Robert H. Smith School MBAs continue to shine when the spotlight is placed upon them. Earlier this month, a team of Smith MBA beat out finalists from Northwestern, Georgetown and Carnegie Mellon to win the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s inaugural MBA Case Competition in Washington, D.C.The team was comprised of Shishir Bhargava of New Delhi, India; Alison Scharman of Kensington, MD; Anna Holland of Annapolis, MD and team captain Emily Robichaud of Lexington, KY.
“Congratulations to the Smith School team for its first place finish in our inaugural MBA Case Competition,” foundation president Carolyn Cawley said in a press release. “At the foundation we believe that business is part of the solution, so it was rewarding to see the team bring that to life.”
The competition challenged participants to explore the connections between profit and corporate social responsibility. The Smith team, which dubbed itself the Commerce Team, won the judges with a plan to overhaul the supply chain of a fictional grocery store, known as HEI.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation launched the MBA Case Competition this year. FedEx Freight served as a partner and underwriting sponsor of the competition. Suzanne Clark, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the competition served to highlight the potential of those aspiring to become important members of the business community.
“We spend a lot of time thinking about the emerging issues that companies are going to face in the coming years,” she said. “We believe we’re all going to better off if we start thinking about those challenges now, and if we start working with the next generation of business leaders now. And I believe a lot of those leaders are in this room.”
The team shared $12,000 in prize money. Runners up from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management received $7,500.