Following the Competition kick off meeting, eight teams registered to participate in the first annual MIS Case Competition, held by the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department. Each team was made up of four students with a variety of majors within the School of Business, including at least one MIS student on each team. The teams had one week to prepare a solution to present in front of a panel of judges. The three judges, Shun-Yang Lee, Wei-kuang Huang, and Satvinder Mayall, were all faculty members from the OPIM Department.
The teams had 20 minutes to present their case solution, followed by a 10-minute Q&A session with the judges to clarify the details of their business plans. In the question and answer session, the judges challenged the students’ research to make sure they covered all the bases.
The competition was held in a closed room and the teams were not allowed to watch each other present to keep the competition fair, according to Jon Moore, the coordinator of the event. Professor Moore, the judges, student workers, and faculty in the department were the only ones in the room during the presentations.
The competition attracted students with varying experience in case competitions. Some students said they had never competed in one before, while others said they had competed multiple times. 
One team in particular, the ROI’s, had experience competing in, and winning a case competition. The team won a marketing case competition this past spring, advancing them to a National competition in Indiana at the end of October. The ROI’s said that they participated in this competition to get more experience and practice their presentation skills before Nationals. Compared to previous case competitions, the ROI’s said that it was more ambiguous, making it more difficult to know exactly what the judges would be looking for. The team said that they had a few different routes that they thought they could have gone with their business solution. Ultimately, they decided on a plan that was very technology focused.
Members of Ideas R Us said they wished that they were able to watch the other teams’ presentations. One member, Vivek Tedla said that he likes to learn from others and wanted to see what they came up with. The group thought they covered everything, but Tedla said that other teams might have come up with something that they didn’t think of. The team noted that the question and answer portion was helpful in covering all the points that they wanted to present.
On the other hand, the Dynamic Dude(ttes), made up of all sophomores, said this was 
their first time participating in a case competition. They said it was a bit overwhelming, only having a week to prepare, but that it was a great experience to build on for future competitions.
Volunteers and student workers – Ryan O’Connor, Melissa Burk, Sarah Burdick, Taylor Begley, Alison Reilly, and Lejla Becarovic – assisted Professor Moore in making the event a success.
“I thought it was a really good turn out given it was our first attempt at an internal case competition. We’re planning on doing one each year to give students experience competing and presenting,” Professor Moore said.
One of the judges, Shun-Yang Lee said that he was very impressed by the students’ presentations. He said he was very interested to see the creative solutions that different teams came up with.
Lee said, “I would encourage all students to take advantage of opportunities such as the MIS case competition to build connections and practice problem solving and presentation skills. Most importantly, it is fun!”
The top three teams will be announced at the Awards Luncheon this Friday, October 7th at 11:30 a.m.