Congratulations to Global Business Management majors on their third place win at a Business Language Case Competition at Brigham Young University.

Three global business management majors represented the University and the College of Business very well at an intense Business Language Case Competition this fall. At the event, teams from about 21 national universities were asked to present their solutions to a strategic problem faced by a local company. May sounds easy, but the work had to be done and presented in Chinese.

“This was a tough competition and we are very proud of our team’s success,” said Associate Dean Shaw Chen. “The students clearly showed both their business acumen as well as their presentation and language skills. Their entire presentation, along with the question and answer sessions were in Chinese. I say gōngxi nǐ (congratulations) to these hard working students and their advisors.”

URI’s team includes Global Business Management majors Kenny Cordoba-Llanos ’18 of Providence, Christopher Graham James ’18 of Bristol, R.I., and Grant West ’19 of Decatur, Ga. The team was selected in January 2016 and started weekly training coached by Chinese language professors John Ni and I-Ling Hsia. Marketing Professor Jerry Xia began coaching in September to further guide the students in their preparation. In the week before the trip, students and coaches worked late in Ballentine every night on the case preparations.

This year’s competition involved a challenge from Utah-based athletic footwear manufacturer, ALTRA. The company sought to address operations, supply chain and marketing strategies. After performing a SWOT analysis, URI’s team recommended the company consider vertical integration by establishing a strategic partnership with its supplier for international growth.

Chen expressed his thanks for a team effort in getting the students to the finish line. “I’d like to thank URI’s Chinese program with its super curriculum designs and instruction and I am particularly grateful for the top-notch coaching jobs done by Jerry Xia and I-Ling Hsu — and even the administrative staff for all of their support.”

URI’s team includes(left to right): Professor I-Ling Hsu, Kenny Cordoba-Llanos ’18, Christopher Graham James ’18, Professor Jerry Xia and Grant West ’19.