2017 Smeal MBA Sustainability Case Competition

Smeal MBA Sustainability Case Competition - 2017

The Smeal College of Business is in its nineth year of integrating sustainability into its teaching, research and outreach missions. The MBA sustainability case competition is one of its recent teaching initiatives.

Developing the ability of students to make a compelling business case for integrating sustainability into a company’s operations, products, or governance is essential to Smeal’s approach to teaching sustainability. This approach is strongly endorsed by the Smeal Sustainability Advisory Board that consists of representatives from companies with distinguished sustainability records, including membership in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. One of these companies, PepsiCo, will be the subject of a case that is being written specifically for this competition.

The following teams were invited to Penn State for the Fourth Annual MBA Sustainability Case Competition to compete for first ($10,000), second ($5,000) and third place ($2,500) prizes.

  • Carnegie Mellon University - Tepper School of Business
  • Cornell University - The Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management
  • University of Washington - Foster School of Business
  • The Pennsylvania State University - Smeal College of Business
  • Arizona State University - W.P. Carey School of Business

The case setting focus is PepsiCo's bold leadership in reducing GHG emmissions. Core challenge: how to engage a multinational, highly-diversified enterprise in the fulfillment of new 2025 Performance with Purpose goals? This case focus was emissions reductions targets, and associated technical, structural and organizational challenges. 

IBM, SKF, Alcoa, International Paper, PepsiCo, and Verizon are sponsors of the Fourth Smeal MBA Sustainability Case Competition.

Results Announcement of the 2017 MBA Sustainability Case Competition:

University of Washington won the $10,000 prize for first place. Carnegie Mellon University walked away with $5,000 for finishing second. Cornell University was awarded $2,500 for third place. The team from Smeal was the finalist.

University of Washington-Foster School of Business. From left, Rob Bent, Mason Choy, Emma Hohenstein, Rachel Hester, Sam Choi.

First-place team

A student team from the University of Washington - Foster School of Business earns first place at the 2017 Smeal College of Business MBA Sustainability Case Competition on Dec. 1, 2017. From left, Rob Bent, Mason Choy, Emma Hohenstein, Rachel Hester, Sam Choi. Read the winning presentation here.

Cornell University - The Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. From left, Elise Barry, Matt Pundmann, Amjan Preet Mahrok, Maya Wolf, Matt Volkov (not pictured).

Second-place team

A student team from Cornell University - The Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, earns second place at the 2017 Smeal College of Business MBA Sustainability Case Competition. Forty-eight universities and 240 students competed for a chance to present their case at Penn State. From left, Elise Barry, Matt Pundmann, Anjan Preet Mahrok, Maya Wolf, Matt Volkov (not pictured). Click here to review their presentation.

Carnegie Mellon University - Tepper School of Business-From left, Syed Rafay Mahmood, Paul Heffernan, Anushmita Roy Choudhury, Kelly Mercer, Brian Freeman.

Third-place team

A student team from the Carnegie Mellon University - Tepper School of Business earns third place at the 2017 Smeal College of Business MBA Sustainability Case Competition. The event was held in the Business Building at University Park, Pa. From left, Syed Rafay Mahmood, Paul Heffernan, Anushmita Roy Choudhury, Kelly Mercer, Brian Freeman. Take a look at their presentation here. 

The Pennsylvania State University - Smeal College of Business. Front row: Emily Very, Devin Giles, Back row: Luke Plants, Anthony Miller, Dario Reyes.

Finalist

A student team from The Pennsylvania State University - Smeal College of Business, placed as a finalist at the 2017 Smeal College of Business MBA Sustainability Case Competition. Each team was allotted 30 minutes to present followed by 15 minutes of questions and answers from a panel of four judges. Front row:Emily Very, Devin Giles, Back row: Luke Plants, Anthony Miller, Dario Reyes

Arizona State University. From left, Lucas Pilli, Konstantine Vrazhilov, Jenny Tang (not pictured), Ali Yildiz.

Finalist

The student team from Arizona State University - W.P. School of Business, placed as a finalist. From left, Lucas Pilli, Konstantine Vrazhilov, Jenny Tang (not pictured), Ali Yildiz.

Smeal College of Business 2017 MBA Sustainability Case Competition Judges. From Left: Fran Lutz, Gerald Susman, Carl Pfleger, Erik Foley, Dan Bena, Al Halvorsen.

Smeal College of Business 2017 MBA Sustainability Case Competition Judges

Smeal College of Business 2017 MBA Sustainability Case Competition Judges. From Left: Fran Lutz Chief Financial Officer, Opportunity Finance Network, Gerald Susman, Robert and Judith Klein Professor Emeritus of Management and Organization, director emeritus of the Center for Management of Technological and Organizational Change, and director emeritus of the Sustainability Council, Carl Pfleger Vice President, Global Operations, PepsiCo International, Erik Foley Smeal Sustainability Director, Dan Bena Senior Director of Sustainable Development, PepsiCo International, Al Halvorsen Senior Director of Environmental Sustainability, PepsiCo International.