Marriott School Hosts BYU vs. U of U Case Competition

PROVO, Utah — Nov 16, 2005 — The Marriott Undergraduate Student Association at Brigham Young University, in conjunction with Dillard’s, invites students to its first annual case competition Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. in room 251 of the Tanner Building. The case competition will give business students experience problem-solving an international strategy situation taken from a real-world example.

“The purpose of the competition is to give students the opportunity to work as a team while under pressure,” says Bennjamin Manning, co-director of the case competition. “So much is done in the real world as teams work to meet deadlines — performing in this type of environment allows students to better prepare themselves for the real world.”

In the final round, two teams of four students from BYU’s Marriott School of Management and two teams of four students from the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business will present their solutions.

“The case competition is unique because it pits rivals against one another in an academic setting,” Manning says.

Judges will consist of a representative of Dillard’s, a BYU professor and a U of U professor. “The judges are acting as the executives of a business, waiting to hear their management team’s analysis of the situation,” says Jill Dempsey, MUSA president.

Rewards include cash prizes and Dillard’s gift certificates.

MUSA serves approximately 1,900 undergraduate students in the Marriott School. Its purpose is to supplement the academic studies of its students as well as prepare them for jobs in the business community.

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems, organizational behavior and entrepreneurship. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.