July 25, 2007
Media Contact: Amy Wolf
(615) 322-NEWS
Amy.wolf@vanderbilt.edu
First Ever Competition Being Held at Vanderbilt to Tackle Human Capital Challenges
NASHVILLE — A company may create a concept for the most innovative product with the best business and financial plans, but those dreams can become a nightmare if that company doesn’t find, hire, manage, develop and retain the right employees. As a result, companies are investing far more time and energy into understanding the challenges of managing and optimizing their most important asset — their employees.
Students from the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management who focus in human and organizational performance issues have created a first-of-it’s-kind competition that will challenge MBA student teams to analyze real human capital challenges and recommend solutions. Those ideas will be judged by a panel of industry executives, including leaders from General Electric and Deloitte, who are sponsoring the competition. The teams will have the chance to win more than $20,000 in cash prizes.
“Inevitably, some of the biggest obstacles any size company will face are human capital related,” said competition alumni advisor and 2007 Owen graduate Susan Strayer. “It's imperative that business school students gain a solid foundation in addressing employee-related challenges."
The nation’s first National MBA Human Capital Case Competition will be held in Nashville, Tenn. on October 20-22. The team registration deadline ends July 31. For more information, log onto www.humancapitalcasecompetition.com.
The Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University is ranked as a top institution by BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, Financial Times and Forbes. For more news about Owen, visit www.owen.vanderbilt.edu
