Last modified: Wednesday, October 24, 2007
IU's Kelley School students earn victory in annual case competition with Purdue's Krannert School
From left to right: Paul Hwang, Andrew Heckman, Drew Starks and Charlenne Gonzalez
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 24, 2007
INDIANAPOLIS -- A team of students representing Indiana University's Kelley School of Business earned a victory at the annual Kelley-Krannert Case Competition, held recently at Purdue University.
The competition pits teams of undergraduate business students from IU's Kelley School and Purdue's Krannert School of Management in a contest to produce the most insightful analysis of a real business scenario or "case."
This year saw three teams from IU's Bloomington campus, one from the Indianapolis campus and four from Purdue analyze the issues surrounding the $1.75 billion acquisition of IBM's personal computer division by Lenovo, China's largest PC maker.
The winning Kelley team members -- Andrew Starks, Paul Hwang, Charlene Gonzalez and Andrew Heckman -- represented the Indianapolis campus. They shared a $1,200 prize.
"The Kelley-Krannert case competition is a win-win event for all students who participate. It's a great opportunity for them to test and develop all aspects of their business skill set," said Kelley School Dean Daniel C. Smith. "Winning this competition demands that students conduct sound analyses, deliver compelling recommendations and handle critical questions from the judges. Kelley students were certainly up to the challenge. All of us are proud of their success."
Students offered their analysis through verbal and PowerPoint presentations as well as a question-and-answer period. Performances were evaluated by a panel of judges from Alcoa, MBAH Insurance, The Exeter Group, Target, State Farm Insurance and TRW. They judged the student teams based on their own business experience as well as criteria set forth by the schools.
"With the strong performance of our students, we're glad to bring bragging rights back to the Kelley School," said Ken Carow, associate professor of finance and chair of the Kelley undergraduate program in Indianapolis. "While Andrew, Paul, Charlene and Andrew do represent some of our best and brightest, their victory also shows how the academic rigors of Kelley pay off for all of our students."
The IU Kelley School of Business has been a leader in American business education for more than 80 years. With an enrollment of more than 4,800 undergraduates and nearly 2,000 graduate students, it is among the premier business schools in the country, with both the undergraduate and graduate programs ranked among the best in the United States.
