Kellogg MBAs Host Biotech and Healthcare Case Competition
At the recent 2011 Biotech and Healthcare Case Competition, 12 teams of MBA students from around the world come to Kellogg School of Management to forecast the growth potential of Denosumab, a newly approved drug for osteoporosis and oncology.
For the second year running, global healthcare company Abbott sponsored the competition, which is now in its eighth year. The competition puts the students in a real-world situation similar to what the Abbott judges do daily ”” forming and presenting a forecast to higher-up managers, says John Larson, general manager of Abbott’s Neuroscience Franchise.
According to Kellogg School of Management, students were not judged on the basis of reaching a correct conclusion ”” there was none ”” but in how they approached the case, written by marketing professor Tim Calkins (pictured discussing the case) and Kellogg student Nayna Aggarwal ’12.
Abbott’s five judges evaluated the teams on the following criteria:
- Methodology
- Analytical thinking
- Presentation skills
- Delivery
- Ability to answer questions
In previous competitions, students could use only the information presented in the case study. This year, participants had one week to prepare and could conduct outside research for the very first time.
The Rutgers Business School team took first place, followed by teams from the University of California-Berkeley Haas School of Business and the Kellogg School of Management’s Part-Time MBA Program. Teams from the Harvard Business School and Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business earned honorable mentions.
“This case competition gives the students a forum in which to apply and practice the frameworks they have been learning in class,” says Sangeeta Vohra, academic director for the Center for Biotechnology Management, adding “It’s also a great opportunity for students to learn, meet industry executives and network with business students from different schools.”
(photo credit: Nathan Mandell, Kellogg School of Management)
