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Boeing Institute of International Business Hosts Southwest Case Competition

In the inaugural Southwest Case Competition offered by the Boeing Institute of International Business through the International Business (IB) Club, competing teams of students were tasked with identifying the next market Southwest Airlines should target.

Southwest Airlines Case Competition

From left: Marshall Ferraro, Mitchell Johannes, Michelle Mereles and Bridget Boland, the winning team members of the first Southwest Case Competition, pose with their boarding pass prizes.

Global business professionals and IB faculty rated the teams on analysis, content, sources, business acumen and professionalism. 

A total of 13 teams signed up, participating in a preliminary round on Nov. 10, which reduced the pool to four teams that advanced to the finals on Nov. 17.

Four juniors in the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business – Bridget Boland, Marshall Ferraro, Mitchell Johannes and Michelle Mereles – presented the winning case study and presentation to the panel of judges, with their detailed analysis of the next market Southwest Airlines should target for their global expansion efforts. 

Each of them received a prize of roundtrip travel on Southwest Airlines.

“With today’s competitive job climate, we must provide our students with innovative learning opportunities that simulate the real world to best prepare them for the job market,” noted Hadi Alhorr, Ph.D., director of the Boeing Institute of International Business and chair of the department. “We are very grateful to Southwest Airlines for their donation of airline tickets, as it created an ideal opening to develop a case challenge for experiential learning.”

For more information on other activities in the IB Club, email ibclub@slu.edu.  Contact the Boeing Institute at biib@slu.edu.

Winning Team

Finalist Teams