University–industry collaboration: Enhancing students’ business acumen and aptitude through competitive SCM challenges

This article describes a collaborative process between a university’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) program and the business community supporting the program to bring about a student team–based case competition. The ideas used for the competition were based on actual challenges experienced and submitted by businesses, while the case narrative and supporting material, as well as the assessment rubric, were developed and written by the SCM program faculty. The implementation of the competition was originally designed to benefit students by helping them further develop and demonstrate their capabilities in the areas of business acumen, soft skills, critical thinking, and problem-solving to potential employers. Interestingly, this activity also provided unforeseen benefits to the original collaborating parties. The article discusses the immediate benefits resulting from the collaboration as well as its impact on future collaborative opportunities between SCM programs and businesses.