By Karan Jain, MBA Class of 2020
There are case competitions, and then there are case competitions. The Deloitte Supply Chain Challenge is one such event where you know and understand the scope of the task at hand by the sheer amount of commitment that the organization has towards it. Not only is Deloitte one of the most reputed consulting firms in the world, but they are also invested in our school’s success. From educating the MBA class about the industry, (the firm and consulting in general), to preparing us for the (grueling) interview process, they ensure that every candidate can perform to the best of their abilities.
So, while the entire class was just wrapping their heads around the challenge of making it through the first module of the program, nearly 30 of my classmates grouped together in 7 teams to represent Penn State and take on the Deloitte Supply Chain Challenge in the final round in Los Angeles.
My team, Roadmap Partners, (in retrospect, a great name, but more on that later), comprised of Lu, the only woman in the team, Gopesh, Brady and me, Karan. We were beyond excited to be chosen to represent the school amongst all the elite company we were in after winning the first round, knowing full well the responsibility that lay ahead of us. With the win boosting our confidence, and Professor David Huff’s expert counsel in our repertoire, we headed to Los Angeles with the support of our entire class and administrative team in 220 – (that’s the suite the administrative office is based in, and how we lovingly refer to them).
We had decided to arrive in LA a day before the case competition to ensure that we would be well rested and ready for the challenge early next day. So, the first day (or what was left of it) was spent in exploring the city, the beaches, and eating some tacos (of course).
Venice Beach, in all its (gloomy) glory. We were also happy to be outside without 20 layers of clothing!
We started early the next day, dressed in our professional best and ready to put our knowledge to the test. The competition was being held at the Marshall School of Business in the University of Southern California and the participating teams were the University of Tennessee, Purdue, Georgia Tech, Ohio State University, Wisconsin & Brigham Young University, in addition to USC Marshall and us.
USC Marshall: Beautiful school and great people
Interacting with senior partners, faculty and students from other schools deepened our realization of the name and reputation that a Penn State MBA from Smeal carries. Not only were a majority of the Deloitte practitioners Alumni, but also the senior partners believed that students from Smeal displayed a high degree of analytical problem-solving skills, combined with a humble approach, compared to other professionals. After a brief introduction to the team from Deloitte and how the day would proceed, we were escorted to a room reserved for us to discuss the case. We were assigned a team lead from Deloitte who would be our one-point contact for any information we would need regarding the company.
Working hard…
The pouring rain, as opposed to the famous California sun, seemed to reflect the gravity of the task at hand, and I was happy that we were not missing being outdoors. We were given the morning to work on areas of improvement and possible solutions to present to the client at our afternoon meeting. This is where a surprise was awaiting us, as Deloitte had the Senior Vice President of said airline come down in person and answer our questions about the industry and associated challenges. It was a great opportunity, for we got to network and meet not just him, but also several senior partners at Deloitte and understand how consultants handle challenges and serve clients in a timely manner. After the meet and greet, we were back in rooms grinding out possible solutions and recommendations that had to be turned in as a PowerPoint deck by 11 p.m. that night. Several coffees and discussions later, we were able to get in our completed deck with chronological action steps, (a reason why I believed the name Roadmap was appropriate), and recommendations for improvement.
Coffee runs were fun!
We were to present at 8 a.m. the following morning and needless to say, had a sleepless night fueled by both excitement and nerves, (mostly nerves)! We were up and ready to go by 5 a.m. and after an early breakfast at our motel, we were back in the cab to USC. Professor Huff joined us there, and he was our eyes and ears to gain an understanding of how well our fellow competitors were doing.
We were in elite company, as the leadership from Deloitte themselves admitted to receiving recommendations that they had not thought of. Even though we didn’t win, we received some very positive feedback regarding our approach to the problem from the client themselves and high praise from Deloitte. The presentation was followed by a networking lunch where all the competitors were able to interact with each other in a far more relaxed environment and share stories about their first semester in business school.
Our group picture with Professor Huff after the presentation.
We left USC Marshall with a smile on our faces, thankful for the opportunity to present to people and positions we would otherwise not have access to, all while looking forward to the sun we would enjoy before taking the red-eye that night to home sweet home – State College.