April 26, 2024
MBA students compete at the University of Kansas
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The team that traveled and competed at the Big 12 Case Competition are, from left, Garrett Whoolery, Dawson Vangoethem, Katherine Krause, Lynn Waugh; Derrick Gimson and Blair Kocher. |
Kansas State University Master of Business Administration, or MBA, students recently competed in the Big 12 Case Competition at the University of Kansas School of Business. Competing for K-State were Garrett Whoolery; Dawson Vangoethem; Katherine Krause; and Derrick Gimson. Blair Kocher, department of management instructor, and Lynn Waugh, graduate program coordinator, accompanied the students.
The Big 12 Case Competition is a 24-hour graduate-level business competition that rotates between different schools in the Big 12. Students are assigned a company upon case distribution the day of the competition and are not allowed to have contact with their faculty advisors/coaches throughout. The 10 teams who competed this year were divided into three flights, with one team from each flight moving on to the finals. While K-State's team did not compete in the finals, Krause won the award for Best Presenter.
"These last two years of participating in competition has not only expanded and sharpened my critical thinking skills but taught me how to present in front of a room full of strangers about any topic confidently," said Krause. "The case competition has been one of the single most beneficial things I have done during my MBA program."
"I couldn't be prouder of our team's presentation this year," said Kocher. "Their use of storytelling, financial modeling, creativity, and even the use of AI to generate what the solution could look like to bolster the company product line was incredible on its own, let alone to be able to deliver that kind of quality in less than 24 hours ... I was blown away."
Learn more about the Master of Business Administration program at K-State.