College Business Students to Compete at Quinnipiac

Business students eager to test their skills will gather at Quinnipiac University Saturday, April 16, for the third annual American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) Student Case Competition.

The annual competition, sponsored by the New Haven and Boston APICS chapters, is designed to test student knowledge in the area of operations management. Teams of undergraduate and graduate students compete.

The event, which is open to the public, will take place in Quinnipiac’s Lender School of Business Center and School of Law Center.

“APICS is a professional organization which recognizes the importance of bringing the real world to students. This case competition reflects that,” said David Cadden, a Quinnipiac professor of management and coach of the university’s teams.

In the competition, student teams receive a fictional, business case problem to solve at 8 a.m. and are given until noon to prepare a solution. The teams then make 10-minute presentations, which are evaluated by industry executives.

“Feedback from Quinnipiac students who participated last year clearly indicates that they greatly value this opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge to industry representatives," Cadden said.

Each student team has four members. Some of the institutions sending teams this year include: Northeastern University, Rutgers University, Bryant University, Western Connecticut State University, University of Massachusetts at Boston, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of Connecticut, Boston University, University at Buffalo and Southern Connecticut State University.

First-place finishers this year will receive $1,200 in prize money.

Undergraduate presentations will be held in the Mancheski Executive Seminar Room in Quinnipiac’s Lender School of Business Center. Graduate presentations and the awards ceremony will be in the Grand Court Room in Quinnipiac’s School of Law Center.