A team of CU-Boulder undergraduate business students will travel to Chicago this week to compete in a national consulting competition.
The Arthur Andersen Business Consulting Challenge gives students hands-on experience with the issues faced in consulting, including problem solving, developing innovative solutions, understanding frameworks and presenting findings.
The students earned the trip to the nationals by winning the preliminary CU competition on Feb. 12. Arthur Andersen staff gave the students five days to research a case study and 10 minutes to present their findings to the judges. The case asked students to propose a business-to-business Internet portal for Ben & Jerry's ice cream.
"We were able to think outside of the box and go beyond the given question, which showed creativity," said team member Cary Sanden, a CU sophomore.
The team's innovative approach placed them ahead of 10 other CU teams. They will advance to the national competition held outside of Chicago and vie for the grand prize of $5,000 and a $20,000 scholarship for CU.
"The College of Business is proud to be represented by these students," said Business Professor Steven Engel, who helped the team prepare. "The national competition will give them a great opportunity to showcase their talents and compare their skills with students from throughout the country."
In Illinois, CU students will compete against teams from UCLA, University of California, Berkeley, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A & M, the University of Southern California, University of Arizona, University of Notre Dame, University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Miami University of Ohio, William and Mary, Georgia Tech and Binghampton University.
The CU team, all sophomores, includes Cary Sanden, Valerie Barnard, Greg Koeka and Jess Edens.