HR Case Competition & Field Study

During this past year, I sought out every real world application of the principles and models I’m learning as possible. Two of those opportunities were a field study and a case competition.

Honeywell Field Study

As a team of five MBA students, we contracted with Honeywell to travel to SE Asia to analyze the HR implications of mass hiring in emerging regions. We spent a full semester analyzing research, gathering data, and conducting interviews and focus groups to determine the top recommendations to improve employee retention and career progression. The highlight was spending ten days in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia getting to know the culture and people and then being able to present our findings and recommendations to senior executives at Honeywell.

Human Capital Case Competition

Vanderbilt hosts the annual Human Capital Management (HCM) Case Competition to attract top MBA talent to analyze how HCM can drive strategy and impact a company’s bottom line. A team of three first-year and three second-year students were given a week to dissect a complex business case and then traveled to Tennessee to present to Deloitte Consulting executives as if we were a consulting team presenting to the leaders of the case company’s management team. Not only did I get a chance to see a real business situation and the impact that HCM can have, but I also had the time of my life getting to know my team members outside of our normal routines and was able to network with successful professionals and leading MBA students at schools like Cornell, UCLA, Michigan, North Carolina, USC, Vanderbilt and Yale. It is one thing to learn what to do in a class setting for an assignment, and a very different thing to actually take the analysis from conception to implementation and get feedback, guidance, and inspiration from those who have proven success in their field. I encourage all incoming MBAs to seek out the fun opportunities to represent BYU through additional activities outside of the academic rigor of the program in order to get the most out of your MBA experience.

-Joe Nabrotsky, OB/HR, Class of 2010

Internship: Honeywell

Full-time: Honeywell