A team of Bentley graduate students was one of six to make it to the final round of the National Black MBA Association case competition in Atlanta, GA.

Bentley’s team -- Patrick Bates, Brandon Cooley, Gary Morton and Jennifer James – competed against 22 other teams from schools such as MIT, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Vanderbilt University and Florida A & M. 

The national student case competition is designed to give high-powered student teams an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and problem-solving skills in a formal competition. Teams are given a hypothetical business case from which they develop business solutions. Each student team then prepares and presents its case before a panel of experienced business executives.

This year, students were charged with crafting a human resources solution for Chrysler’s aging baby boomers and GenXers. Under the advisement of professor Mary Marcel,

“Students prepared for nearly six weeks to develop a strategy and create a PowerPoint slide set, and practice potential questions from the judges,” says professor and team coach Mary Marcel. “They put in more than 50 hours.”

Teams are judged on their analysis of the case, the feasibility of their recommendations and the quality of their presentations.

For more information about the National Black MBA Association, visit: http://www.nbmbaa.org/.