:: Vanderbilt Hosts Event to Address Human Capital Challenges ::
Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management recently held their first ever, MBA-level competition. Focusing on human capital challenges, the competition pitted top talent from graduate schools across the country against each other. The goal of the competition was for each team to solve a real-world, human capital issue using performance improvement methods that would be relevant in today's fast-paced global economy.
MBA leaders at the Owen Graduate School of Management were prompted to design the one-of-a-kind competition by looking at a single question: “If your organization, division, or business unit needed you to solve a human capital management issue, would you be prepared?”
In today’s global economy, human capital matters regardless of the role a person plays within an organization. Managers everywhere are responsible for dealing with human capital challenges, such as managing performance, hiring and firing employees, and succession planning needs.
Almost every business discipline except human capital has a case competition. As students, Susan D. Strayer and Heather Webb, officers of the Human and Organizational Performance Association (HOPA) – under the leadership of Professor Neta Moye, Ph.D – worked to launch the inaugural National MBA Case Competition.
This year’s business challenge was to analyze the competitive and labor market issues confronting a global legal services firm, and propose recommendations for strategic human capital management best practices as well as their implementation.
A total of ten teams came to compete at the event, but the Johnson School of Management/School of Industrial and Labor Relations (Cornell University) came in first place. Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University) placed second and Anderson School of Management (UCLA) rounded out the top three.
Vanderbilt professor and adviser for Owen¹s Leadership Development Program Neta Moye, noted all winning teams demonstrated two key components that were essential to human capital solutions:
- An elegant human resources design
- A strong business case
Executives from General Electric and Deloitte Consulting LLP (Deloitte Consulting) judged the teams and were also sponsors for the competition. For more information on next year¹s National MBA Human Capital Case Competition, log onto www.humancapitalcasecompetition.com. |
