The fifth year annual Deloitte National Case Competition commenced on Friday, October 31 as the contending UCLA Anderson teams gathered in Korn Convocation Hall to receive their cases. Twenty-four Anderson teams compete against each vying to make the national round for scholarships, prizes, and stellar reputations. “Deloitte University,” a training facility for Deloitte Consulting, hosts the final round of the National Case Competition in Dallas, Texas in January.
To kick off the first round, Katie Dye (’09) welcomed the student teams. While an Anderson team has yet to win the national competition, she insisted, “this year is the year” suggesting that the key to success is to “truly believe in one’s ideas.” She prompted students to enjoy the competition, to focus on their learning, and to tweet #DeloitteNCCAnderson in times of high stress. The students were given until 8:00am the next morning to submit their cases.
The teams spent Halloween night tackling a complex consulting case concerning hypothetical growth options for Smart Things, a company recently acquired by Samsung and confronting the emerging market for smart home products. After successfully submitting their cases, the teams presented their arguments before a panel of 20 judges sent from Deloitte. The four teams selected for the final round spent the afternoon vying for the judges’ favor by arguing various tactics for the company.
AnderS&On proposed that the company focus its efforts on creating a consumer ecosystem with a variety of compatible smart products. Case Busters insisted on a scalable, simple, and accessible model where smart products would be offered for free and revenue would be accumulated through data trend sales. RRPT proposed technological research to develop a smart chip, a universal component to connect any device to the smart home. Lastly, Anderson Americans proposed moving into personal healthcare.
The judges based their decision on “thoroughness and quality of presentation and innovation and defensibility of ideas” and announced team AnderS&On (pictured above) as the winner. The team members, Bryan Whitman, Kim Barger, Michael Kellagher, and Hans Mantor, will move on to the national portion of the competition.
(Story and photos by Bijan White)
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