Dean Students Participate in Questrom Sustainability Case Competition at Boston University
Three Dean College business students – Cedric-Lucas Summers, Elijah Silva and Arthur Felicio – advanced to the preliminary round of the Questrom Sustainability Case Competition at Boston University on November 18, 2023.
The students entered the competition through their special topics course taught by Amy Crouch, assistant professor of accounting and management, in the Dean R. Sanders ’47 School of Business. The competition was split into two phases. In Phase 1, teams were sent a case study about a company looking for innovative ideas on how to improve the sustainability of a new product. The students were then to submit recommendations while maintaining anonymity, to be judged by independent reviewers. Cedric-Lucas, Elijah and Arthur’s innovative proposal for a California-based clothing company prominently emphasized solutions that not only cater to environmental concerns, but also aim to enhance the socio-economic well-being of specific lower-income populations.
From this, Cedric-Lucas, Elijah and Arthur were selected to advance to the next phase of the competition. In Phase 2, the selected teams – which ranged from undergraduates to MBA students – were invited to Boston University Questrom School of Business for independent presentations based on a second case study.
In this phase, Cedric-Lucas, Elijah and Arthur were tasked with presenting a 30-slide PowerPoint and participating in a live Q&A with judges about L.L. Bean's environmental efforts and customer growth strategies. Teams participated in the preliminary round, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals all on the same day.
The winning team, a group of undergraduate students from BU, received $50,000, with the condition that they donate 10% of their winnings to an approved nonprofit focused on sustainability.
Congratulations to Cedric-Lucas, Elijah and Arthur for representing Dean in such a prestigious competition! Learn more about the Sanders School of Business at Dean College.