‘Team Yellow Jacket’ placed third in the national finals of the 6th Annual Deloitte SCNO Supply Chain Challenge hosted on the University of Southern California's campus.
Scheller College of Business first-year, Full-time MBA students Mihir Chheda, Bradley Gunter, Osama Mikawi, and Subhachandhar Shanmugasundaram competed against teams from Brigham Young University, The Ohio State University, Penn State University, Purdue University, the University of Southern California, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison to implement real-world supply chain solutions.
The competition presented participating teams with mock companies facing various challenges. Deloitte executives determined the strongest action plans.
“The Supply Chain Challenge was incredibly realistic. We were brought in, given a massive amount of data to sort through, and asked to come up with a few key insights and recommendations for our client – all while under a tremendous time constraint,” said Gunter.
Shanmugasundaram agreed, adding, “The Challenge was not just another case competition – it was a simulated consulting experience. We lived a day in the life of a consultant trying to solve a global business problem.”
All agree that Scheller MBA courses in Business Communications, Managing Information Resources, and Operations provided key concepts and strategies to incorporate technologies such as blockchain into possible solutions for operational problems.
“The best part for me was the open-ended nature of the problem,” said Chheda. “We knew we had to function effectively as team if we had any chance of success.”
Added Mikawi, “For me, the best part of the whole experience was being part of a team that was able to deliver under pressure. None of us come from a consulting background, so to be able to finish among the top finalists in the nation was a very rewarding ending.”