On Friday, November 7th, a Ross team consisting of first year Ross student Thiago Gdikian, and second year Erb students Nate Underwood, Pavel Azgaldov, and John Serron won the 2014 GE Experienced Commercial Leadership Program Midwest Case Competition. The case question asked teams to develop two new product innovations for any of GE’s lines of business and pitch these concepts to senior managers. The judges appreciated the potential of the team’s two concepts in the water and traffic management spaces to reduce driving deaths, fuel consumption, water use, electricity use, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Nate Underwood commented to on the team’s experience. “We really appreciated the chance to ideate on a very broad case question. It made the case much more challenging because we had to screen every potential concept against GE’s many products and services, but we enjoyed stretching our creativity and marketing abilities. This challenging ideation process put us a couple days behind schedule, but the team really came together last week to develop an excellent analysis, slide deck, and pitch. We are grateful to the Mendoza School of Business for hosting us, but we enjoyed scoring a victory for Michigan just a few hundred feet from the stadium where Michigan football was shut out this fall.”
The competition included teams from Indiana, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State University, and Wisconsin. The winning prize included $4000 and guaranteed Experienced Commercial Leadership Program internship interviews.