“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet,” a quote attributed to famed automobile driver, Bobby Unser, is a truism that appropriately describes the PwC case competition, recently held at the David Eccles School of Business.

On Nov. 7, David Eccles School of Business students competed in a case competition hosted by the Sorenson Center for Discovery & Innovation and the undergraduate and MBA consulting clubs in partnership with PwC Advisory and Strategy&. More than 20 students competed on five teams and demonstrated their business acumen by solving tough, real-world business problems.

“What this event offered, in general, is two-fold,” said Finance program undergraduate Dana Huynh. “The event exposed students to careers in consulting, and it also was an opportunity for U business school students to showcase their skills and abilities to local members of a global firm.

“Consulting is a very competitive industry,” Dana continued, “so the business school consulting clubs seek to offer students opportunities to help them be successful.”

Prior to the competition, interested students were invited to a training session led by Chris Wasden, professor and executive director of the Sorenson Center for Discovery & Innovation. Wasden is an alumni of PwC, where he was its Global Health Innovation Leader prior to coming to the U, and he served as a PwC case competition judge along with two PwC partners, Stacy Sachen and Zach Sachen.

“I am excited to see the level of interest in consulting careers among our students here at the U, and these types of events are great in helping them prepare for case-based interviews and to explore career opportunities,” Wasden said.

The competition’s winning team was comprised of students Dana Huynh, Colby Judd, Jeff Letsinger and Wissam Tekarli. [Pictured above: Zachary Sachen, Jeff Letsinger, Colby Judd, Wissam Tekarli, Dana Huynh, Stacy Sachen].

“The team dynamic was very strong,” said Wasden. “They talked about ways to cut costs as well as increase revenues, and focused on expanding their product offering and market to new segments. And they created a clever new analytical model as the basis of their recommendations.”