A team of graduate students from the Daniels College of Business took first place in this year’s Aspen Institute’s Business & Society International MBA Case Competition, held April 13 in New York. The Daniels College team initially competed against more than 1,000 students representing 25 of the world’s leading business schools. The final round of competition pitted Daniels against four other top business school programs. The case, written by the Yale School of Management, challenged the students to integrate corporate profitability and positive social and environmental impact in a real business scenario.
The Daniels team was led by graduate students Qionglin Dai, Andy Reger, David Lashen and Peter Knox. Applying skills and knowledge they learned in the classroom, the students successfully executed an award-winning case on how Wal-Mart de Mexico could be fiscally and ethically responsible to all its stakeholders. The students won $20,000 and were also allowed to donate an additional $1,000 to a charity of their choice. The team made its donation to Living City Block (www.livingcityblock.org), a nonprofit that is developing a business model to ensure competitive financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy.
“The Aspen Institute’s stated mission is to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society,” says Patrick Orr, senior director of graduate operations at Daniels. “Their mission aligns incredibly well with the Daniels College of Business, and our students were able to apply all the themes and technical skills they learned in the classroom to their case.”