On October 27 the University of Connecticut School of Business participated in the Travelers IT Case Competition. In this year’s competition, six teams representing schools all across Minnesota and Connecticut, competed against each other in an effort to market insurance to millennials using technology. Each team was given two weeks to create a innovative strategy to tackle this problem. They were allotted 20 minutes to present their ideas towards a solution in front of a judging panel of Travelers’ senior management. Following the presentation, the judging panel had ten minutes to ask any questions they had in regards to the project.

Each school invited was allowed one team, composed of three members chosen from the school’s sponsor. The participants from the University of Connecticut, Victoria Trautman (MIS), Benjamin Bosco (MIS), and Arshia Monshi (Business Administration), were introduced two weeks prior to the competition and given the case to work on. The team decided to build a seamless platform that included both a website and application that tied into a dash cam system.  In theory, the app would connect  to the  dash camera that records a user as he or she drives to see how many times a millennial checks his or her phone. In order to spread word of such an app, the group implemented a detailed social media strategy to enhance the application’s popularity and usage rate.

Case competitions are important to give students the exposure to real world problems and encourage their critical thinking, problem solving, and leadership skills. Victoria Trautman (MIS), spoke of the importance of participating in case competitions saying, “it is a great learning experience working with people from all over the Connecticut area in different fields.” This case competition was especially important to the students because it acted as a round of an interview for the summer internship program they were all trying to get in to. This allowed them to show off their presentation skills while networking with potential future employers.

On October 27, twenty five students from the University of Connecticut School of Business were invited to participate in PwC’s annual case competition. They broken down into five separate teams and each were assigned a PwC mentor and a faculty mentor from the School of Business. The teams had two weeks to create a strategy to push Country’s Best convenience store, a real-world client of PwC, to full automation. Each team was allotted ten minutes to present their ideas towards a solution in front of a judging panel of PwC’s senior management. Following the presentation, the judging panel had ten minutes to ask any questions they had in regards to the project.

The team represented by Michael Greco (’21), Scott Kwon (’21), Tiffany Cheung (’20), Xiangyu Mu (’19), and Karina Zhao (’20) was mentored by MIS Academic Director, Jonathan Moore. “Our team’s plan of action was to implement automation in stages across the different tiers, grow a loyalty program, and introduce a private label in the stores. We wanted to adjust to the changing market environment while maintaining the close-knit, community feel of Country’s Best,” said Karina Zhao, a sophomore accounting major.

Although the case was heavily focused on the accounting and finance fields, the team was able to include their knowledge from a variety of their business courses, specifically marketing and management, in order to build their action plan. Case competitions are “a great opportunity to apply knowledge you learn in business classes, meet new people, and network with professionals,” said Karina. They allow students to get the exposure to the real world that is unparalleled in the classroom.

On Wednesday, October 25, the Operations and Information Management Department (OPIM), held its 2nd annual Networking Dinner. This dinner is held for UConn School of Business Management Information Systems (MIS), Business Data Analytics (BDA), and Business Technology students, past and present, in order to enhance their networking skills and connect with people of similar backgrounds and interests.

This year’s Networking Dinner was held at UConn’s Graduate Business Learning Center in Downtown Hartford, where students, faculty, and alumni participated in a dinner similar to speed dating. At the dinner, alumni and faculty take their seats, and students move  from table to table in between each course to speak to a new set of alumni. This networking method not only helped break the ice, but allowed for students to talk to more alumni in a structured setting.

Calvin Mahlstedt (’19) a junior MIS major, emphasized the importance of networking, not only for getting internships and jobs, but also for gaining valuable insight towards what others in the field have experienced and accomplished.

Each student attended the networking event for different reasons, some for insight on what alumni have experienced and others to hear about what the alumni have accomplished. However to many students, the largest benefit is being able to establish a connection with alumni for job opportunities and potential career paths after graduation.

