MBA Students Take First Place In Case Competition

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA-A team of second-year MBA students in Penn State's Smeal College of Business took first place in the 19th Annual Rutgers University MBA Case Competition, which was held April 7-9 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The team was comprised of Jacqueline Rivera, a finance major from San Juan, Puerto Rico; Victor Franklin, a strategic consulting and information technology major from Crawfordville, Florida; Jerome Coste, a finance and marketing major from Paris, France; and Andrew Smith, a supply chain and strategic consulting major from Philadelphia, PA.

The team, under the direction of Assistant Professor Duane "Andy" Gustafson, had roughly 24 hours to analyze, interpret, strategize, and create and deliver a compelling message to a group of high-level decision makers. This year's case challenged the competitors to examine Microsoft's decision to acquire Intuit.

"The Smeal College team suggested that Intuit was not a strong strategic fit and was drastically overvalued as well. Instead the Smeal team advised that Microsoft aggressively pursue the acquisition of AOL," says Gustafson. "The judges were ostensibly impressed for they ranked Penn State's strategy and presentation superior to Rutgers University School of Business at Camden, The University of Maryland, The Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and The Darla School of Business at the University of South Carolina."