AMES, Iowa - Iowa State's logistics and supply chain management Case team placed second in the FedEx Freight International Graduate Logistics Case Competition held at the University of Arkansas late last month.
Teams of MBA students from 12 United States and European universities played roles of supply chain business consultants for a major firm. The teams were given 24 hours to analyze a situation. Then each team made a presentation to the judges who were role playing as the company's board of directors. The judges were upper level managers and executives from companies that assist in sponsoring the event.
The ISU team includes Tharangi Ranasinghe, Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka; Monica Kak, New Delhi, India; Doug Stout, Waukee; Jason Beichley, Waukee; Jonathan Greenlee, Davenport; and Brook Richardson, Fairfield.
Finishing so highly was encouraging to the students.
"Our team was very pleased with the results," said Richardson. "It was the first time Iowa State was invited to the event. And some of the schools present are ranked in the top 10 nationally."
The first place team was Darmstadt University of Technology from Germany.
According to Richardson, representatives from several companies were also at the competition giving contestants a chance to network with industry leaders.
The team's faculty advisor, Rhonda Lummus, an associate professor of operations and supply chain management in the College of Business, knows how hard the team members have worked to get where they are.
"This team used its analytic and presentation skills, built through their MBA curriculum, to do an outstanding job at the competition. The judges were very complementary on their presentation and we hope to build on this success by returning next year," said Lummus.
Other schools represented at the competition:
- Arizona State University, Tempe
- Chalmers University of Technology of Gothenburg, Sweden
- Michigan State University, East Lansing
- The Ohio State University, Columbus
- Pennsylvania State University, University Park
- Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
- University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
- University of Maryland, College Park
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of Wisconsin-Madison