Team VSB swept the competition and won the top prize in the second annual International Business Competition. The team was comprised of Sarah Cognetti, Brian Cotroneo, Meet Doshi and Victoria Kent.

Sponsored by VSB’s center for Global Leadership, the four students, all of whom are International Business co-majors, traveled to Loyola Marymount University’s Hilton Business School in Los Angeles to compete with other business school teams including Santa Clara University, University of South Carolina and University of Southern California.

The international case competition was sponsored by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce as part of World Trade Week and involved the development of a global market entry strategy for Dole Foods, Inc.

The students were presented with a real-world scenario faced by Dole Foods and asked to come up with various expansion options for the company.

The focus of the scenario investigated opportunities in Amazonian and exotic fruits with high nutritional value.

“While most groups researched and chose an exotic fruit to simply import to the U.S., our group took a different approach,” says Daniel Wright, assistant professor of management and operations and team faculty adviser.

The team proposed to launch a line of healthy smoothies in the United States and Europe.

They also developed a comprehensive business plan which addressed marketing, supply chain and distribution, import and trade restrictions and financial implications for Dole Foods.

The teamwork and original strategy earned VSB the top spot in the competition along with $8,000 of scholarship money to be applied to the students’ business education.

“The Villanova School of Business is strongly committed to globalization and internationalization,” said Jonathan Doh, faculty adviser for the VSB team and director of the Center for Global Leadership. “We want to provide opportunities for students to engage in global business issues in the classroom, through competitions such as this one, and by studying and working abroad.”