Competition was stiff at the Youth Business Skills Case Study Competition held at the Morgan Stanley headquarters in Purchase on Nov. 13. Almost 150 high school students from 18 schools across Westchester County gathered to participate.
The annual competition, hosted by the African-American Men of Westchester in partnership with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management”™s Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Morgan Stanley Multicultural Employee Networking Group, is designed to provide valuable business experience to high school juniors and seniors, particularly minority students.
“The nature of work has changed drastically over the last 20 years,” said Bernie Thombs, event co-chairman and member of African-American Men of Westchester. “Over 25 percent of today”™s jobs did not exist 20 years ago, and this trend will continue. The AAMW recognized this in 2003 and developed the Business Skills Case Study Competition to address the needs of a changing economy.”
Each school”™s team must craft a workable solution to the problems presented by a business school case study. This year”™s case – “Hydrofruit, Inc.: Ripe for Harvest or Rotten Tomato?” – came from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
The teams were given a copy of the case study one week before the competition to begin   addressing the economic, legal and social issues facing the fictional business. On the day of the competition, the teams worked closely with Morgan Stanley mentors to prepare compelling presentations on their findings.
By engaging in intensive problem-solving and presenting their solutions to a judging panel of senior Morgan Stanley employees – led this year by New York State Supreme Court Justice Bruce Tolbert – students cultivate their analytic and collaborative skills as well as their confidence in communicating complex ideas, according to competition organizers.
José Morales, chairman of the Morgan Stanley Multicultural Employee Networking Group, said of the students, “It”™s clear that they”™re walking into a very professional environment and I think they basically put on their A game.”
The winning team, from Ardsley High School, was comprised of members of the school”™s chapter of DECA, a 215,000-member national club of high school and college students promoting business education and entrepreneurship, and the school”™s African-American Club. Two Yonkers schools, Yonkers Montessori Academy and Saunders Trade and Technical High School, finished second and third, respectively.
The Ardsley team coordinator, Paula Wood, said the team was successful because “they came together very nicely. They were able to allocate responsibilities to different members.” That divide-and-conquer approach allowed the Ardsley students to clearly articulate their understanding of concepts crucial to the resolution of the case study, she said.
Morales said the Ardsley team “had multiple students that brought in concepts that we felt were very advanced for a high school student, like net present value.”
Wood said the students found having a Morgan Stanley mentor “exciting and inspiring.” Several hope to continue the mentor relationship with internships at Morgan Stanley, demonstrating that the value of the competition extends beyond its ability to develop students”™ business skills.
Business Journal intern Lexi Curnin reported and wrote this story.
