Bauer College graduate students had the opportunity to test their critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration skills just before the fall semester started at this year’s Graduate Crisis Case Competition.

The annual event, which the college organizes before the start of fall semester classes, MBA and MS students were randomly placed in teams, some of them having known each other prior and others not, and together they were tasked with acting as C-suite executives to solve C-suite crises.

On the first day of the competition, students convened to meet with their teams and receive the docket containing details of their crisis. Students shared statements on the confidence they had in their team to deliver a strong solution and an eagerness to face the upcoming challenges.

Although the event is labeled as a competition, the way the students communicated with each other showed a real sense of comradery between them and their peers.

There’s no messing with a Houston graduate student. They’re prepared to take on the world.
Kelly Collins, RCC Executive Director

Rockwell Career Center Executive Director Kelly Collins noted the excitement that was present in the room even on the first day.

“This is a really great way for them to kick off their next semester,” she said. “It’s most exciting for me to see how students apply what they’ve learned to the competition over the course of course of each day.”

The second half of the competition includes a Board of Directors meeting, made up of members of the Bauer College Board, and a mock press conference, where acclaimed journalists and reporters from publications like The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are present.

“I hope they see how gritty and hungry our students are,” Collins said. “There’s no messing with a Houston graduate student. They’re prepared to take on the world.”

“A competition like this gives students a sense of what a real-life crisis in a company would look like,” Experiential Learning Program Director Zach Wortzel said. “Going through the process of the Board of Directors meeting and the press conference shows off their skills and cements that Bauer is a place that prepares you for the workplace.”

The first day concluded with students receiving their cases and separating into breakout rooms. Throughout the evening, they received updates with other unexpected challenges and new information that impacted their knowledge of the case, further testing the acting C-suite executives on how fast they can think on their feet.

Collins reassured students that their education at Bauer has already given them all the tools they need to do well in this competition.

Office of Experiential Learning Director Zach Wortzel

Office of Experiential Learning Director Zach Wortzel

The next day, the judging portion began. After working throughout the night, the four teams presented the solutions to their cases to the Bauer College Board, a group of experienced C-suite level executives familiar with handling challenges like this. The Board has been supportive of the Graduate Crisis Case Competition since it was first offered at Bauer three years ago for the experience it gives students.

Mercer Senior Consultant and Bauer alumnus Robert Finder (MBA ‘14) said he would have benefited greatly from something like this when he was a student.

“This opportunity really gives the students an idea of what they can expect as they grow in their career,” Finder said. “You’re going to be faced with tough challenges like this, and hopefully they’ll never to have to deal with a crisis, but should it arise, this can really help shape expectations.”

Robert Finder (MBA '14), Senior Consultant, Mercer

Robert Finder (MBA '14), Senior Consultant, Mercer

The Board offered feedback on the students’ strong presentation skills, their quick thinking and the command they had over the details of their case.

“I’m highly impressed with how professional the students were,” EY – Houston Audit Partner Susannah Abbott said. “They endured over 30 minutes of presentation and very tough questions by our judges. They were calm under pressure and showed that they were willing to listen and respond thoughtfully.”

Abbott added that the judges played multiple roles. They acted as the Board of Directors and assisted them on how to comprehensively and appropriately respond to a crisis. Additionally, they also acted as the media and asked questions from the perspective of public parties.

Center: EY – Houston Audit Partner Susannah Abbott

Center: EY – Houston Audit Partner Susannah Abbott

She said that it was all a part of the learning experience and that she was impressed by the students’ confidence in answering the questions that were thrown at them.

Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation Retired President and CEO Susan Coulter expressed similar sentiments to Abbott’s, saying that the students were poised, and positioned themselves to be respectful and well-articulated.

Before announcing the two finalist teams that would move forward to the press conference, Bauer College Dean Xianjun Geng shared remarks, saying that he is proud to have the Graduate Crisis Case Competition as a learning experience for the students because “crisis makes leaders.”

“Speak your mind and don’t hold back. Be yourself and do the best you can,” Geng said.

The two finalist teams moved on to the last portion of the competition: a press conference where guest reporters were in attendance to further test the students’ ability to remain calm under pressure.

Rascon Media Group President Matt Rascon

Rascon Media Group President Matt Rascon

Bloomberg Economics and Federal Reserve reporter Catarina Saraiva said that she would treat it like she would at any other press conference, by pressing the students and trying to get transparent answers out of them.

Award-winning communications professional and Rascon Media Group President Matt Rascon handled the press conference by throwing rapid fire questions at them to see how they would respond.

“In these settings, you have so many different reporters and you could be asked anything,” Rascon said.

As soon as students entered the room, reporters started barraging them with questions, and cameras were flashing. The pressure was on for this portion of the competition, and students handled it with the same poise and professionalism as their meeting with the Board of Directors.

The difference between public speaking and speaking to the public was something that was highlighted in the reporters’ feedback to the students. They advised students to take control of the room when going into a press conference. They also said that it’s important to remember that when they’re addressing the media, they’re really addressing the public.

Following the press conference, the judges and reporters convened to discuss all the different elements of the competition. They looked at how students solved their case, their collaboration and how they handled their presentation to the Board of Directors and their mock press conference.

After careful consideration, the winning team was decided:

Team 2

(From left to right): Parisa Yousefi, Kanika Aggarwal, Shaan Muhammad, Argentina Guerra and Erfan Sarhadi

The judges noted that they were impressed by their teamwork, and the guest reporters highlighted the team’s opening statement at the beginning of their press conference as a great way to get control of the room.

In addition to the feedback, the winning team earned a cash prize of $2,000, sponsored by Bauer adjunct faculty Rodi Franco. The meals provided to students and judges throughout the two-day competition were sponsored by Coulter, First Financial Benefits President Rick Gornto and Cyvia & Melvyn Wolff Charitable Foundation Founder Cyvia Wolff.

Shaan Muhammad
Full-Time MBA Candidate

"This was a lot of fun. We got to answer a lot of different questions from the Board of Directors. Whatever our answers were, we were grilled on them and had to expand on what our solutions may be."

Erfan Sarhadi
MS Finance Candidate

"It was a great opportunity for me because we were faced with a real crisis scenario with board members, judges and people from the media."

Argentina Guerra
MS Finance Candidate

"This experience was very valuable to me. I think this is as close as we can get to a real press conference before we’re real c-suite level executives. I really appreciate the fact that we get this experiential learning opportunity at Bauer, and we get so much feedback out of it."

Kanika Aggarwal
MS Business Analytics Candidate

"This is the first time I have participated in a kind of competition like this. It was very competitive, it felt like a real business setting. We got a lot of good feedback from the judges, and I really learned a lot."