A senior MIS student, Alex Martinez (’18),  was happy to have attended the networking dinner because of  the valuable connection he made. During one of his table rotations, Mr. Martinez met John Calabrese, an alumni who works at Travelers. Calabrese advocates for the program that he will be entering post graduation and Martinez is excited to have a connection when he makes that transition.

As the benefits for current student are evident, the event was also an opportunity for alumni to stay up to date on the advancements the department has made. During the dinner, the MIS Academic Director Jonathan Moore updated the audience on OPIM Innovate, a departmental initiative for experiential learning with emerging technology. He encouraged the alumni to become involved with teaching, workshops, and mentoring students within the department.

 

On Friday September 29th the Operations and Information Management Department (OPIM) held  their annual Management Information Systems (MIS) Case Competition. A total of 10 teams, each consisting of 4 students, presented their business case solutions to a panel of 3 faculty judges. Each team was given 20 minutes to present their solution and another 10 minutes to answer any of the judges questions.

Not only MIS but multiple majors from the School of Business were represented. The department was extremely please to see students from every class standing participating as well. IMA President and senior Tyler Lauretti says, “it’s awesome to see freshman specifically already getting involved in these competitions. Sooner than not they’ll be running IMA and paving the way for future MIS majors so it’s great that they’re gaining experience this early”. The team ‘NextGen Consulting’, entirely compromised of freshman, also all attested to how the competition was both rewarding and beneficial for them.

The teams spent an entire week researching different types of software and educating themselves on to their highest capability. Belma Pehratovic shared how she initially felt extremely nervous about presenting, however she reflected on a moment of reassurance during her presentation, “I was talking about a software I did not know prior to this week, and I saw someone, who is incredibly educated on the topic, nodding and confirming that my points were correct. It’s such a great experience that not only expanded my knowledge but also gave me new sense of confidence”. Pehratovic’s fellow teammate, Victoria Trautman, thought the competition was eyeopening in the fact that it reassured her, a young female professional, that she had the ability to study, research, and eloquently talk about IT related topics such as this.

Freshman Alexander Zevin spoke candidly about his first case competition experience, “it was a challenge to produce an innovative and feasible solution to present to the judges. We spent many hours researching various emerging technologies that could play a role in solving the University’s unique set of goals. Throughout the week of the competition, we would meet to discuss our findings and truly gain an understanding of the technologies we wanted to bring to the University”.

At the Awards Luncheon on Friday, October 6th the top three teams were announced. . Team “NextGen Consulting”: Alexander Zevin, Alexander Gmuer, Ali Taouil, and Rashad Lum You took first place and were each awarded $500. “Dream Team”: Victoria Trautman, Belma Pehratovic, Chris Connelly, and Joel Thomas took second place and were each awarded $250. “Girl Bosses”: Hannah Bonitz, Radhika Kanaskar, Maggie Howie, and Olivia Villecco took third place and were each awarded $125. All teams received certificates and gift bags as a thank you for participating.

 

 

On Friday September 15th the Operations and Information Management Department (OPIM) held a kickoff meeting for their annual Management Information Systems (MIS) Case Competition. Sponsored by the OPIM Department and coordinated by the Information Management Association (IMA), the competition is based on business cases focused in MIS.

20 students attended the kickoff meeting, some as a team representative and others looking to join or conjoin pairs to make a team of 4. In total 10 teams signed up to participate, two more than last year.  The representatives and remaining teams were given the guidelines and instructions for the competition.

The teams have been finalized as of Wednesday September 19th, and on Friday September 22nd the case will be sent out. The teams will have one week to complete and prepare a case solution presentation. On September 29th the students will present their solution to this real business case to a panel of judges.

Again scholarship awards will be presented to the top three teams, first place will be awarded $500 per person, second place $250 per person, and third place $125 per person. Every participant of the case competition is given the opportunity to test their skills in this real-life scenario to help prepare them for future business endeavors.

