Isenberg Students Excel in Accounting Case Competition

October 29, 2009

A team of five Isenberg School accounting students has placed first among seven Isenberg teams in PricewaterhouseCoopers's annual XACT Case Competition. Three PwC judges gave highest points to the winning team of Kim Brophy '11, Brittany Herzog '11, Sarah Langlais '11, Seth Howard '12, and Xing-ling Huang '12. For its winning effort, the team, coached by accounting professor Jim Smith, received $1,000 and consideration for the competition's  national finals. For eligibility, PwC judges will evaluate a videotape of the team's performance against the  performances of winning teams from universities in 23 states.  Five finalists will each receive awards of $10,000 and travel to New York for a final two-day competition sometime after the first of the year.

This year's  XACT case required the students to make strategic recommendations to a hypothetical  privately owned helicopter manufacturer in Des Moines. The struggling company faced a variety of decision alternatives, including a Chapter 11 filing and government assistance for participation in an alternative fuel technologies program for the  aeronautics industry. The students were judged on their research, the persuasiveness of their recommendations, and the quality of their presentation.