MBAs Still Dominate the "Battle of the Blues"

UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA students captured the first and fourth places in the Deloitte Consulting Case Competition. The so-called "Battle of the Blues" pitted teams from UNC Kenan-Flagler against Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business on Nov. 4.

Teams of first-year MBA students were given a case problem dealing with Red Bull’s business strategy and international growth plans Nov. 3. Students spent the night crunching the numbers and developing a winning strategy. They presented their findings the next morning to panels of Deloitte consultants and UNC Kenan-Flagler and Fuqua faculty.

"This important event gives Deloitte a window into the MBA Program, and is a helpful part of their recruitment activities," said strategy professor Jeff Reuer. "It also gives the students a great opportunity to apply the lessons they learn in their classes."

Students on the two winning Deloitte competition teams included:

     (First place) Erin Clark, Timothy O’Sullivan, Walter Kruger, Matthew Schnabel and Ramy Serageldin

     (Fourth place) Sangeet Mohanty, Mike Injaychock, Kent Sears, John Chapman and Christopher Jensen

Undergraduate Case Competition Team Weaves "Magic"

The UNC Kenan-Flagler Undergraduate Case Competition Team, named "Black Magic," was one of three finalists in the 2005 CIBER Case Challenge at Ohio State University Oct. 27-29. The team was composed of Trey Lambert, Marife Ortega, Sandy Sulzer and Justin Wade.

The case challenge involved two rounds of competition among 12 participating schools from across the world. Teams received the case Thursday morning and presentations started Friday morning.

The UNC Kenan-Flagler team won the first round against Brigham Young University and San Diego State. The judges – from such companies as IBM, JP Morgan Chase, AOL Time Warner, Cintas Corporation, Netscape, Shell Exploration and Production Company – said that the UNC Kenan-Flagler undergraduate students gave a flawless performance.

The University of California was also a finalist, and Singapore Management University won the competition.

Undergraduates Take Second in Equities Cup

The UNC Kenan-Flagler Undergraduate Investment Club took second place in the Equities Cup Spring 2005 competition. The club’s performance of an impressive 24.9 percent increase came in behind the University of Pennsylvania’s remarkable 67 percent.

The competition, based out of Indiana University-Bloomington, starts teams off with $100,000 and gives them 10 weeks to make profitable trades.

The club is also participating in the competition this fall, but, according to its president, Keith Folken, it is too soon to tell how they will place.

The club is currently first place in another challenge among ACC Schools run by marketocracy.com.

"These competitions are a great opportunity for us to develop our skills and test them against other schools," said Folken.