Implementing BYU Marriott Values

PROVO, Utah – May 05, 2022 – The Deans office and student council members of the BYU Marriott School of Business recently heard from students about how BYU Marriott can better implement its values. The four new values, along with a refined mission and vision statement, were introduced fall 2021. In order to receive specific ideas from students on how to incorporate the values into the student experience, BYU Marriott leadership created a case competition centered around the four values.

The 2022 BYU Marriott Case Competition began in early March with a kickoff event held by the student council. Students formed teams with four to five members with a total of 21 teams competing. Teams were given one week to pull together their research and ideas into a presentation. The competition included three elimination rounds throughout the month with the final round held on March 22. During the final round, the five finalist teams presented in front of the four BYU Marriott deans: Brigitte Madrian, Bonnie Anderson, John Bingham, and Eric Teel. The three winning teams all received cash prizes.

More than 90 students competed in the competition hosted by the BYU Marriott student council and Deans office. “This year we wanted to focus on our new values for the college and how we as a leadership team can best embed those values into what we do with the students at BYU Marriott,” says Teel, administrative dean for BYU Marriott. The four new values are faith in Christ, integrity in action, respect for all, and excellence.

Senah Kearl, a junior from Herriman, Utah, in the marketing program and student council copresident, says, “Because the values are brand new this school year, a lot of students aren’t familiar with them. This competition doubled as a mini-marketing campaign for the values as well.”

The two values most teams chose to focus on were respect for all and faith in Christ. Some of the common ideas presented by students to put the value respect for all into practice included creating a required class focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) or expanding the unit on DE&I for classes that already cover the subject. An idea to increase the prevalence of the value faith in Christ was to display more faith-based artwork within the Tanner Building.

When selecting the top-three winning teams, Teel says a few things stood out to him and his fellow judges. “We were looking for ideas that were actionable and practical, and that included an implementation plan that made sense,” he says. “The top teams all had reasonable timelines to roll out their ideas and supporting evidence that their ideas could have visible results.”

Katelyn Fagan, a first-year MBA student from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and her team won first place for their ideas on how to apply the respect for all value. Fagan and her team collected data by sending out a survey to students and faculty, speaking with diversity club members, examining what other top business schools were doing to address DE&I, and identifying what BYU was already in the process of doing. “I want to make an impact during my time at BYU Marriott,” says Fagan. “I love that, unlike many other case competitions I have participated in, this one gave me the opportunity to make a true impact.”

Moving forward, the deans and other BYU Marriott leadership members will continue to consider the ideas presented from every team that competed. “I believe students enjoyed being able to present their ideas directly to the people who make decisions and the opportunity to feel heard,” says Teel. “We are going to look at all of the ideas suggested and identify some that we believe could make an immediate impact, add them to our strategic plan, and start implementing them.”