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students
Business Plan Competition Tackles “Digital
Divide”
Alumni acting on behalf of the fictional venture capital firm GSB-VC assessed the viability of student plans to bridge the “digital divide” at the 10th annual Dean’s Challenge last September.
The culmination of Core, a  two-week orientation program for first-year students, the Dean’s Challenge gives first-year students 24 hours to create a business plan describing their solutions to a given problem. Alumni judges assume the roles of venture capitalists, selecting the proposals they believe are the most feasible in terms of marketability and profit opportunity. They also consider the quality of students’ presentations and their ability to work effectively in teams.
This year, Dean Robert S. Hamada challenged students to find solutions to the lack of computer literacy among certain groups both within and across nations, a problem known as the “digital divide. ” He also stressed the importance of the Dean’s Challenge, which introduces first-year students to the fundamentals of teamwork in solving business problems and defines the concepts they will learn as GSB students.
“The Dean’s Challenge epitomizes the Chicago GSB plan to engender a managerial mindset in our students. . . . We are using this business plan competition as a sort of initiation to impress upon them the managerial goals of the Chicago GSB curriculum before they embark upon it, ” Hamada told alumni judges.
Students responded to this year’s challenge with ingenuity and enthusiasm, said two-time judge and former participant Janet Hughes, ’96.
“The talent of students continues to increase‹the amount of experience and the diversity of the student body continue to impress me, ” Hughes said. “This year, in particular, I really felt that the challenge gave students the latitude to come up with very creative solutions, ” said Hughes, a senior manager at Andersen Consulting, which sponsored the event.
In teams of five to six members, the students developed such prize-winning business plans as a Web-based lottery system to promote computer literacy in South America. Other winners included a multilevel, community-based computer training program and an online job site for migrant laborers.
In addition to allowing students to work together, the Dean’s Challenge gives first-years the opportunity to interact with alumni.
“The Dean’s Challenge is a great way for alumni to get to know students in a more relaxed setting. It also gives students a chance to really pick our brains about how the GSB has helped to shape our professional careers, ” said Hughes.– –A.R.
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