USU business students take first place at BYU competition
November 27th, 2009 Posted in OpinionSpecial to the Hard News Cafe
LOGAN–Three Utah State University students bested teams from business schools around the country in a competition earlier this month that tested not only their ability to make sound business recommendations, but required that they present their solutions in Spanish.
A Jon M. Huntsman School of Business Spanish-speaking team took first place in a competition that required them to prepare recommendations, as if Walmart had sought their advice before entering Asia, South America and Europe. They were given two weeks to prepare and then they were expected to present their ideas to a panel of judges. Teams were judged on their knowledge of the case, their presentation and their ability to speak a second language.
The BYU Business Language Case Competition is an annual event sponsored by the Whitmore Global Management Center in the Marriott School of Management
Chad Albrecht, an assistant professor at the Huntsman School of Business, accompanied the students to the competition but was not allowed to help or coach them in their preparations.
“Their Spanish was great,” said Albrecht, who also speaks Spanish. “They were very thorough and professional as they drew on their training in business theory to make their recommendations. I was also impressed with the responses they offered when they were questioned by the judges.”
Utah State was represented by a Spanish and a Portuguese team and competed against business schools from major universities such as the University of Washington, Purdue University, University of Indiana, Michigan State, University of Texas Austin and Baylor University.
“We all started with the same information,” said Brad Carr, a member of the Spanish team. “We tried to find an innovative way to present our conclusions so they would be clear and easy to understand. I think we succeeded.”
Members of the Spanish team were Javan Bowles, Rick Williams and Brad Carr. The Portuguese team members were Adam Croshaw, Steve Thompson and David Passey.
MC
NW
Tags: BYU competition, first place, Huntsman School of Business, USU
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