OPIM and IMA wishes the best of luck to the participants and looks forward to seeing their presentations on the 29nd!

 

On Friday September 8^th the Operations and Information Management Department (OPIM) held an ice cream social reception to welcome back their students. Management Information System (MIS) and Business Data Analysis (BDA) majors, new and returning alike, gathered in the OPIM department to learn about the resources available to them.

Students were welcomed by Jon Moore, MIS Program Director, who highlighted the opportunities and resources available. During this event was also the official opening of OPIM Innovate, which is an initiative to get emerging technology into the hands of students. Attendees were shown the new innovation space as well as the upgrades to the OPIM research lab. Students moved to different stations where they received their major t-shirt, made ice cream sundaes, and were also encouraged to explore the demonstrations going on in the lab. Faculty and student workers were showing off different technologies found in the lab, including Virtual Reality, 3D printing, and Internet of Things.

Freshman MIS major, He Huang, expressed his excitement to attend workshops on 3D printing in particular as he is intrigued to learn more and gain experience of the process. The OPIM department is frequently bringing new forms of technology to the lab and teaching their students about them during their workshops. Lauren Vanfossan, senior MIS major, spoke about her interest in artificial intelligence as it evolves in society, “it will be interesting to see what the lab shows us about the benefits of artificial intelligence versus the negative aspects heavily expressed by the media”.

Over 80 students attended the event throughout the three-hour period. Many of these students were new to the program and came to learn more about what OPIM can offer them. Overall the reception was a success and many students who visiting the space were excited to take advantage of the departments opportunities in the future.

On Tuesday April 25th the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department gathered to honor a number of students majoring in Management Information Systems (MIS). Over 30 undergraduate students, freshman through seniors, were selected and recognized for their excellence in the MIS program.

Before receiving their scholarships the recipients were praised for their accomplishments by Sulin Ba, the Associate Dean of the School of Business. Ba addressed the students by sharing some of her rewarding personal experiences as a professor in the department and seeing her students develop. She offered encouragement for rising underclassmen to continue their dedication to academic success in the MIS program. She emphasized the skills they acquire as MIS majors will give them a competitive edge as future employee prospects. She concluded by congratulating all the seniors in attendance as they prepare for their next journey in the work force.

Among the students present many were current members of the Information Management Association (IMA). IMA president Tyler Lauretti was pleased to see “a lot of familiar faces from around the department who attended workshops or from IMA being recognized”.  He believes that by the department acknowledging the consistent involvement of these students it will further motivate them to participate in the future. Senior Luke LaBranche was particularly thankful and impressed by the department for continuing to honor and reward graduating students, “it means a lot to know the department cares about not only their undergraduates but also sending off their seniors”.

A word frequently used by the students while describing their experience with the OPIM Department was growth. Senior Marc Senatore spoke about overcoming challenges during his educational career at UConn, such as applying to the Business School three times before being accepted. However he now he feels he is leaving with a profound amount of confidence and knowledge due to the OPIM Department. He recalls coming into the MIS program, “not knowing any coding, and now I consider myself competent to learn any language [of code].” LaBranche described the passion of the department as “incredible” and the professors “always enthusiastic to teach”. The department’s dedication to improvement is what allows students with limited knowledge of MIS content to succeed in their major.

Several students also spoke about the impressive networking opportunities the OPIM Department offers them. OPIM Professor and Assistant Department Head Ramesh Shankar expressed the importance for graduating seniors to come back and recruit MIS students into their companies. Senatore supported Shankar’s advice by sharing how the departments networking helped him: “through a past UConn MIS alum I was able to intern for a company called Synchrony Financial, formally known as GE Capital”. The connections he made led to his recent offer for a full time position at Synchrony Financial.

The OPIM Department would again like to congratulate its scholarship recipients on their impressive academic achievements this semester and wishes the best of luck to the graduating seniors as they begin their new careers.