Meaghan Hand '15, of Brockton, MA, earns Case Study Competition Award at DECA conference in New York City
UMass Dartmouth senior accounting major Meaghan Hand, of Brockton, MA, received the Case Study Competition Award in the International Business and Finance Category at the DECA Collegiate Leadership Academy (CLA) recently held in New York City. The Charlton College of Business student serves as President of the Collegiate DECA chapter at UMass Dartmouth.
The CLA conference allowed students to explore career tracks in advertising, fashion merchandising and retail management, hospitality and culinary arts, international business and finance, or sports and entertainment marketing. Students are able to engage in conversations with corporate executives, participate in behind-the-scenes tours and gain industry trends.
In teams with fellow members, students took part in a Case Study Competition within their specific career track. The competition culminates with presentations to DECA's National Advisory Board members. Meaghan was placed with a student from Johnson & Whales University and another from Clemson University. The team had two hours to draft an executive summary and prepare a 10 minute presentation for a judge in the industry. Meaghan's team beat out 10 other teams taking part in the competition. The case study task was a stock valuation. The team's client wanted to know if they should invest in apple stock. The team argued for its client to instead invest in an up and coming company, Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce site.
DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. With nearly a 70-year history, DECA has impacted the lives of more than ten million students, educators, school administrators and business professionals since it was founded in 1946.