Deadlines
2015 Business Language Case Competition
Blendtec Business Visit & Case
Blendtec Business Visit
For the first time this year, teams and coaches participating in the Business Language Case Competition will be able to be a part of a business visit at Blendtec to help them with the final preparations on their case.
We will be visiting Blendtec's corporate and manufacturing headquarters to meet with their marketing team to learn more about the company's popular "Will It Blend?" YouTube video campaign as well as the their unique supply chain which has greatly increased the company's profitablity. This opportunity will take learning into the hands-on environment of a real world business setting so students can learn the reality behind the theory. You won't want to miss out on this unique opportunity included in this year's competition!
Who Is Blendtec?
Long before the "Will It Blend?" seried exploded on YouTube, Tom Dickson was blending 2x2s with his blenders to determine their capability. Not surprising for this engineer and inventor, who grew up putting big engines into little things.
Back in 1975, Tom's curiosity was piqued when he used a vacuum to clean up some spilled wheat kernels. His innate inquisitiveness drove him to revolutionize the home wheat milling industry, taking it from stone grinding to his patented stainless steel milling heads. Like most inventors, Tom didn't stop there. He envisioned the perfect mixer using the freshly milled flour from his mill to make wholesome bread in minutes. When back in the lab, Tom developed an autoknead feature, enabling the mixer to knead the dough, develop the gluten and turn off automatically when finished. Tom continued to improve the mixer and decided to add a blender with a square jar, rather than the conventional round jar. As Tom expanded his mill and mixer business, new ideas developed. He enhanced the blender and began developing commercial blending machines just as the smoothie era began.
Fast forward a few decades to the present: Tom is still inventing and the company is still growing! Walking into the world of Blendtec, you'll find the innovative engineering team and their "torture chamber, " you'll see the international team preparing for where their travels will take them next, and you'll glimpse Tom scooting off to blend up his next invention.
Today, people all around the world use Blendtec blenders in their homes, restaurants, smoothie shops, coffee shops and more. We continue to keep dreaming of new and better ways to build machines that improve the lives of others. It all began with one man and his curiosity. He has shared that vision with others, and with his team, the dream continues to unfold.
Blendtec Business Case
This competition uses unique business case developed by Blendtec and BYU.
Created by Shad Morris, International Business faculty in the BYU Marriott School of Management, in partnership with Blendtec's CEO and Founder Tom Dickson and Blendtec international business executive Harvey Scott. This case will take students' learning to a new level, taking the business language presentation out of the past and into the future of Blendtec's growing international market.
Shad Morris received his PhD from Cornell University and teaches and conducts research on international business and strategic human resource management, particularly focusing on how firms leverage their talent and social networks to globally innovate. In addition to his full-time position at Marriott School, he is currently a Research Fellow at Cambridge University’s Centre for International Human Resource Management and was recently a Visiting Associate Professor at the Copenhagen Business School. He has worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., in the former Republic of Yugoslavia; for Management Systems International in Bulgaria; and for Alcoa, Inc., in the United States.