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St. Thomas University’s MBA High Performance teams wins 1st place in national 2015 KeyBank Foundation Minority MBA Case Competition

By March 9, 2015STU News

The St. Thomas University School of Business MBA High Performance Team won first place in the prestigious 11th Annual KeyBank Foundation & Fisher College of Business Minority MBA Student Competition, held February 27 through March 1 in Cleveland, Ohio. This was the first time the St. Thomas University School of Business Graduate Program had competed in this event, presenting against other top-tier business schools and universities in the nation, including Yale, American University, Penn State, Boston College, and UC-Berkeley, to name a few.

St. Thomas University’s School of Business team included graduate students Soledad Filgueira, Candy Sicle and Alicia Llamazares, who had sent their C.V. as part of the application package. It was the only team from South Florida invited to compete. Faculty Advisors Dr. Jose Rocha and Dr. Paul Maxwell started guiding the three students the second week in January as they were assigned a strategic management and business development case relating to the competition’s main sponsor, The KeyBank Foundation. During the six-week preparation period, our three participants conducted research and analysis, came up with alternatives, drafted the course of action and strategic decisions for the case. St. Thomas had made it to the final five alongside teams from Yale, USC, Boston College and the University of Chicago.

Traveling to Ohio with Professor Rocha, the team prepared to present to a panel of judges representing KeyBank and other advisors for two, twenty-minute rounds. Our team won first place and, in addition, Ms. Filgueira, a Global Entrepreneurship major expected to receive MBA degree in December 2015, won the Best Presenter Award during the 1st round of the competition.

“Our talented team, supported by our exceptional faculty, demonstrated the qualities of a St. Thomas University education,” said School of Business Dean Somnath Bhattacharya. “Our teams can perform at any level as a result of the well-rounded and intensive programs we have to offer.”

Marlen Lebish

Author Marlen Lebish

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