USC Sumter Students Win Honors at International Business Conference

by Alethia Hummel

Sumter, SC (06/02/2021) — The University of South Carolina Sumter is proud to announce several students won awards at the Society for Advancement of Management International Collegiate Business Skills Champions in the Associate's Division at the 76th Annual Society for Advancement of Management International Business Conference. This annual series of competitions, reaching back over 40 years, is organized by the Society for Advancement of Management and provides an opportunity for students to showcase existing skills and further develop fundamental skills for business success.

The USC Sumter team included William Barrineau, Sydney Blass, Tykeem Glisson, Lindsay Lew, Demetrius Mack, and Christopher Rembert. The team was mentored by Dr. Santosh Nandi, USC Sumter Assistant Professor of Management.

"Unlike last year, our current team is a representation of a very diverse set of students with varied discipline interests including business. I asked them to give their collective best performances in all events. In the end, we won the 2nd place in the Team Overall Achievement Category at this Associate level - for the second year in a row. Certainly, it proves that our students are capable of bringing national exposure to our campus. I believe that the students will somehow be able to relate and reinforce their SAM winning experience into their future careers," said Dr. Nandi.

SAM is a nonprofit organization that promotes scientific study of the principles governing organized efforts in industrial and economic life. At their annual conference, they hold a collegiate business skills championship which analyzes a students' ability to operate as a multi-functional manager utilizing the skills and talent they have developed while enrolled in a collegiate business program.

Schools are invited to submit a team to compete in one or more events; with an overall champion being declared by school and individual as SAM International Business Skills Champions.

Besides taking 2nd place in the Overall Team competition, USC Sumter also won 1st place for their Written Case Study and 2nd place for their Presentation Case Study.

Individual honors were awarded to William Barrineau who took 1st place in Extemporaneous Speech, 1st place for Business Knowledge Bowl and 3rd place for Business Pitch. Lindsay Lew won 2nd place in Extemporaneous Speech.

"We are extremely proud of the USC Sumter team of students and Dr. Nandi for his mentorship of the team," said USC Sumter Campus Dean, Dr. Michael Sonntag. "This is a tremendous achievement for these students who have once again proven they are one of the top business teams to beat."

About SAM (The Society for Advancement of Management)

The Society for Advancement of Management is the world's oldest management society, formed in 1912 to provide a place for discussion and promotion of Frederick Winslow Taylor's principles of scientific management. A non-profit organization run and advanced by hundreds of volunteers; members come from a variety of disciplines - productions, finance, marketing, accounting, research and development, entrepreneurship, - but share a common bond of interest in becoming stronger managers. SAM builds bridges among academicians, practitioners, and students not only to better share management expertise but also to develop and promote new management ideas.