Clinton School student Sarah Clark and her team of MBA classmates at the University of Arkansas have advanced to the second round of The Aspen Institute’s 2010 Business & Society International MBA Case Competition, it was announced today.
The competition, hosted by the Aspen Institute, focuses on the social, environmental and ethical challenges that mainstream, for-profit business leaders face today. The event was expanded this year to include 25 schools, including the UA Sam M. Walton College of Business.
Clark is the first student to pursue the concurrent MPS/MBA degree program with the Clinton School and Walton College of Business and is currently in Fayetteville completing her MBA coursework.
Over the weekend, Clark and three of her MBA classmates competed against other Walton College teams in the first round of the competition. A panel of Walton College faculty and business leaders judged each team’s case response and chose one team to represent the Walton College in the second round next week.
The team’s work will now be sent to the Aspen Institute, which will choose five teams from the 25 schools to compete in the finals in New York City on April 30. This year’s prize purse for the top five teams totals $40,000, with an added $3,000 to the first-place team to donate to a 501(c)(3) charity of their choice.
“For this competition, my team had to deeply examine the relationship between purpose and profit – something I think will be increasingly more important for my generation of master’s students as we enter the professional world,” Clark said.
This year’s case focused on creating a sustainability plan for India-based Tata Group, a multinational conglomerate with a long history of corporate social responsibility. More information can be found at www.aspencasecompetition.com
Congratulations to Sarah and her team for their win.