School of Business

Congratulations to Global Consulting, the second-year BBA student team of Dylan Abel, James Van Der Baaren, Luise Schulmayer, and Keeley Wallace for placing first in the fall 2018 edition of the Shaw Group Business Case Competition. The case argued was "H&M’s Global Supply Chain Management Sustainability: Factories and Fast Fashion." In 2013, an international outcry followed after the physical collapse of Rana Plaza, a complex of garment factories in Bangladesh, which killed over eleven hundred garment workers. Forty-one people were charged with murder as a result of building code violations. In addition, retailers in the west vowed to pay closer attention to the factory conditions of their suppliers. The competition case focused on how H&M should react to the Rana Plaza Collapse, given its position in fast fashion and as the largest exporter of clothing from Bangladesh. Professor Ellen Shaffner, co-organizer of the Shaw Group Case Competition said that "five teams competed in the competition and all teams performed very well. The top three teams stood out for their excellent presentation skills and their focus on crafting an ethical and realistic response to the issues raised in the case." But it was the winning group, Global Consulting, that distinguished itself with persuasive detail and presentation effectiveness. "We revisited the Rana Plaza disaster because of its profound ethical implications for business," said co-organizer Dr. Jim Grant. "For their good work, Global Consulting claims the thousand dollars." Competition judges were Jennifer LaPlante (Shaw Group), Angela Myers (Grant Thornton), Vicki Matthews (JustUs), and Ryan Blaikie (JustUs).