MBA students finish second at international case competition

A team of Rutgers MBA students finished second in the Institute for Supply Management’s 2025 International Student Case Competition.

The team was made up of second-year Full-Time MBA students Barbie Tyagi, Patricia Rendon, Yogender (Yogi) Kumar and Spencer Goddard.

In the final round, the Rutgers Business School students competed against teams from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, Wayne State University (Michigan) and the University of Michigan at the ISM World Annual Conference in Orlando.

It was the first case competition for Goddard, who will be doing an internship with Tesla in Nevada this summer.

“I was very interested in doing a case competition,” he said. “I thought it would be a good way for me to work on my presentation skills. He also gained knowledge about procurement working on the case and connected with professionals during the conference.

The former Army helicopter electrician said the students had to overcome some challenges connecting during the second semester as they prepared for the final round -- three months after finishing the second. “We were able to make it work,” he said. “It was a good experience, overall.”

The case revolved around a biotechnology company’s plan to build out global capabilities for its gene editing technology, including sourcing materials and developing AI processes over five years.

The competition was a months-long journey that began last fall. After its performance in the first round, the Rutgers team advanced to a second round to compete against 25 teams in January. The competitive final round was held in June. It is the second year in a row that a team from Rutgers Business School was a finalist.

“The four MBA students demonstrated their exceptional problem-solving skills and strategic thinking while delivering a masterful presentation,” said Professor David Dreyfus who served as team advisor. 

“This win wraps up a stellar run over the past year of our graduate students performing at the highest levels against the best schools in the world,” Dreyfus said.

Read about other recent wins by Rutgers MBA students:

Graduate students win first place in TCU case competition

MBA students are first-place winners in international supply chain case competition

-Susan Todd