Interdisciplinary case challenge attracts participants from across Purdue

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

On Saturday, November 13, the Krannert School of Management welcomed 27 undergraduate students from the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Agriculture, Health and Human Sciences, and the Purdue Polytechnic Institute to the third annual Management Solutions Challenge, which returned to Rawls Hall after being cancelled in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of the event was to challenge non-management and non-science/engineering students to think analytically and to create a business proposal to solve a current world problem. Student teams analyzed a case study, formed a solution, and presented recommendations to a panel of faculty judges. This year’s challenge asked teams to address the problem of women and girls in developing countries having lack of access to feminine hygiene products.

Krannert awarded $300 to each member of the first-place team, consisting of Josh Ling (Junior, BA Communication), Kyle Ondrovic (Junior, BS Industrial Engineering Technology), and Rodrigo Villeda (Senior, Industrial Engineering Technology). The second-place team members received $200 per team member, and two honorable mention teams earned $100 per team member.  Two participants, Josh Ling and Ju Na Lee (Freshman, BA Industrial Design), were chosen as outstanding presenters and awarded $100 each. In addition, all winning and honorable mention participants received a future $5,000 Krannert scholarship if they ever matriculate into a Krannert graduate program.

“Every year, the Management Solutions Challenge proves to be a fun and unique competition to witness,” says Scott Nelson, assistant director of recruiting for the Krannert School of Management’s MBA and MS programs. “It is easy to assume that successful people in business decision-making must come from a business or a technical background. This event proves the exact opposite. Watching communication majors, psychology majors, philosophy majors, or agriculture majors offer their talents and skillsets to analytical problem-solving shows how it truly takes diverse viewpoints, strengths, and skills to create a robust business solution.

“This will remain one of my favorite events each year, and it excites me to see a multi-disciplinary group of undergraduate students across Purdue’s campus come together to show us how Boilermakers of all disciplines can contribute to solving world problems.”

For more information on the Management Solutions Challenge or non-business pathways to Krannert, contact the Krannert MBA and MS Programs Office at (765) 494-0773 or krannertmasters@purdue.edu