Carey Business School students win $12,000 at Chamber of Commerce case competition

A team of four Global MBA students from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School took home first place and a $12,000 prize at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's 2017 MBA Case Competition held Friday in Washington, D.C.

Image caption: From left to right: Kevin Frick, Carey Business School vice dean for education; Marcus Tan; Ryan Douglas; Nariman Ziaee; and Chirag Potdar.

The team—Ryan Douglas, Chirag Potdar, Marcus Tan, and Nairman Ziaee—created the best challenge solution for examining the public's perception of business and recommending ways to reinforce the message that business plays a crucial role in society.

Douglas, the team's captain, said the team won because of the novelty of their solution and their preparation. He said the team used skills and knowledge learned in their MBA program, specifically citing insights from a Market Strategy course that informed their analysis.

"Our presentation strategy was focused on a 'different' solution as opposed to just a 'better' one," he said. "Our solution incorporated elements of a proposed summit, blockchain accelerator, and tailored consulting opportunities. By creating a strong slideshow and preparing well in advance, we were able to pull through."

The competition was hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation in partnership with FedEx Freight and PPG. More than 100 teams from 42 business schools entered the competition, but only four made it through to the Dec. 1 final: Stanford University Graduate School of Business; the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley; George Washington University School of Business; and Carey.