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One February afternoon, a group of executives gathered at Booz Allen Hamilton’s headquarters in McLean, Virginia, to hear recommendations on a complex management problem from a unique team of young professionals.

The problem involved a base realignment and closure (BRAC)—a process developed to efficiently manage U.S. military base reorganizations. But a BRAC can also cause monumental challenges: Elaborate planning and communications are essential to move enormous numbers of people and equipment without disrupting operations or impacting local economies.

The professionals providing the BRAC recommendations were not consultants, however. They were graduate students participating in a case competition to test their business knowledge. And at stake was not a client contract, but a chance to intern at Booz Allen for the summer and win a cash prize.

A case competition starts with a real-world business management problem—a “case.” Students in Masters of Business (MBA), Masters of Public Policy (MPP), and Masters of Public Administration (MPA) programs apply their work experience and academic knowledge to develop recommendations for the case, and the host organization evaluates their presentations to select a winning team.

A case includes background data on the problem, decisions needed to resolve it, and perspectives of those implementing the solution. Associate Jim Delaroderie helped develop Booz Allen’s case: “It’s a competitive event, and the case must be complex enough that you can differentially rank competing teams. A good case challenges students to take what they’ve learned in the classroom and apply it in a manner simulating a real-life client engagement. It must be familiar enough for them to use the methods they have studied, and challenging enough to require them to think beyond a textbook answer.”

The Nexus of a Case Competition

It all started in January 2006, when Booz Allen sent its case to four schools selected for their diversity, high academic standards, and location relative to the firm’s headquarters: Howard University, School of Business in Washington, D.C.; Clark Atlanta University, School of Business Administration in Atlanta; University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business in College Park; and University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Ninety-seven MBA, MPP, and MPA candidates who wished to compete formed teams and participated in local campus competitions. Judges from Booz Allen then visited the universities to select one winning team from each campus. The final competition was held in February in McLean, when the 16 finalists were asked to formulate recommendations that included:

• A human capital strategy to ensure workforce skill sets and intellectual capital were maintained through the BRAC transition
• Organizational design recommendations for merging two organizations
• An analysis of multiple stakeholders
• A change management process to manage the transitions between facilities

“We wanted the students to take the tools they had learned in a corporate setting—such as net present value (NPV) calculations and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis—and apply them to a setting with a government client,” said Delaroderie.

Students were assessed for their ability to develop solutions that would sustain military base operations, minimize loss of personnel, and identify stakeholders. They were also evaluated for how well they managed their time, addressed training concerns, used logic, engaged the audience, and other factors.

Final honors went to Howard University students, who were offered paid internships at Booz Allen and an award of $800 each. Says principal David Dye, “When a company tries to win work, a consultant’s competence and ability to build rapport with the audience is critical. It’s not only what you say, but how you say it. Howard’s team addressed the people, processes, IT, and transition issues involved in the BRAC better than any other team. Their ability to think on their feet and their presentation style were very impressive.”

The University of North Carolina’s second-place team received $400 each, and third- and fourth-place team members received $200 and $100 each, respectively. The final event also included a dinner with Booz Allen senior leaders and placement interviews.

Attracting the Best People, Providing the Best Solutions

For the students, the competition was an intense experience involving long hours and close cooperation. Howard University MBA candidate Dexter Webster learned early on the importance of devising and maintaining a course of action: “Establishing group norms assisted us in creating order down the road. Sometimes we got so excited about rolling up our sleeves and getting to work, we forgot that a process for exchanging ideas in a team setting is needed.”

Students were not the only ones who benefited from the case competition. The event help Booz Allen reach a wider pool of talent for interns and new hires, build relationships with key graduate schools, and broaden the firm’s regional visibility.

“To inspire a high-performance business culture, other incentives motivate more than money—such as open communications with management, appreciation of individual effort, and providing meaningful work,” says Dye. “Booz Allen has built a successful business offering our staff this type of environment.”

Vice president Walt McFarland agrees. “There is a difference in a company with a values-driven culture. We recognize performance, but diversity in its broadest sense—culture, ethnicity, age, lifestyle, and so on—is also critical.

“As we look forward, one primary issue facing America is that new knowledge workers want different things than the retiring baby boomers. They want work that matters to them; they want options for training and development to increase their marketability; and they want to be treated fairly.

“Our 2005 employee survey shows that more than 90% of our staff believes our performance management system is accurate and fair,” McFarland says. “What knowledge workers want is aligned with Booz Allen’s value system and diversity of perspectives. That formula will continue to make us an employer of choice. The right people will choose to be with us for the right reasons.”

Next year, Dye plans to broaden the involvement of school program leads, which is likely to increase student participation.

story posted August 29, 2006

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