UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Smeal College of Management's first-ever International Business Case Competition team recently placed fourth in the NASBITE International Student Case Competition.
Sponsored by the Global Business Research Center, the team includes Tommy Davis, a supply chain and information systems major and international business minor, Kadidatou Dia, a management major and international business minor, and Finance major. The four undergraduate students included Amanda Lee and Amanda Lee, who is minoring in international business. International Business minor, Harrison Mulkey is a Business major.
The students headed to Las Vegas for a two-day competition. Together, they finished fourth among 14 college teams, including George Washington, Iowa and Maryland.
Each team gave a 30-minute presentation, followed by a 15-minute question and answer session. Each finalist team was allowed to make changes to their presentation before competing in the final round.
Students began preparing for the competition in late January, including Cassandra Guinos, assistant professor of international business, Terrence Guay, associate dean for international programs, Andy Gustafson, clinical associate professor of accounting, and Peter, associate professor of accounting.・I received advice from Mando. of international business.
The students were tasked with proposing an international expansion strategy for Nevco, the world's largest private scoring and display manufacturing company based in Illinois.
Mr. Ginos, who traveled to Las Vegas with the students, said, “The students did an excellent job of presenting practical solutions to real problems and planned a solid launch strategy for expanding Nevco's global market.” he said. “Our team added value to the company and outperformed the competition with stronger skills and a grasp of today's global market challenges. It was well worth the trip.”
Davis said he is grateful for the experiential learning opportunity.
“The case competition was a great way to give me real-world experience as a small business consultant. Schools often focus on big-name businesses, but NASBITE and Nevco are great for organizations at every stage of their growth. “It taught me about international trade and was invaluable,” he said.
Mr. Lee contrasted a typical classroom scenario with the experience that case competitions provide.
“At school, all the cases we consider have already happened or are hypothetical, but at NASBITE we actively researched what would be the best expansion strategy for Nevco, a real company.” she said.
Guay, who is also director of the Global Business Research Center, said he was satisfied with the team's performance.
“It is a great achievement to reach the finals of such an international case competition, and even more so as Smeal students have never participated in an international business case competition before.” He said. “These students were pioneers in efforts that we hope CGBS will continue to support.”
Davis, Lee and Mulkey will graduate on Saturday, May 4th.
