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News Release

Last modified: Friday, February 18, 2011

IU Kelley School MBAs win top prize at national supply chain case competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 18, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A team of MBA students in Indiana University's Kelley School of Business bested challengers from 22 other master's of business administration programs across the nation to earn first place in Purdue University's sixth-annual Global Supply Chain Case Competition last week.

Caroline Storey, Matt Hutchens, Patrick Brunette and Ben Cober traveled to West Lafayette, Ind., last Friday (Feb. 11), as one of six teams of finalists. Their winning presentation offered the best solution for a medical supply funding and distribution case for a fictitious African nation. Competing teams included MBA students from Purdue, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University and universities of Michigan, Virginia and Southern Califonia (USC), among others.

"We are lucky at Kelley to have the academy structure," said Kelley team member Caroline Storey (MBA, 2011). "As a member of the Supply Chain and Global Management Academy, I've had the opportunity to compete in two live case competitions, working on challenging business problems for major corporations and non-profits. Those experiences gave me the knowledge and experience to compete against other MBA programs at the national level and were incredibly essential in our victory this past weekend."

The case competition is hosted annually by Purdue's Krannert School of Management in concert with a conference on global opportunities in supply chain management. All six teams of finalists competed in front of the main conference attendees as well as industry judges.

"I think the judges rewarded our team because we told a cohesive story that communicated the problem, the solution and the summary very clearly and understandably," said Kelley team member Ben Cober (MBA 2012). "I also think it helped that each of us on the team brought different strengths to the table. We meshed well, and our different perspectives paid off."

The top three teams received cash prizes provided by event sponsors Eaton, General Electric, and Purdue CIBER and Dauch Center for the Management of Manufacturing Enterprises partners American Axle & Manufacturing, ArcelorMittal, GM, Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance, Duke Energy, Walmart and Verallia.

The Kelley School's Supply Chain and Operations program, part of the Operations and Decision Technologies department, consistently ranks in the top 20 programs in the country. Supply chain majors and minors are complemented by the Supply Chain and Global Management Academy, worth six hours of credit toward an MBA degree. In the academy, students gain real-world perspective and field-specific knowledge by working with senior practitioners in supply chain management and related areas.

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