Provided

This year's winners of the Nielsen Case Competition, from left, Gina Hong, Colleen Malley, Phillip Ham, Claudia Pazlopez and Soolean Choy.

A team of five Cornell undergraduates won the 2012 Nielsen Case Competition in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 24. They defeated teams from the University of Florida, New York University and Northwestern University in the competition, which was judged by senior executives from Nielsen Co., the global marketing and advertising research firm.

The competition required teams to solve a real-world business challenge faced by Nielsen. Teams were composed of at least two members with majors outside business or accounting. Solutions were judged on issue analysis, alternatives, recommendation, implementation plan and presentation.

Cornell team members are Soolean Choy '12, Phillip Ham '12 and Colleen Malley '13 of the ILR School; Gina Hong '13 of the School of Hotel Administration; and Claudia Pazlopez '12 of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Choy, whose minor is law and society, is from Belle Mead, N.J. She spent the fall semester in Geneva, Switzerland, where she had a credit internship at the International Labour Organization. After graduating in May, she will work at PricewaterhouseCoopers in human resources.

Malley, from Gilbert, Ariz., is pursuing dual minors in law and society and inequality studies. She plans to study abroad during her senior year at the London School of Economics.

Ham, from South Korea, has worked as a consultant and financial analyst intern at investment firms in Seoul. Last year, he worked at J.P. Morgan Investment Management in New York City as an analyst.

Hong, originally from South Korea, is concentrating in consumer behavior and restaurant operations. She has worked as a business development intern at Persephone Restaurant in New York City and at COEX Intercontinental Hotel in Seoul, South Korea.

Pazlopez, from Belle Mead, N.J., is researching anti-nutritional factors in beans in the Department of Food Science. She will attend graduate school to study food chemistry.

The Cornell competition was organized by seven undergraduates under the guidance of faculty coordinators Rod Hawkes, senior extension associate, and Debra Perosio, senior lecturer, both of the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management.

Mary Catt is assistant director of communications for the ILR School.