McIntire congratulates the team of Paranya Jareonvongrayab (A&S ’18), Simon Li (A&S ’21), Yueying Pan (A&S ’20), Niab Sirisukhodom (McIntire ’18), and Jackie Wang (McIntire ’18), who won the 19th Annual Navigant-McIntire Case Competition, which took place Feb. 9, 2018. The winning team took home a $2,000 first-place prize. Omar Amer (McIntire ’18), Luna Han (M.S. in Commerce ’18), Lulu Huang (M.S. in Commerce ’18), Mo Jmaileh (M.S. in Commerce ’18), and Muna Yussuf (M.S. in Commerce ’18) placed second in the event, winning $1,000. Two teams also placed as runners-up, each winning $500.
Playing the roles of Navigant consultants, student teams advised a course of action for life insurance investment firm Vortex, which had been injured by a firm that had been contracted to procure policies for Vortex to purchase and invest and that was charging inflated prices, to the detriment of Vortex. The winning team’s analysis identified the extent of damages and recommended several options for proceeding, including negotiation, mediation, or litigation. The team cautioned Vortex to either strengthen the contract for future business or consider termination of the arrangement.
“McIntire thanks Navigant for its longstanding commitment to and engagement with the School, and offers particular thanks to this year’s team of Navigant consultants—Helen Ardila (McIntire ’16), Brooks Berry, Katie Gaver (McIntire ’12), Jeff Green (McIntire ’88), Kevin Loeffler (McIntire ’13), Steve LaPenna, Alex Rossi (A&S ’16, M.S. in Commerce ’17), and Jack Schryber—who offered their time, insight, and expertise to once again make the competition an amazing learning experience for students,” said McIntire Professor Cynthia Fraser, faculty adviser for the Consulting Group at McIntire, which plans, organizes, and hosts the annual event. She also recognized Berry and Rossi for coordinating with CGM, LaPenna and Rossi for the case debrief, and CGM president Katie Henslee (McIntire ’18) for promoting the competition, resulting in 12 teams participating in the event.
Special thanks to McIntire faculty members Tony Baglioni, Brendan Boler, Lynn Hamilton, and Eric Negangard, who served as faculty judges; to Academic Program Support Team Member Serrell Stoke for her invaluable behind-the-scenes assistance; and to CGM officers and executives Andrew Bell (McIntire ’19), Emily Healy (A&S ’20), Katie Henslee (McIntire ’18, CGM president), Mitchell Maison (A&S ’20), Emma Nosseir (McIntire ’18, CGM vice president of public relations), John Nossiff (McIntire ’18, CGM vice president of corporate relations), Austin Spencer (A&S’ 20), Kylie Sullivan (McIntire ’19), Michael Van Meter (A&S ’20), and Grace Zeng (McIntire ’18, CGM vice president or operations/treasurer), who hosted this year’s competition.
