Replacing PIN numbers with thumb print scans, incorporating social networking
media into the corporate workplace, and adopting green technologies were among
the ideas presented by enterprising Syracuse University students during the
JPMorgan Chase Case Competition held Friday at Hinds Hall.
"All four teams were incredibly great," says University Professor of Practice Jeffrey
Saltz. "It's amazing what the students were able to accomplish in this one day.
Everyone did a great job."
Four teams of four undergraduates from SU's School of Information Studies
(iSchool), College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), L.C. Smith College of Engineering and
Computer Science (LCS) and Whitman School of Management competed in the
daylong event. The teams selected from four topics: "Innovation in Financial
Services," "Going Green," "Knowledge Transfer and Management" and
"Privacy/Ethics in Information Usage."
"It was a chance for the students to work under pressure, to work in a real-world
situation with real-world information and potentially real-world results," says Shay
Colson G'10, competition organizer and a graduate student in information
management at the iSchool. "We hope it was a great experience for everyone
involved."
The student teams selected their topics Friday morning and spent the day
researching, brainstorming, and creating and practicing their PowerPoint
presentations. During 15-minute presentations, each team talked through a plan of
action for the financial services giant about the problem and its solutions.
The iSchool and A&S teams focused on knowledge transfer and management. Each
suggested employing social media, modeling after such popular social sites as
YouTube, Facebook and Wikipedia to build knowledge banks and to improve
communications and processes within the company.
LCS students presented on going green, and Whitman students focused on
innovation in financial services, suggesting the company reduce credit card and ATM
fraud by replacing PIN numbers with thumbprint scans.
A panel of four judges from JPMorgan Chase questioned the teams about their
presentations, often asking for more detail about the research the students conducted
or for estimates of the costs and savings to the company.
The order of finish in the competition was:
