Business students win first place in analysis of consumer goods company
Published 12:30 pm Monday, December 22, 2025
On the cusp of graduating from Texas A&M University-Victoria, Emily Hobbs was thrilled beyond words when she received news that her six-member team, after months of navigating the complexities of a group project, took home first place in this semester’s College of Business Bachelor of Business Administration Case Conference.
“We spent so much time together just talking about the project,” Hobbs said. “We got to know each other along the way, and when it was over, we expressed so much gratitude toward each other.”
The BBA Conference is held once each semester as part of the “Management 4309” capstone course. Students are expected to do an internal and external analysis on a public chartered company, in addition to working on the course content. This semester, a total of 122 students, divided into 25 teams, competed in this semester’s conference. The event was conducted over Microsoft Teams on Saturday, Dec. 6.
The first-place team consisted of: Haia Abu Ahmad of Springs; Kim Cuchilla of Houston; Jeremias Gonzalez Gaspar of Victoria; Emily Hobbs of Cuero; Xavier Hopkins of Dallas and Frida Alexxa Tucker of Katy.
“The BBA conference is a special event because the College of Business invites some of our outstanding alumni and several community partners to join the college faculty members in judging the presentations,” said Kaveh McAdam, professor of strategy and entrepreneurship. “It is great to see some of our students connecting with our alumni and some even receiving job offers from community partners.”
The team’s journey began in October, starting with sporadic meetings and gradually intensifying their collaboration through November, Hobbs said. This semester, students from the College of Business focused on Kimberly Clark, a multinational personal care corporation known for a range of products from diapers to professional-grade paper goods.
Loading …During the course of the project, everyone in the group wore multiple hats to get all of the work covered, Hobbs said. The conference presentation day was a nerve-wracking experience, she recalled. Facing a panel of judges with impressive academic and industry credentials, the team knew they had to prepare meticulously. The night before their presentation, they held a final review meeting to refine their approach and to manage their collective anxiety, Hobbs said.
“We would get excited sharing articles about new distribution centers or upcoming product launches,” Hobbs said. “Over time, we became genuinely interested in an industry we initially knew little about.”
Their hard work paid off when the team received the email announcing their victory, a surprising and jubilant moment for the group, Hobbs said. For her, the experience of the BBA Case Conference also allowed her to build personal skills.
“This project really helped me learn leadership skills,” she said. “We almost ‘trauma-bonded’ through this project.”
Xavier Hopkins, a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in human resources, said the project wasn’t without its challenges, but was made easier working with his team.
“We really had the best group,” Hopkins said. “The communication was there, everybody wanted to give it their all.”
Other teams that placed in the BBA Case Conference were:
- Second place – Connor Fischer, Lexie Perez and Skylar Pina of Katy; and Paige Saucedo of El Campo.
- Third place – Uzair Ahmed of Missouri City; Caden Allen and Patricia Youngblood of Victoria; Veronica Herrera of Houston; and Jocelynn McDuffey and Jenni Romero Ramirez of Katy.