EKU SAM Students Win Third at National Competition

Four students from the EKU Society for Advancement of Management (SAM) won third place in the international SAM Case Competition Conference in Orlando, Fl., in April.

The student team members were: Kaitlin Kirkpatrick (management) from Stanford; Bryan Montgomery (marketing) from Bedford, In.; Kendra Ritter (human resource management) from Richmond; and William Schneider (marketing) from Lexington.

Twenty-seven schools competed at the international conference and 11 schools competed in the Joseph Bush Trophy Division for undergraduate programs of which EKU is a member. Clayton State University won the Bush Division with Flagler College taking second. The EKU team gave a 15-minute presentation on Whole Foods Market and developed a strategy that would give them a competitive advantage. The presentation was followed by a 10-minute question-and-answer session.

“The team did a fantastic job researching the industry and presenting very in-depth recommendations,” said Dr. Zhe Zhang, assistant professor of management and the faculty advisor for EKU's SAM chapter.

“The most interesting thing about doing this competition was doing the extensive research that was needed to succeed in the competition. Being able to go to a location such as Orlando for a school event was fun as well,” said Bryan Montgomery.

SAM promotes interaction with professionals in all disciplines and increases awareness and knowledge of career opportunities. It encourages cross-functional participation in activities that will benefit students' choice of career and future success.

Published on April 07, 2011