Duke Energy/CBE Inter-University Case Competition

Developing Leaders Focused on Interdisciplinary Energy Solutions

During a two-year pilot phase in fiscal years 2012 and 2013, The Duke Energy Foundation Board provided $270,000 seed funding for the Duke Energy/CBE Inter-University Case Competition.  This program encourages students to aspire to become effective organizational leaders focused on long-term value by identifying solutions to challenging issues that faced by organizations like Duke Energy that balance many, often conflicting, stakeholder expectations.   The two-year pilot study enabled the Center for Business Excellence (CBE) to develop a case program (and STEM secondary school curriculum) of significant value to students (college and high school), business professionals, and academics. 

Description of Duke Energy/CBE Inter-University Case Competition

The cases used for the competition examine issues that involve or impact energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, and economic development.

• The first-year case in 2012-13 focused on students working through a modified Duke Energy new product development process in designing a solution for the Green Button Initiative designed to improve residential energy efficiency.  All three final teams designed an application for smart phones/tablets that enabled customers to better understand and manager energy consumption within their homes or businesses.  Further, as described in the relationships bullet above, case materials were converted into eight specific activities with lesson plans for middle and high school STEM-oriented teachers.  These materials were developed so that teachers can better achieve Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) under the National Science Teachers Association.
• The second-year case in 2013-14 focused on students developing and partially implementing marketing plans that influence behaviors of consumers who do not directly pay for energy cost (e.g., students in university dormitories) designed to improve retail/commercial energy efficiency.  All three final teams developed plans that ranged in their focus on improving resource utilization by students at their universities, including electricity and water in dormitories, computer power efficiency in libraries, etc.  Further, the cases are being converted to middle- and high-school level STEM materials so that similar case competitions can occur within and across secondary schools, with a pilot-year case competition involving diverse high schools in the Cincinnati area being held at Miami University in conjunction with the year-three Duke Energy/CBE Case Competition (assuming sufficient funding is raised to hold both events).

The Impact of the Duke Energy/CBE Inter-University Case Competition

The Duke Energy/CBE Intra-University Case Competition helps universities address several common obstacles for holistic, interdisciplinary education.  Most universities suffer from a silo orientation that discourages integrating curriculum across departments within a college/division, and even more so across the university.  Increasingly, innovative solutions to energy-related problems require a deeper understanding across a number of disciplines.  The Competition requires interdisciplinary teams to help students (and faculty) develop a better appreciation for the value unlocked when viewing problems from a holistic perspective.  Further, we are unaware of other inter-disciplinary, university-wide case competitions of this type, which was appreciated by the other universities who participated during the inaugural year.

Also, universities typically face insufficient incentives to participate in wide-scale, interdisciplinary programs across universities.  While such inter-university programs are rare in academia, there is an increasing need for residential universities to demonstrate added value beyond traditional classroom learning, especially as relatively cheaper on-line educational avenues increase in popularity.  Miami University’s reputation for fostering experiential learning and engaging its tenure-track faculty with professionals and students, coupled with funding from high-profile organizations, such as Duke Energy, helps foster inter-university cooperation. The CBE’s mission is “to improve organizational decision-making through a stakeholder management framework that integrates integrity, leadership, and transparency.” The CBE’s vision and mission provide the structure to reach out to appropriate students and faculty at universities with strong reputations for particular disciplines in Duke Energy’s Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana footprint (e.g., University of Cincinnati, Indiana University, Miami University, etc.) to understand how their expertise and interests can help better identify optimal solutions to the issues addressed in the cases.

The Duke Energy/CBE Inter-University Case Competition presents the Company with a unique platform to highlight the interdisciplinary challenges that leaders at Duke Energy and other leading companies must solve to create long-term value.  The Competition enables the Company to reach highly-motivated and high-performing college students in a meaningful way in geographic areas it serves (as well as other universities on a widespread basis).  In addition, the availability of classroom materials and the structure for a case competition (similar to the one at the University level) enable middle- and high-school teachers the opportunity to influence and educate new generations of consumers and college students.  The Duke Energy/CBE Case Competition allows faculty and students who participate to connect and better understand the underlying challenges and solutions based on actual utility industry initiatives (e.g., new product development, regulatory compliance, etc.).

