Smith Grad Students Participate in Case Competition

Students in the five specialty master's programs at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business participated in Smith’s first MS Case Competition on Nov. 14, 2014. Cross-functional teams were formed of 4 to 5 graduate students studying in the following programs: Master of Science in Accounting, Master of Finance, Master of Science in Information Systems, Master of Science in Marketing Analytics, and Master of Science in Supply Chain.

Students had a week to analyze a business case about Abercrombie & Fitch’s marketing practices. They had to decide if the company should stick with its current exclusionary tactics, focusing and catering solely to “cool, sexy” customers, or become more inclusive by offering plus sizes.

Nearly 70 students in 18 teams participated in the competition, which was held in two rounds. The winning team consisted of Denise Deng, Young Peng, Connie Huang and Amy Cho. Their recommendation was to conduct a field experiment to find out what customers were really responding to: offensive attitude or no plus-size clothing.

“It was great fun to serve as a judge for the case competition,” said Amy Swann, director of specialty master's programs at Smith. “I especially enjoyed seeing the Smith master's students across different programs working together in teams. It was very difficult to choose a winner from the top four teams—each of them had clearly put a lot of thought into their strategies and presentations. Congrats to Suzanne L'Amoureux and the Office of Career Services team on hosting a successful event.”

For more information about specialty master's programs at Smith, visit: www.rhsmith.umd.edu/ms.