CBE students showcase next-level skills in case competition

Students from across all 10 sections of MNGT 481 Strategic Management divided into teams to conduct research and prepare solutions for SECU.

By Laura Braddick, CBE Dean's Office on December 4, 2017

The winning team (center) of Madison Bove, Meredith and Meghan Price, Amos Campbell and Renate Van Oorschodt with members of SECU's judges' panel.

It's never too early to develop skills that will impress the boss.

Towson University College of Business & Economics students in MNGT 481 Strategic Management capped off the fall semester participating in the annual Live Strategy Case Competition, practicing real-world skills and competing to earn the grand prize of $2,000.

The competition occurs every semester as the culmination of the upper-level course for seniors studying business administration, accounting and e-business. This term, management faculty members worked with SECU to develop the case, which challenged students to conduct internal and external analyses and proposes tactics to grow the credit union’s membership base, particularly among millennials.

Presentation from competition — A student presents to SECU executives during the Live Strategy Case Competition.

Students across all 10 sections of the course were divided into teams to conduct research and prepare their solutions over the course of three weeks before the winning team from each section presented to a panel of judges comprised of SECU administrators.

Seniors Amos Campbell, Meredith Price, Meghan Price, Madison Bove and Renate Van Oorschodt won first place.

The second place team won $1,000 and its members were Brie Ferrara, Janet Hengen, Zach Dorn, Matt Mazur, John Goodwin, and John Kum. The third place team, whose members were Charles Kibbe, Andrew Boyer, Merrick Kressley, Joe Crivaro and Chase Schulte, won $500.

“Presentation skills are extremely important in today's business environment. And we saw a lot of quality presentations,” said Steve Arbaugh ’79, SECU’s CFO. “Our VP of marketing [took] a whole book full of notes along with the presentations. We definitely gain value out of [participating in this competition] as an organization.”

McGraw Hill Higher Education sponsored the event, offering $1,000 for the winning team. SECU matched that prize money for the first place team and offered an additional $1,000 and $500 to the second and third place teams, respectively. The TU bookstore donated printing services to the final teams to print their presentation materials and final reports for the judges.

In addition to the prize money, members of the top three teams will be invited to serve on a new SECU Young Professional Advisory Board.