Results of Two-Year Pilot Case Competitions 

For both years, the Duke Energy/CBE Inter-University Case Competitions involved teams from Indiana University, Miami University, and University of Cincinnati.  Teams included both undergraduate and graduate students from business, liberal arts, and engineering divisions.  The teams participated in the program each academic year from October through the final event held in April at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Managers and executives from Duke Energy participated over the two-year process The cases for each, described above, were developed in collaboration with Duke Energy and subject matter experts from Miami University and the CBE, to help Duke Energy consider ways to (1) implement the White House Green Button Initiative to enhance residential energy efficiency in 2012-13 and (2) influence consumer behavior within large organizations to enhance retail/commercial energy efficiency.

The competitions consisted of multiple stages to enable each university to pare down teams so that one finalist from each university could compete at the April final event at Miami University.  The final competition involves an overnight event that includes a celebration dinner the evening before the final presentations by each team to Duke Energy executives (and representatives from Hillenbrand Industries and Notre Dame for the 2013-14 competition) the following day.  All three final teams impressed judges during both years, with IU winning in 2013, MU winning in 2014, and UC finishing second place both years.  The winning case teams received cash prizes and the depending upon where they placed in the competition.

The case materials from 2012-13 were converted into eight distinct lesson plans and activities suitable for middle- and high-school teachers to use as part of their STEM teaching materials (access these materials).  These plans help students better understand their role in managing energy consumption in their homes.  The materials from 2013-14 are being converted into secondary-level cases so that high schools can compete in a similar manner as the university case competition.  The pilot test of the high school competition is planned for April 2015 at Miami University and will involve an inner-city Cincinnati High School, a suburban high school, and a rural high school in Miami’s recruiting footprint. 

Below are several summary statistics and anonymous comments from students and faculty who participated in the competitions:

• Upon completion of the inaugural event, University of Cincinnati issued an internal press release and described the value-added impact from the inaugural year as follows: “The competition benefitted the students by providing practical business experience, an opportunity to improve the environment through conservation, and potential career opportunities for the team members.  This unique opportunity enabled all students to learn how to interact with executives from Duke Energy, the United States’ largest electric power holding company, and learn practical skills on how to address consumers’ future needs, technology feasibility, and business viability.”
• 100 % of the faculty involved at all three universities thought the program was an extremely or very valuable experience—75% [25%] responded with a 7 [6] on a 7-point scale)
• 100 % of the students involved on the three final teams at all three universities thought the program was an extremely or very valuable experience—60% [40%] responded with a 7 [6] on a 7-point scale)

The following are anonymous quotes from Indiana University, Miami University and University of Cincinnati students who participated in the Inaugural Case Competition (100 percent of the students from all three final teams scored either a 6 or 7 on a question asking whether the Competition was a value-added experience):

• "The best thing I participated in during my academic career"
• “It was extremely valuable to think critically and strategically to produce our case.  The experience was unlike anything else I had done before.”
• "I certainly learned a lot and in an integrative way - there were many moving parts that had to be pulled together"
• "Networking with and talking to the judges was awesome"
• "We are very grateful for all the time the Duke Energy Professionals took to assist us. Especially the conference calls with Paul about finance"
• "My MU faculty lead was awesome help and we wouldn't have made it without him!"
• "Honestly, this is one of my best experience while attending UC. The fact it was real life case study with feedback and high expectations improved my professional and leadership skills"
• "Learning and being actively involved in the industry in which I wouldn't have a chance to otherwise. Also, Duke really valued what we had to say"
• "I enjoyed working with people with different backgrounds. I enjoyed gaining the irreplaceable experience I did in regards to networking with Duke executives, as well as presenting"