The Integrated Business Case Competition, sponsored by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, provides an opportunity for all graduating seniors in the College of Business Administration at UNT to apply the skills and knowledge they have accumulated throughout the course of their business education to the solution of a business problem. The competition is designed so that appropriate solutions must cut across traditional functional boundaries. While team members can use expertise developed within their own particular major to provide insights on the company's problems, these insights must ultimately be merged with those of students from other majors to provide a coherent whole. In doing so, the students are forced to consider how their own functional area can be integrated with other functional areas. The competition thus encourages students to take a "big picture" perspective and understand that while each particular function can add value, this value will only be captured if the firm is able to integrate the information coming from other areas in a timely and logical fashion.
The competition is an integral part of the capstone business policy course. The course exposes students to conceptual material from strategic management, business process redesign, and other areas that can help them to make connections across traditional functional departments. Experience in applying the material prior to the competition is gained through discussion, case analysis, and practice team projects. The classroom practice-sessions also serve the purpose of allowing team members to get to know each other, assess their strengths, and develop the ability to work in teams.
The competition itself occurs near the end of the term, and allows the students to get involved in a real world business situation. It requires the students to take on the role of a business consulting team and offer integrative solutions to the problems faced by a firm. Initially done using fictitious companies, the competition now centers around an ongoing business from the DFW area. Companies involved over the last 4 long semesters include Oakmont Country Club, The Hayne Company (a commercial airfilter service and supply company located in South Dallas), Dowdey, Anderson Inc. (an engineering company located in Dallas), and Telux (now Zenet Technologies, a provider of internet and telecommunications services to the hospitality industry). Teams are provided with an initial set of information on the company but must supplement this with both outside research and through interviews with executives from the company under study. The completed analysis and recommended solutions are then presented to a panel of judges who role play representatives of the company.
To add an incentive for the students and to reward them for their hard work, we have endeavored to extend the team project from a classroom exercise into a broader event. To this end, a winning team is chosen from each section based on their oral presentation and these winners move on to a second presentation of their proposals. The second presentation follows a similar format to the first and takes place on the Saturday immediately following the week in which presentations are made in class. The second presentation is made to a new panel of judges consisting of executives from the company under study, additional executives from companies in the DFW area, and UNT representatives (typically the Dean of COBA and, as schedules permit, the president of UNT Dr. Norval Pohl). This 2nd round of competition takes place outside the university and includes lunch and refreshments for the participants and their guests (parents, spouses, etc.). Based on the presentations, the judges determine a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place team who are awarded with prize money, certificates, and recognition throughout the college.
