UH Hilo students share prize in Target case competition

University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Contact:
Alyson Kakugawa-Leong, (808) 974-7642
Director, Media Relations, University Relations
Posted: May 13, 2011

Six students from the College of Business and Economics (CoBE) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo have been selected to share a $2000 cash prize for their participation in a case competition sponsored by Target Corporation.

Ashley Aurello, Chelsy Johansen, Trebor Waihee-Yanazaki, Szu-Ting Wang, Peter Woo and Meilani Yarmola emerged from the closely fought competition to identify the optimum location for a new distribution center for Target stores in the northeastern United States.

Students in Professor Hank Hennessey’s strategic management course were divided into four teams and given four weeks to prepare detailed reports, which were presented to a team of judges on May 5, 2011. The panel of judges was comprised of CoBE faculty and two representatives of Target Corporation, who had studied at CoBE. Michael Kemper graduated last spring and Risa Kincaid will graduate this semester.

Hennessey noted that all of the teams presented interesting analyses of the problem and approached it from a variety of angles. The winning team identified several potential sites and evaluated them using two different methods on a variety of dimensions. Their choice provided the best mix of improvements to efficiency and environmental awareness.