Heavener team wins international business case competition

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A team of four students from the Heavener School of Business won the Thammasat Undergraduate Business Challenge on Aug. 5-9 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Luis Franco, Jason Nunnery, Shruti Shah and Brittany Wood outlasted a field of 16 teams representing eight countries and four continents. The Heavener team was one of only two U.S. teams that competed.

The 16 teams had 30 hours to devise a strategy on how to deal with a growing e-commerce industry in Southeast Asia for DKSH, a Swiss Market Expansion Services Group. The teams had to account for how to overcome consumer preference to shop in malls, overcome consumer fear of identity theft associated with online shopping and how to best service their existing client base in the changing market.

The teams were equally divided into four divisions, and presented their strategies to a panel of three judges with the division winners advancing to the final round. In the final round, the teams presented again to a panel of nine judges to decide the winner.

“The entire team was extraordinarily humbled to have been allowed to compete, and thrilled to have made the Heavener School of Business and the University of Florida proud,” Franco said. “This incredible win against the most formidable of opponents wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing support of our awesome coaches Sean Limon, Horace Tucker and John Banko.”

The Heavener School will next compete in the SDS International Case Competition on Aug. 24-29 at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.