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2011 College of Business Student Diversity Challenge

The Goal

Students will use their knowledge, personal experience, and creativity to develop a plan that addresses globalization and diversity in a one-day case study competition. 

The Competition

First, students will apply to participate in the competition by completing an application and submitting a short essay. Once selected to participate, students will form teams of three. A week before the competition, the teams will be given basic information about the case study. Teams will be encouraged to begin initial research to prepare for the actual competition.

The case study will present a situation or challenge related to diversity and globalization. On the day of the competition, the students will be given the actual case study. The students must develop a plan or strategy addressing the items called for in the case study. On the day of the competition students will have two and a half hours to work with their teams. They will present their solution in a six to eight minute presentation to a panel of judges (see Table 1). 

Table 1: Competition Agenda Saturday, November 5, 2011

9:30-10:00 a.m. Check-in, breakfast and networking
10:00-10:30 a.m.  Welcome
10:30-1:00 p.m.  Team work session (Boxed lunches will be provided at 12:00 p.m.)
1:00-2:15 p.m. 

Team presentations (Concurrent judging)
Evaluation Panel A
Evaluation Panel B
(Top 2 teams will present again in the final round)
2:30-3:30 p.m.  Finalists (final four teams) will present
3:45-4:00 p.m.  Award presentation

The Judges

All judges for this competition have demonstrated their strong commitment to diversity in their workplace. Below is a short description about the judges:

Capital One is a U.S. based bank holding company specializing in credit cards, home loans, auto loans, banking, and savings products. A member of the Fortune 500, the company helped pioneer the mass marketing of credit cards in the early 1990s, and it is now the fourth largest customer of the United States Postal Service and has the 5th largest deposit portfolio in the United States. The company has won the coveted “Soaring Eagle” award at the 27th annual MIC Gold Star Awards celebration hosted by the Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council and is ranked 25 on DiversityInc Magazine's 2009 Top 50 Companies for Diversity[R] list.

Deloitte, also known as one of the “Big Four” account firms, is the largest private professional services organization in the world. According to the organization's website as of 2011, Deloitte has approximately 182,000 staff at work in more than 150 countries, delivering audit, tax, consulting, enterprise risk and financial advisory services through its member firms. The company has received multiple awards for its pursuance of diversity, being recipient for awards such as Top Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities, Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality, and top 10 Employers for Women MBA’s.

eBay is an American Internet consumer-to-consumer (c2c) corporation that manages eBay.com, an online acution and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of  goods and services worldwide. Founded in 1995, eBay is one of the notable success stories of the dot-com bubble; it is now a multi-billion dollar business with operations localized in more than thirty countries. 

IBM  is an American multinational technology and consulting firm headquartered in Armonk, New York. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology. In 2010, the company was named as the No. 1 company for global diversity by DiversityInc, #4 on Barron’s World’s most respected companies list in 2010, and #1 among the top 100 Hong Kong leading graduate employers.

Johnson Lambert & Co. LLP is a multi-office CPA firm with a national and selectively international client base. We believe that unique industries demand a targeted focus. Since our inception in 1986, our business strategy has been to focus on distinct industry niches where we can distinguish ourselves as possessing an unparalleled depth of technical expertise and experience specifically relevant to our clients’ needs. 

KPMG is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY) and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands. The firm has reached the number 3 spot on the 2010 International Innovation in Diversity Awards. Being the only Big Four firm to be named in this Top Ten list, the company was cited for its efforts on behalf LGBT community.

Evaluation and Awards

A panel of judges will evaluate the team presentations. The panel will include representatives from the College of Business and the sponsoring companies. Cash prizes will be given to the winners.

Click here for the 2011 Diversity Case Study Competition application.