IMBA student wins best presenter in SEC MBA Case Competition
Casey Roach, ’25 IMBA, won her division’s best presenter award in the recent 2024 SEC MBA Case Competition, hosted by the Mississippi State University College of Business.
Her Moore School team included Baileigh Sizemore, ’24 MBA, Caleb Simmons, ’25 IMBA, and Ifeanyi Otudeme,’25 IMBA.
FedEx Corporation, a global leader in transportation logistics, served as this year’s case client and campus sponsor. Tasked with 24 hours to receive, analyze and present a solution to FedEx, teams had to work diligently in a short window.
“We were given the case at 9 a.m. Friday, and we had until Saturday at 7 a.m. to analyze the case, develop a solution and generate a PowerPoint presentation to showcase our solution,” Roach said. “We submitted our presentation at 2 a.m. on Saturday and then presented our solution to FedEx’s vice president at 9 a.m. on Saturday.”
Although she says the most challenging part of the case was this time limitation, her team performed well under pressure.
“Because we had no idea about the case specifics prior to getting it and with only 24 hours to prepare and present, we were trying to research and develop the best solution under a significant time crunch,” Roach said. “However, my team did very well working together, playing to each other’s strengths and being vocal about taking breaks when the frustrations or tiredness started to creep in.”
Although the case itself is completely confidential because of a non-disclosure agreement, even to the team’s Moore School advisor Lauren Puffenbarger, Roach says the support the team received during the competition was critical.
“When you’re in a room all day working on the same task, it can be easy to get frustrated. While we weren’t allowed to discuss the case with (Puffenbarger) when we were working on it, she was our biggest cheerleader the whole weekend and was able to support us during our presentation, which helped keep morale high during our sleep deprivation,” Roach said.
In addition to the team’s support from their advisor, Roach credits the Moore School’s IMBA and MBA programs for helping prepare her for the case.
“The IMBA and MBA programs rely heavily on group projects, so being exposed to many different personalities throughout projects has made me adaptable in project group settings,” Roach said. “Additionally, case competitions require you to think on your feet and analyze companies holistically which is something that the MBA programs try to incorporate into the curriculum through teaching us real-world issues that impact current companies and force us to think critically as actual business professionals.”
When speaking of her individual win of the best presenter award, Roach says that she is fortunate to have had much presentation practice throughout her classes.
“Through the Moore School, I’ve learned many public-speaking skills, including audience engagement techniques,” she said. “But again, I couldn’t have won this award without my team’s help in developing the presentation.”
Looking forward, Roach will be studying abroad in spring of 2025 as part of the IMBA program. This summer she will be interning with CVS Health as one of the general management corporate interns in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“I will be specifically working in the retail pharmacy product development,” Roach said. “In this role, I will be exploring how to expand patient care, better respond to patient needs and help develop strategies to roll out new programs to continue to bring increased health care awareness.”
-Peyton Palazzo