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Alpha Kappa Psi members win national case competition.
Spring break? What’s that?
From left, Jaime Montalvan, Isselle Medina, Anthony Munyaka, Maria Sabando and Michael Jadoo. Not pictured: Matthew Ohashi. |
That question was on the minds of a number of students in the College of Business Administration as they prepared to participate in the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) case competition to be held at University Park on March 24, 2008, the first day of classes after the break.
They’d received the case materials—twenty pages of details about a company called Masanos, a host of spreadsheets, and instructions—on February 27, 2008, as did teams across the country. They had just a month to research three options J&J suggested for expanding its business, determine the best one, and prepare a twenty-minute presentation to make the business case.
When the evening was over, the panel of judges, which included Sharon Lassar, director, School of Accounting; and representatives from Cordis Corporation, a J&J company, and from corporate headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey, named the team from Alpha Kappa Psi the winner. As such, they were sent to compete on the national level.
Sharon Lassar |
From April 10-11, 2008, Jaime Montalvan, Isselle Medina, Anthony Munyaka, Maria E. Sabando, and Matthew Ohashi represented the college on the national level at J&J’s corporate headquarters. At the end of the two days, they emerged victorious, defeating teams from Bucknell University, La Salle University, Pennsylvania State University, Rider University, Rutgers University, Seton Hall University, University of Florida, University of Illinois, and Villanova University.
Teams act as consultants during March competition.
For the competition in March, teams had to “select and invest in a strategic and innovative opportunity to improve the lives of cancer patients while providing sustained growth for Masanos,” choosing from among three options.
“Our teams represented us well and it was difficult to select a winner.”
—Sharon Lassar, director, School of Accounting
In addition to the Alpha Kappa Psi team, teams from the FIU Accounting Association and the Financial Management Association competed
“The Alpha Kappa Psi team chose the option—‘invest in research and development to gain approval for a new indication for anemia related to chemotherapy treatment’—because it had the highest net present value, so it made for the strongest business case,” said Michael Jadoo, chapter president, who provided input and encouragement to the team.
Anneli Hilpinen (BBA ’06), manager, Student Learning Center, herself on the college’s winning team on campus in 2006, offered assistance to the FMA teams which competed at the college in March, and found the event itself “quite exciting” with the judges “asking hard questions.” Tessie Brunken (EMST ’86, BBA ’81), assistant director of student services, School of Accounting, worked with the FIU-AA team for this local event.
“Our teams represented us well and it was difficult to select a winner,” Lassar said. “One of the judges had flown in from New Brunswick to judge the competition. She also was one of the case’s authors, which explains why the questions were so hard. At least three judges had judged ten teams at another Florida university and were more impressed with ours.”
According to Brunken, there are many benefits for participants in case competitions.
“They get to hone their analytical and presentation skills using a ‘real world’ scenario, to increase exposure with a large corporate employer, to add an accomplishment to their résumé, and to develop a great story to tell when interviewing for whatever their ‘dream’ job is,” she said.
The students agreed. Here’s who they are and what they got out of the experience.
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Jaime Montalvan
Major: finance, economics minor
Expected graduation: spring, 2010
Memberships: Alpha Kappa Psi, assistant vice president, professional development
Reasons for participating: I wanted to challenge myself with this unique opportunity as well as prepare myself for future endeavors in the finance field. I also thought it was a good opportunity to represent my fraternity.
Contribution: I helped evaluate each option carefully and then input the financial information. I then focused on and presented the SWOT analysis.
Most valuable lesson: I learned the importance of precision. When dealing with things such as financial analysis, where each decision has to be carefully thought out, any small error can greatly affect your outcome.
Most valuable lesson from other teams: being able to stay confident throughout any mistakes and maintain our cool. Teams were able to overcome difficulties and still deliver an outstanding presentation.
Biggest challenge: enduring the long hours of our meetings. The many late nights began to take a toll, though we knew that without these long hours we could not be at our best the day of presenting.
Encouraging others: “It was an amazing experience, and I could begin to see how all my studies apply in real-life circumstances. It also was a good way to practice skills such as public speaking and working in teams.”
