Hard work and dedication paid off for four Brigham Young University MAcc students who recently took first place at the Institute of Management Accountants National Case Competition. Competing against Moravian College, the University of Southern Indiana and Wright State University, the team secured the $5,000 prize and proved their skills in a real-life business scenario.
“This win is evidence of the high-quality education we get at BYU,” says Jordan Hall, one of the team members. “We are able to take what we learned in classes and apply it to real-world situations to find solutions to problems that weren’t as simple as they seem on the surface.”
Formed with the assistance of accounting professors Steve Smith and Bill Tayler, the Marriott School of Management’s team was comprised of Hall from Hurricane, Utah; Austin Butler from American Fork, Utah; David Corless from La Crescenta, Calif.; and Nathan Larsen from Scottsdale, Ariz.
The IMA is a nearly 100-year-old organization that influences standard-setters and rule-makers throughout the national accounting community and only sponsors one student case competition a year.
The competition was split into two phases. Phase one required a video submission where students role-played presenting to an executive. From the 22 total entries, the IMA narrowed the field to four schools and invited the finalists to present the same case live at the annual conference in Minneapolis, Minn. Due to the final round taking place on a Sunday and through an accommodation from the IMA, the BYU team submitted a one-shot video presentation instead of participating live.
“The IMA is to be commended — the people there were gracious through the entire process,” Smith says. “There was significant deliberation about how to best accommodate our students despite their decision not to participate on Sunday.”
Jeff Wilks, director of the BYU School of Accountancy, described how the students were upfront with the IMA about not attending the final round and were willing to do whatever else it took to participate. Wilks is proud to see his faculty and students excel through their own volition in such a prestigious competition.
“For our school to participate and to be invited to the finals round is a big deal itself,” Wilks says. “And then to win the finals round without even being there is just amazing. We owe thanks to our great faculty and great students. We couldn’t have asked for a better team to represent us.”
The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems, and entrepreneurship. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.
_
Writer: Caroline Smith