When: Fri, Nov 1, 2024 - 10:00 am to 2:30 pm
Where
Van Munching Hall
Description / Notes
This case competition will challenge students to work in a team on a real-world problem, and then present proposed action plans to faculty and industry representatives. A panel of judges will rate each team’s presentation based on established criteria. All Business Master’s students, Full-Time MBA students, and Plus 1 undergraduate students are invited to participate.
Host Partners:
- Center for Artificial Intelligence in Business
- Masters Programs Office (MPO)
- Smith Master Student Association (SMSA)
Intended Outcomes:
- Raise awareness about the benefits of artificial intelligence for small businesses, and support local small business owners
- Build Smith School relationships with key business leaders with expertise in artificial intelligence
- Student participants will improve communication/presentation skills, improve teamwork/networking skills, and improve time management skills
- Student participants will obtain real-world business experience that can be highlighted on their resume and in future internship or job interviews
- Student participants will have an opportunity to network with business professionals with expertise in artificial intelligence
Format:
- Four cases will be developed--one case will be assigned to each team that enters the case competition; cases involve small businesses seeking AI solutions for social media marketing, hiring and human resources, logistics and real estate
- Cases will focus on AI for small local businesses with an emphasis on how AI can enhance what employees are doing ethically and responsibly, and ways that businesses can measure return on investment to adopt AI solutions
- Each team of participants will prepare a 10-minute presentation, followed by a 5-minute Q&A with judges
- Prizes will be awarded for each case
Timeline:
- October 15 - Deadline for teams to confirm their team members and apply for case competition participation
- October 16 - Teams are informed whether they have been accepted to participate
- October 25 - Cases are released to each team; teams are given date/time options for meeting with company representatives to have questions answered
- November 1
- 10 am - 12 noon - initial round of case presentations
- 12 noon - 1 pm - networking lunch
- 1 - 2 pm - final round of presentations
- 2 - 2:30 pm - announcement of winners and presentation of awards
Rules and Guidelines:
- Each competing team must consist of four or five diverse team members
- Strongly encourage teams to consist of no more than 2 students enrolled in the same degree program
- Participating teams must only include individuals who are enrolled as business master’s students, full-time MBA students, or Plus 1 undergraduate students at the Smith School of Business in the Fall ‘24 semester
- No individual may compete on more than one team
- Teams should only work with their own team members (not with other team members) in their preparation
- Teams are expected to conduct a majority of their research through publicly available resources
- Teams should not contact representatives from the company to which they are assigned, but teams may seek coaching from faculty, staff, or other outside expert, as long as this coaching is acknowledged during the case presentation
- Participating teams can receive reimbursement for up to $100 for software and tool expenses incurred related to completion of this case competition; receipts must submitted to SMSA at smith-club-smsa@umd.edu no later than November 8
Judging:
- Proposed case solutions must be viable for real-world implementation
- Proposed case solutions should align with the business sponsors’ pre-AI and post-AI vision, making each solution rather relative and competitive
- Judges will include Smith School faculty and AI industry experts
- Criteria for scoring includes:
- Fit of the proposed design/solution to the case description
- Extent of research conducted that went into the proposed solution
- Strength of analysis and recommendations made including consideration of ethics and responsible use of AI
- How advanced and realistic the proposed design is, including developed prototype (if any)
- Potential for the developed design/solution to independently become a product that can serve the larger small business ecosystem rather than just the firm in the case
- Creativity of the team’s recommendations
- Clarity of presentation and responses to questions from the judges