2007 Headlines
"Unlikely" Quintet Wins Integrative Case Competition
December 11, 2007 - Ithaca, NY - The first-year MBA students comprising team #38 bested 59 other teams, to win the Johnson School's 2nd Integrative Case Competition on December 11, 2007.
"If you showed our five names to the rest of the class, I don't think you would have heard a lot of 'oohs' and 'ahs' over the make up of our team," said Eric Fish, a member of winning team. "However, when we started working together, it was—pardon the cliché—clockwork."
Fish's teammates for the competition were Jisun Kim, Eunice Omole, Vivek Pai, and John Yen. Like all 267 members of the MBA Class of 2009, they were assigned to teams by faculty organizers, and given 48 hours to prepare a case analysis and presentation, immediately after completing the rigorous core curriculum and final exams.
"A lot of us were a little exhausted going into the case, but as we started digging into the issues, we became very interested and involved," said team member Vivek Pai.
"The integrative case made me realize the power of team work more than other experiences throughout the first semester," added his teammate, Jisun Kim.
The Integrative Case Competition, sponsored by Citi, provides a forum for students to showcase the skills and capabilities they gained through the core curriculum and the Foundations in Leadership program. Students compete for cash prizes for the top-three teams, while also earning a portion of their final grades in core finance and strategy courses.
"I am proud of the level of professionalism and knowledge I saw in our MBA Class of 2009," said Johnson School Dean Joseph Thomas. Their understanding of complex business issues is remarkable, given the short time they have been in classes here."
First-years picked up the case and instructions at noon on Sunday, December 9. They were charged with identifying a merger partner or acquisition prospect for a major U.S. airline. The assignment included a difficult valuation component-competitors were required to value the subject airline before and after a proposed merger or acquisition, and to estimate the total value of synergies gained.
On Tuesday, December 11, at 8 a.m., teams began presenting their analysis before two-judge panels. The six finalist teams were announced at 3 p.m., and students immediately moved to their final presentations-these before a group of 12 judges representing Citi, along with Johnson School and Cornell alumni and faculty.
During final presentations, most teams were challenged by the judges to explain why their proposed merger or acquisition would be successful, in an industry that had never seen such a success. The winning team's proposal addressed regulatory and financial barriers to carrier integration with both a merger with another major airline and the acquisition of a smaller, international carrier.
"The judges were impressed by our creative recommendation, well-thought-out strategy and presentation," said Eunice Omole of the winning team. "We were able to convincingly address this issue in a number of ways, through our strategic rationale in structuring the deal."
The December contest was the Johnson School's second Integrative Case Competition. Its "stand-and-deliver" nature tests the mettle of first-year students, and illustrates how the school's performance learning model leads to deliverable results.
"All the hard work for the last 18 weeks really paid off, when it came down to the case-here was a chance to put theory into practice," Omole said. "The value was priceless. It was a great way to end my first semester as an MBA student."
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