BHP Sophomores Gain Real-World Experience from Case Competition

Written by Paige Kimball

One of the fantastic things about BHP is that the program is constantly providing its students with real world experiences that will be applicable to them when they begin their working careers. Last Friday the BHP sophomore class experienced one of these occasions by participating in the BA151 Case Competition. The class was split into teams and given a case problem to come up with a solution for. This year’s case competition was sponsored by PepsiCo, who generously provided the case and industry professionals to judge the presentations.

 The sophomores received their case a week before Thanksgiving break and were given two and a half weeks to create a fleshed out solution and accompanying presentation. The case revolved around a real product that PepsiCo gave the sophomores to sample, which helped bring the case to life and made the students excited about the project.

After receiving the case instructions and guidelines, it was up to the sophomores to put together a plan of action and decide where to go with their ideas. Everyone was put out of their comfort zone by not only being given a problem in which the solution was open to interpretation but being placed into teams where they didn’t necessarily know all their members. PepsiCo played a big part in the learning experience by providing an issue to solve that was current and relevant to the students.

After a few late nights and some good old case bonding, the BHP sophomores had their slide decks in tow and were ready to present. Dressed to impress in business professional, the sophomores were assigned to one of five rooms. Each room had judges who were PepsiCo professionals and BHP professors. While the teams presented their ideas, the judges were encouraged to interject with questions and comments about their solutions, just as they would if the students were actual consulting groups.

Once every team had presented, the judges chose the best presentations from each of their respective rooms to move on to the final round. The six teams who were chosen to advance to finals then presented their solution again to a room of eight judges. After the judges deliberated, first through third place were awarded and a very busy and exciting day came to an end. Congratulations to the following teams!

First place: Mariette Peltier, Paige Kimball, Anna Chong, Mariel Trimble

Second place: Farahn Seibert-Hughes, Kruti Mehta, Katherine Barnhart, Bryson Hearne

Third place: Mary Claire Adams, Adam Roossien, Jonathan Go, Priyunka Maheshwari

Thank you to all the students who participated. And a huge thank you to PepsiCo and its employees who made this event possible by providing a great case and fantastic judges. This was a learning experience the sophomores will not soon forget.

PepsiCo

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