Offering MS and MBA students invaluable, real-world experience is a vital element to the MS and MBA programs in Purdue’s Krannert School of Management. Just one example of these type of opportunities is through the numerous case competitions held throughout the year.
Recently, teams competed in the 2019 Power Shift Case Competition in which participants strategized solutions to a case of sexual harassment in the workplace. The team winning second place - comprised of Morgan Ellis, Maria Hartas, Tanvi Ralhan, and Julie Sutton – received $2,000 from the Brock-Wilson Center for Women in Management and the following sponsors: Accenture, Philips 66, Arcelor Mittal, and GM.
To give an inside look as to what it takes to participate in a case competition, we asked Tanvi Ralhan (MBA, May 2020) to present her perspective through a series of questions.
How did you prepare for the competition?
The competition presented us with a case on sexual harassment in the workplace. We were given five days to come up with a solution and prepare/submit a presentation. The main competition was two-tiered -- a presentation in front of judges followed by a shortlisting, and then if you were selected, a final presentation in front of all the teams and judges. We were among the three shortlisted teams and then backed the second place in the competition.
The most important aspect of participating was having good team coordination:
The first discussion: After reading the case, my team came together and discussed our thoughts on the case and what we believed was the main problem. We laid out what different aspects we wanted to cover in our solution and then distributed various parts of the solutions in order for each team member to perform further research. As our team was comprised of specialties in business analytics, HR, and marketing, the solution was coming out to be very unique and covered various organizational aspects. I enjoyed sharing that space with my team!
Putting together the research: This time we all came prepared with our research and drafted all the items we wanted to cover in the presentation and what the solution would look like. This experience was extremely interesting as we brainstormed the best way to present the vast amount of information each one of us had collected. We put together the following:
• A brief situation analysis
• Plan of action for the main player in the problem
• Risk analysis for the company
• Risk mitigation strategies
• Finally, a long-term plan so that such problems don’t occur in future
Preparing the final presentation: My team put their insights together and I volunteered to create the final presentation. The main challenge of creating a presentation is not about the information but how you present it in the most audience-appealing manner. This attempt should be to present in the three c’s: clear, concise, and compelling. I like creating case presentations and especially enjoyed this phase as it involved creativity and thinking a little differently to give life to our analysis and solution.
What was the greatest reward?
Researching for the case competition only meant a greater understanding of the subject matter for me. Sexual harassment is an unavoidable and inescapable issue for each and every organization today. I read about the policies, laws, and regulations that protect each one of us. This was my greatest reward. Learning about the subject, what we can do as employees to help others, and what we can do to protect ourselves if ever found in that situation. Any case competition for that matter requires a lot of reading and diving deep into the subject and that is the very reason my aim to participate in as many case competitions as possible. This learning, I feel, is the biggest reward.
Even though we backed the second place, our win has given me and my team immense confidence. The only credit I take in our win is in putting the team together and asking my teammates to participate with me. I really believed in each one of us and all of us together as a team. Our actually winning meant we did have the potential I thought we did. The real reward is the motivation this gives us all to participate in more such competitions.
Do you feel this has prepared you for your career after completing your MBA? If so, how?
In your career, whatever field that may be, you will be faced with diverse challenges every. You need to have a fair understanding of the types of problems that can arise and how to deal with them. Case competitions can help prepare you for a better career in the following ways:
a) Each case competition highlights a different problem you might face, so bit-by-bit each case is preparing you and making you more confident for the future.
b) Competing in case competitions allows you the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of issues, which hopefully you can use as reference points throughout your professional career.
c) You need to accept that you can’t always be fully prepared. Some case competitions are just one day long, and you will need to be able to come up with concrete solutions in a short amount of time. Quick problem solving, crisis management and good immediate
delivery are some key things you learn in such case competitions.
d) You will gain experience with teamwork as you pool a plethora of diverse ideas into one presentation, all the while making sure each person is well heard and understood. Any conflicts need to be handled in a neat and timely manner. This gives you an opportunity
to learn about team dynamics and teamwork.
Overall, this case competition provided great exposure to brainstorming with my team, learning about the subject in depth, and facing the audience and judges to present the idea. I look forward to participating in more competitions in the near future!
