UF MBA students compete in 2010 Florida Intercollegiate Case Competition

UF MBA students Chelsey Campbell, Nick Digirolamo, Michael Scott, and Danny Zeenberg, traveled to the University of South Florida to compete in the 2010 Florida Intercollegiate Case Competition.

Five other Florida universities competed against them including FSU, Miami, FAU, FIU, and USF. The six teams gathered at USF to meet each other and become acquainted with the facilities and the procedures of the case competition, with no idea which company would be represented or what the case was about.

At 9:00 a.m. Friday morning, the teams were introduced to the case they would be working on for the next 24 hours. Once assembled, the company they would be analyzing was revealed as Steve Raney, President of Raymond James Bank walked into the room. With that, the teams were handed a packet of information that included the Raymond James 2009 Annual Report, some information on current strategy, and several press releases from the past year. They were asked to analyze areas of Raymond James’ business segments that could be improved upon and report back with a presentation the following morning.

Twenty-four sleepless hours later, the University of Florida team presented their recommendations to a judging panel that included Raymond James’s Chief Administration Officer, Executive Vice President, and President of Raymond James Bank. The winner would be announced at lunch and once again, Steve Raney (UF MBA ’99), addressed the crowd: “It is with
great pleasure that I announce the winner of the 2010 Florida Intercollegiate Case Competition – The University of Florida.”

With the win came the prestigious MBA Cup, a $10,000 grand prize, and a year’s worth of bragging rights for the University Florida’s MBA program.