Written
by Deschanel Mercado and Mike Russell
Edited
by Dr. Cathleen Jones
Written
prior to 3/1/20
On Friday, February 7th, three Robert Morris University
students [traveled] to Marietta, Ohio to compete in the 8th annual People’s
Bank Competition.
Advised by Dr. Jill Kurp, students Tessa Bramble, Luke
Trohaugh and Samantha Foust, all of whom are part of Robert Morris University’s
American Marketing Association chapter [competed] against multiple colleges and
universities from around the area in hopes of claiming first prize in the
event. (Update Below)
Students have had since the beginning of November to prepare
for three different deliberations, ranging from topics such as human resources,
finance, strategic planning, and marketing.
As Luke Trohaugh describes, students were tasked with
solving multiple problems within the field of business. The first of which, students are given two
different products where they must calculate the present value for each and
determine which is higher.
The second challenge sees the students being given a list of
candidates for a job opening and based of their skills in human resources, have
to select the best candidate for the job.
The final deliberation challenges students to successfully
market a particular product.
From our understanding, the event is split into two rounds,
where the final round is composed of the final four teams. Each team is given twenty-five minutes to
present their findings, followed by a ten-minute question and answer session
with judges. The winning team will
receive $1,500, with second place earning $1,000, third $750, and fourth place
with $500, respectively.
Tessa
Bramble: Tessa
is a Marketing major in the School of Business in the class of 2022. She is in both the Sales and Logistics
Certificate programs at RMU and has competed in the People’s Bank Case
Competition before. Tessa is also a
member of the American Marketing Association.
She also plans to apply for an integrated MBA. Tessa says that she’s interested in aspects
of international marketing as evidenced by studying abroad in Belgium and
France, as well as a future trip to China during the semester. (Cancelled due to the pandemic.)
Samantha Foust: Samantha is also a Marketing major in the School of Business in the class of 2022. She is also in the Sales Certificate program and is a member of the American Marketing Association.
From Tessa Bramble:
“It went well! Luke Trohaugh, Samantha Foust, and myself all
competed on a team for the case competition. There were about 15 other teams
from a variety of schools at the competition. We had the opportunity to compete
against West Virginia University, Cleveland State University and Washington
& Jefferson College in our category. While we didn’t make it to the final
round, we had wonderful time at the event and were able to gain both
professional development and networking experience!”
