Economics Team Wins First Place at Business Case Competition

The Oberlin team surpassed 15 other schools to secure the first place honor during the competition held on Saturday, February 8, 2020, at Marietta College. Team members included Matthew Walton ’22, Yanjin Wu ’22, and Noemi Duker ’23. Beth Tallman served as the team coach. 

The team of three students was given approximately two months to prepare case studies to present for Peoples Bank senior management. The cases included scenarios related to human resources, finance, strategic planning, and marketing. Presentations were 20 minutes in length, followed by a 10-minute question-and-answer session with a panel of judges.

Tallman’s work with the students focused on organizing the team’s approach to the case, based on each student’s individual strengths. She also assigned preparatory readings if the students needed to build additional skills. The students returned to campus during winter term to begin working together. 

Tallman praised the team’s performance. “The students did a lot of intelligent research and were willing to learn what they needed to to get the job done. Peoples Bank encourages creativity, and Oberlin students can be very creative.”

The trio's marketing recommendation for the case included creating a series of personal finance videos targeting millennial customers who often prefer consuming information through video, as opposed to the written word. 

“The students created a prototype that was a real hit with the judges,” says Tallman. 

Watch the team’s video about how to create a monthly budget.