Arthur Andersen Announces Winners of The University of Michigan Business Consulting Challenge

Arthur Andersen, one of the world's leading consulting firms, announced today the winners of the Arthur Andersen Business Consulting Challenge held at the University of Michigan. A total of 13 local teams competed for the opportunity to advance to the National Business Consulting Challenge to be held February 28 through March 2, 2001, at Arthur Andersen's Center for Professional Education in St. Charles, Ill. The top three local teams were presented awards at a party hosted by Arthur Andersen on January 29th at Phelps Lounge, located in the Business School. First place honors went to Kyle Sable, Jeffrey Montgomery, Amir Sitabkhan, and Matthew Aronson. The team, which will now advance to the national competition, was awarded a $1,000 grand prize.

Second place was awarded to Ben Tao, Eric Lee, Andrew Lee, Chris Paulson, and Brent Ross. The third place winners were Leena Ray, Curtis Brewer, Nicole Ernst, Laura Masters, and Jennifer Sayers. These teams were awarded $750 and $500, respectively.

The competition provided participants an opportunity to gain expertise and hands-on experience about consulting and how consultants work with clients to shape the way companies operate in a complex business environment. Each team was responsible for developing a digital marketplace proposal for a company. Teams were judged on their ability to develop innovative solutions in the areas of organizational strategy, structures, processes and information systems.

"With the increasing complexity of business challenges, including globalization, merger activity, deregulation and new technologies, Arthur Andersen clients don't just want answers to their problems," said Gail Steinel, Arthur Andersen's Managing Partner of Business Consulting in North America. "They expect our consultants to implement creative solutions and have a thorough understanding of all aspects of their business. The Business Consulting Challenge is designed to provide students with insights about the consulting process and the challenges that businesses encounter in today's competitive environment."

Teams composed of three to five students received an overview of the client's business problem and Arthur Andersen's consulting process, methodology, tools and resources. After performing research and analysis on the client, each team met with an Arthur Andersen project manager to get feedback on their approach. A final presentation was then presented to Arthur Andersen partners and managers, who selected the winner.

The contest at the University of Michigan is part of a nationwide competition involving 144 teams and 576 students from 15 leading universities. Participating schools include Georgia Tech, Miami University of Ohio, State University of New York at Binghampton, Texas A&M, University of Arizona, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Colorado, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame, University of Southern California, University of Texas, Villanova University, and William & Mary.

"We look forward to welcoming Kyle, Jeff, Amir, and Matt to St. Charles next month as the University of Michigan's representatives in the Arthur Andersen National Business Consulting Challenge," said Steinel.

The winning team will be awarded a grand prize of $5,000 and a $20,000 scholarship for their respective university.



About Arthur Andersen:

Arthur Andersen's vision is to be the partner for success in the new economy. The firm helps clients find new ways to create, manage and measure value in the rapidly changing global economy. With world-class skills in assurance, tax, consulting and corporate finance, Arthur Andersen has more than 77,000 people in more than 80 countries who are united by a single worldwide operating structure that fosters inventiveness, knowledge sharing and a focus on client success. Since its beginning in 1913, Arthur Andersen has realized 87 years of uninterrupted growth, with 2000 revenues of USD$8.4 billion. Learn more at www.arthurandersen.com.