Critical thinking won a team of four MSU graduate students first place and $15,000 in scholarships at the National Student Case Competition.

The winning team, comprised of Akilah Ellis, Carlos Johnson, Laith Maddur and Kendall Sykes, were recognized Saturday at the 26th annual National Black MBA Association Conference in Houston.

"We bonded very well as a team," said Maddur, a finance and supply chain management graduate student. "If I had to do it again I'd definitely do it in a heartbeat. I didn't think so a couple days ago because I was so tired and stressed out, but looking back, right now, it was definitely worth every minute."

The event is sponsored by the DaimlerChrysler Corporation and DaimlerChrysler Services. About 30 top business schools in the country sent student teams to compete.

More than 300 companies were present at the conference, which gave the students an opportunity to network, Maddur said.

"They were very innovative," said Amber Paauwe, spokeswoman for DaimlerChrysler Services. "To be able to pull from such a great pool of talent is really important to our company."

Paauwe said the competition is important both for student experience and company planning.

"What's great about the competition is that they get real-world experience," she said. "We take these solutions very seriously. They can be used as a starting point to develop possible programs in the future for us."

The competition is a one-month process in which the business schools are sent a marketing situation that needs a solution. Students then complete an interview and are selected to compete.

Glenn Omura, associate professor of marketing and supply chain management and coordinator of all case competitions at MSU, was one of the seven faculty members to coach the graduate students for the competition.

"There's nothing like competition to bring out the best in anybody, whether an athlete or a debate student," he said.

Omura stressed that being able to make presentations well is also an important part of business, and that combining this skill with analytical skills is crucial in competing in the job world.

"They can beat anybody in the country and they have - they've demonstrated that over and over again," Omura said.

"It clearly indicates that we have brought in a great group of students, we have decent teachers that can polish them up and they should be sought after by corporations in the country. And they are."