2007 Headlines
Johnson School Wins First Place at Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management National MBA Human Capital Case Competition
October 23, 2007 | Ithaca, NY- The Johnson School team comprised of MBA students Anthony J. Figliolini (team captain, MBA-MILR '08), Puneet Bhatia, Rohit Kumar, Tania Stewart, Rhoda Yap (all MBA '08), and Javed Singha (MBA '09) took first place and a $20,000 prize at the nation's first-ever MBA-level competition focusing on human capital challenges held Oct. 19-20 at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management. The teams were judged by executives from General Electric and Deloitte who provided the support and sponsorship for the competition, including the prizes for the winning teams.
Sponsored by the Strategic HR, Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (SHRLOE) club, the Johnson School team was comprised of men and women of various ages, nationalities, and ethnicities, and benefitting from a variety of prior work experiences, professional interests and academic concentrations. They were advised by Randy Allen, associate dean for corporate relations and consultant-in-residence.
The competition pitted student groups from top graduate schools across the country against each other in a shotgun-start format to address a real-world human capital issue and present solutions relevant in today's fast-paced global economy. This year's challenge was to analyze the competitive and labor market challenges being faced by a global legal services firm and make recommendations regarding talent management practices and their implementation.
"The winning teams demonstrated that there are two things all human capital solutions must have-an elegant human resources design coupled with a strong business case," said Vanderbilt professor and adviser for Owen's Leadership Development Program Neta Moye.
"We believed that the client's development framework initiative was a step in the right direction toward organizational alignment with their strategy of building international client service. However, we felt that certain aspects of the initiative had to be modified to take into account regional differences and the decentralized nature of the client's organization," noted team captain Figliolini. "Also, we believed that implementing the framework in phases with a communications and measurement plan focused on addressing possible risks and resistance was vital to ensuring the success of the change."
For more information on the National MBA Human Capital Case Competition, log onto www.humancapitalcasecompetition.com.