NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – The Price College of Business hosted its inaugural Management Information Systems Competition on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, where junior and senior students showcased their tactical skills through real-world analysis of data from Love’s Travel Stops.
Students used data analytics and visualization tools, like Python and Power BI, to analyze hypothetical fuel sales, merchandise sales, customer demographic information and store visit data from Love’s. Company representatives visited campus three times during the fall semester to address students' technical and project-related questions.
The winning team of MIS students included junior Omar Bounana, who served as team leader, and seniors Gabrielle Madden, Tiffany Ughamada and Max Gottwals. They, along with other teams in the competition, presented their findings to a panel of experts from Love’s, PayCom, Hobby Lobby, Devon Energy, Conoco Philips, OneOK, KimRay and more.
According to MIS Division Director Alexandra Durcikova, the curriculum for this course has been significantly revamped to better align with industry needs.
“Students learn to handle data in various formats and perform in-depth analyses, such as identifying outliers and addressing missing values,” said Durcikova. “Our goal is to build their confidence and marketability by exposing them to authentic business data instead of synthetic data. For instance, one of the monthly transaction tables includes over 2.4 million rows, giving students real-world experience with large-scale data and preparing them for the complexities they’ll encounter in their future careers.”
MIS Instructor "Tracy" Cui Zou, who mentored the winning team of this case competition, encouraged students to think outside the box and apply advanced methodologies to verify the effectiveness of the campaign. According to Zou, this approach impressed the panel of judges because it successfully answered the critical question: sales improvements were driven by an effective campaign rather than seasonality or other external factors.
“This team won because they presented a regression model that determined the best campaign and the factors supporting their reasoning,” said Clarke Daugherty, MIS instructor and director of this competition. “Their statistical modeling set them apart because it was much deeper than anyone else’s.”
Ughamada added, “This case competition truly tested me in ways I never have been within my collegiate career, but I cannot emphasize enough how truly enlightening and rewarding it has been.”
Future competitions will be held with sophomore students to increase their exposure to future employers. This could earn them internship opportunities or help them establish relationships in the industry. The spring 2025 data will be provided by the Chickasaw Nation.
Learn more about Price’s Management Information Systems program.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
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