Future plans: obtain a graduate degree in finance and then pursue a career in investment banking |
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Isselle Medina
Major: finance and international business
Expected graduation: spring, 2010
Memberships: Alpha Kappa Psi, assistant to the executive vice president; National Society of Collegiate Scholars
Reason for participating: to gain a better understanding of what a financial analyst might do in the real world
Contributions: inputting the financials into the Excel spreadsheet; completing the scenario analysis
Most valuable lessons: the different analyses I was exposed to; also, learning about the various assumptions that need to be made as well as the various risks that need to be undertaken in a business endeavor
Most valuable lesson from other teams: exuding confidence throughout the presentation
Biggest challenge: understanding the case thoroughly and making sure not to overlook anything of importance
Encouraging others: “It’s definitely a heavy commitment, but the knowledge and exposure acquired from it will be extremely beneficial in the long run.”
Future plans: acquire a position as a financial analyst and eventually become CFO of a corporation |
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Anthony Munyaka
Major: marketing and International Business Honors
Expected graduation: spring, 2008
Memberships: Alpha Kappa Psi; executive vice president
Reasons for participating: an opportunity for the fraternity to get involved in an event that would test many of the ideals we live by as well as our knowledge of business. It also was an opportunity to do something we have wanted to do for a few years.
Contributions: As a senior on the team, I was able to apply some of the experience in case analysis that I have acquired in some classes. I also was involved in aligning the marketing aspect of the case with the financial analysis thanks to my background in marketing.
Most valuable lessons: definitely teamwork. Working with this group showed me the essence of dedication and sacrifice for a common goal. From sleepless nights working on the case to long days that could have been spent sunbathing at the beach, I learned that hard work could overcome any obstacle, especially when you have a crew of friends going through it with you.
Most valuable lesson from other teams: Practice makes perfect, and being able to stay confident to work through any mistake or technical difficulty is as important as your presentation. Some teams played very well through some technical mess-ups and that resilience stuck out to me.
Biggest challenge: trying to find an answer to each question we could come up with. We wanted to analyze the case as thoroughly as possible, and sometimes we ended up in a discussion for hours on one topic.
Encouraging others: “It’s a great experience in using the knowledge that the college has thrown your way with a real-life case. Everything you have done in college, every exam, quiz, and discussion, comes full circle when you can see how it actually affects the real world.”
Future plans: I plan to work with Caterpillar, Inc., in the technical marketing development program starting in September, 2008. I also plan to attend graduate business school to acquire my MBA a few years down the line. |
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Maria E. Sabando
Major: international business and marketing
Expected graduation: 2011
Memberships: Alpha Kappa Psi, internship director; Student Programming Council
Reason for participating: opportunity to participate in a project that could develop me on a professional level and that could also bring honor to my fraternity
Contributions: researcher and presenter
Most valuable lessons: I learned about marketing theories that I’m technically not supposed to learn until my junior/senior year, and I got a lot of tips on proper presentation skills.
Most valuable lesson from other teams: body language and how much it can affect your presentation
Biggest challenge: reminding myself that I'm sacrificing spring break for a better goal.
Encouraging others: “This is a great opportunity to develop yourself. It is also a great networking opportunity. Imagine the honor of representing Florida International University in the national competition.”
Future plans: move to New York after graduating, find a stable job there, and after two years, pursue my master’s in business administration at New York University |
Matthew Ohashi
Major: finance with entrepreneurship track, economics minor
Expected graduation: 2009
Memberships: Alpha Kappa Psi, vice president of professional development; Financial Management Association, Business Student Council, fraternity delegate
Reason for participating: I was looking to expand my knowledge of real-world applications of what I am learning in school. Additionally, I wanted to bring prestige to my fraternity by winning the competition.
Contributions: finance, marketing, strategic approach, and making the executive summary
Most valuable lessons: analyzing financial statements of large projects, budgeting of large amounts of capital, aspects of product branding and patents, marketing strategy, and making effective presentations
Most valuable lesson from other teams: how they presented their financials
Biggest challenge: figuring out the marketing strategy and analyzing the risks of prospective investments
Encouraging others: “If you are serious about your career and about learning real-life applications of subjects studied in school, participate in this competition.”
Future plans: go into either investment banking or private banking with a major bank, possibly do some work on Wall Street, be able to attend a JD-MBA program at New York University or University of Chicago
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