competition brings together teams of four MBA students from every SEC university to solve a simulated, real-world issue that covers the spectrum of business disciplines.

“The Darla Moore School of Business is honored to be hosting the SEC MBA Case Competition this year,” said Dr. Peter Brews, Dean of the Darla Moore School of Business. “Case competitions provide students an opportunity to hone their business skills in settings as close to real life as an academic endeavor can be, and that the SEC contributes in this way emphasizes the Conference’s commitment to academic excellence at all its member universities.”

The 14 teams will be divided into four divisions, and will have 24 hours to develop a solution to an issue facing a mining company in Africa and prepare a presentation explaining their approach. Teams will present their solutions to a panel of judges in the divisional round and the four best presentations will advance to the final round on Saturday afternoon. This year’s case topic is in the area of sustainability.

“Students work very hard, pulling an all-nighter, to go through what is typically a very broad case to come up with creative solutions,” said Jason Rife, Associate Director of MBA Services for the Hough Graduate School of Business at the University of Florida.

Awards will be given for first, second, third and fourth place finishers, including the case competition’s traveling trophy to the winning team. Additional awards will be presented to individuals in each division for categories such as Best Q&A and Best Presentation. The University of Florida won the 2013 competition at the University of Missouri and the 2014 event at the University of Alabama.

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

Follow SECU on Twitter (@TheSECU) for live updates throughout the 2015 SEC MBA Case Competition.