MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – A prolific case study writer, Arpita Agnihotri, Penn State Harrisburg assistant professor of management in the School of Business Administration, now has been recognized with several major awards at international case competitions.
In February 2019, Agnihotri was named a first-place winner of the John Molson MBA International Case Writing Competition. Agnihotri, along with co-author Saurabh Bhattacharya, secured the competition’s top prize under the theme of disruption for their case titled “TransferWise: Sustainable Disruptor in Remittance Services Industry?”
“Business case studies allow students to hone their decision-making skills by working on challenging real-life situations that corporate executives experience. The use of business case studies in the classroom also creates an engaging and stimulating learning environment.,” said Agnihotri stressing the importance of case study use in the classroom.
Agnihotri co-authored another award-winning case earlier this year. Her “Aeroforms’ Vertical Farming: The Future of Farming?” was selected as a standout at the 39th John Molson MBA International Case Writing Competition.
Organized by the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the competition is open to top business schools worldwide and is recognized as the largest case competition of its kind. Its main purpose is to “bridge the gap between the corporate and academic worlds and enrich both students and executives alike.”
In January, Agnihotri and Bhattacharya’s “Doorsteps: Disrupting the UK Real Estate Industry” won the 2019 Award for Best Entrepreneurship Case from the SAGE Publishing House for Case Studies. The case, published in early 2020, highlights a young entrepreneur, his firm and its disruption of the real-estate market in the United Kingdom with a cost-driven business model.
Agnihotri's scholarship is interdisciplinary with a focus on strategic management, marketing management, and international business. Her work has been published in scholarly academic journals including Journal of World Business, Management International Review, and the Journal of Advertising Research.