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Food & Agribusiness Institute

Food & Agribusiness Blog for news, events, announcements, and more.

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FAI MBA Students Place 2nd in Competition

In mid-June, 5 MBAs from Santa Clara University took on the competition at this year’s International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) conference in Frankfurt, Germany, returning home with the 2nd place award in hand. Entitled “The Road to 2050: Sustainability as Business Opportunity,” the conference called teams to explore the relationship between business practice and sustainable methods for meeting global food demand.

The team, comprised of Brian Avants (MBA, Class of 2011), Suhas Mehta (2012), Justin Porter (2011), Dylan Salisbury (2010), and Didier Tshimbalanga (2012), competed against nine other teams from agribusiness programs across the globe including but not limited to Brazil, South Africa, and The Netherlands, only being edged out by Kansas State according to Dr. Gregory Baker, professor of management and director of the SCU Food and Agribusiness Institute.

With coaching from FAI MBA student/previous competition 1^st place recipient Michael Enos and FAI Assistant Director Jessica Gagnon, the team showed up well prepared and determined to prove that their case study analysis skills were worthy of international recognition. In addition to group recognition, team member Justin Porter was recognized as a best paper finalist.

Placing in this competition is not unfamiliar to the SCU team who claimed gold in the 2009 conference held in Hungary. Congratulations team!

Check out photos from the event on Flickr

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Students Place 1st in International Case Competition

A team of four FAI concentration MBA students placed first at the 2009 International Food and Agribusiness Management Association World Forum and Symposium held in Budapest, Hungary in June. The students tied for first place with University of Guelph (Canada), beating out other teams from the U.S., Australia, Canada, and Hungary in multiple rounds.

Team members Irene Cermeno MBA ‘11, Michael Enos MBA ‘11, Andrew C.S. Tseng MBA ‘09, and Danielle Wenzel MBA ‘11 were sponsored by the business school’s Food & Agribusiness Institute, and coached by Operations & Management Information Systems Professor Drew Starbird.

The students were judged on their ability to solve a management problem posed in a business case study, as well as the quality of a short oral presentation to the judges, a written executive summary, and their originality and creativity.

"Our graduate students prepare to work in a global business community,” said Starbird, who becomes acting dean of the business school July 1. “The success of our Santa Clara team shows our strength as a truly internationally focused graduate business program.”

In the first round, the Santa Clara team competed with students from Purdue University, Texas A&M, Curtin University (Australia), and others, to analyze a case involving a family-owned Hungarian producer and distributor of bottled soda water. Just four teams moved on to the final round, in which teams analyzed a case involving a Dutch venture that employed people with disabilities in an open space farming operation.

“Because the cases involved real world events with real people and their businesses, it made the experience even more gratifying,” said Enos, who is also the chief technology officer for Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. “I was humbled when the family from the Hungarian company approached us afterward and thanked us for our input into their issues,” he said. “I learned a great deal about how to apply the information in the MBA program to the real world.”

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FAI Financial Aid Available

The Food & Agribusiness Institute Financial Aid application for 2009-2010 is now available. The Institute awards nearly $100,000 per year in scholarships to MBA students pursuing the Food & Agribusiness concentration. Download the application.

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Food and Agribusiness Network meeting

Dear Graduate Students,

We come to campus for many reasons. Meeting new people, exposure to new subjects, and exploring fresh opportunities are the top of the list.

But did you know that there is a place that you can do all three, at the same time? It’s the International Case Study Competition.

Every year, the Food and Agribusiness Institute sends a team of students to a global arena, where they compete, learn, and gain new perspectives.

Having been to the previous gathering in Shanghai, China, I can attest that this conference has been one of the highlights of my MBA experience.

So, don’t limit yourself only to the classroom! Learn more about this unique opportunity at the following info session:

Wednesday October 24th

Where: Room 107

When:5:00-5:40pm

Regards,

Mahbod M. Parvar

FAN President

The Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN) is a new club on campus that sets up events and networking opportunities for students who are interested in learning about the oldest business on this planet. We explore anything related to food!

*Refreshments will be served

In compliance with the ADA/504, please direct your accommodation requests to Erika French-Arnold at efrencharnold@scu.edu or 408-554-5173.

Posted by Erika French-Arnold | Permalink