Media Contact:
Anna Rzewnicki, College of Management, 919/513-4478
July 5, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For the second time in two years, a team of students from North Carolina State University’s College of Management won the Institute of Management Accountants’ (IMA) Student Case Competition. The competition was held in conjunction with the IMA’s Annual Conference and Exposition held June 17 in Phoenix, Ariz.
On the winning team this year were Beren Armstrong, Master of Accounting (MAC) student; Todd Warner, bachelor of accounting May 2007 graduate who is entering the MAC program this fall; and Burcu Atakturk, a senior in business management. The team won $3000 for advancing to the finals, and $2000 for the college, for its first place honors.
At the finals competition, the students gave a 15-minute presentation followed by a final question from the judges. Their topic this year was an analysis of the strategic implications of costing systems, including activity-based costing, theory of constraints and resource consumption accounting (RCA), within a capacity-constrained environment, explains Atakturk.
For part of the competition, the team developed a 15-minute video in which they presented their answers. “We chose to do a parody of the "Mythbusters," attacking the myth that RCA is the best cost accounting method for any company. This video went through a preliminary judging, after which we were notified that we were selected to be in the Top 10. Those 10 videos went through a second round of judging, and then we advanced to the finals, where we competed against three other teams for first place.”
In the final competition, the team gave a 15-minute live presentation of its case solution, followed by its response to one question from the judges. The team had five minutes to prepare and deliver its answer. “The grapevine has it that this question weighs considerably on the judges’ scores and can make or break your team’s overall score,” Atakturk said. “Our team seemed to do very well with this question, and in conjunction with our ‘thinking outside the box’ approach to the case, did well enough to win us first place.”
The experience provided the teams friendships and reinforced for them “the view that thinking outside the box is valued in our society,” he said.
About Management Accounting
Management accounting is focused on operations and the value chain, and seeking opportunities for growth and improvement. Management accountants are strategic financial management professionals who integrate accounting expertise with advanced management skills to drive business performance inside organizations.
The IMA case competition team members are also members of the college’s Institute of Management Accountants student organization.
About the team members
Beren Armstrong is the son of Barry and Linda Armstrong of Rockingham, NC
Burcu Atakturk is the daughter of Selim and Esin Atakturk of Cary, NC
[Hometown information about Todd Warner is not available.]
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