ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Attention Tauber students. You are now leaving your comfort zone and entering the fast-paced world of a NASCAR pit crew. Don’t forget your earplugs. The Tauber Institute for Global Operations recently participated in the ninth annual Stock Car Pit Crew Challenge, a leadership and team-building module for first-year graduate students. And though they’ve been asked to solve many management problems in their careers, most of the participants had never changed a tire before, let alone a 75-pound racing tire.

The anticipation of the challenge, held at the Wilson Center on North Campus, was evident as students divided into teams and individual roles were assigned: front and rear tire changer, front and rear tire carrier, and crew captain. Their task was to remove, rotate, and reattach the front and rear tires on an actual NASCAR vehicle using high-powered tools and teamwork.

The professional demonstration team, led by former NASCAR driver Bill Eversole of Chelsea, Michigan, whipped through the process of changing both tires in a flash, without explaining any techniques to the students. Then the students were given a practice round to feel the weight of the tires, the power of the air gun and the intensity of the task. Eversole then encouraged teams to take advantage of the opportunity to learn from the pros. “Ask us questions. Take advantage of your resources. Don’t be afraid to say that you aren’t sure how to do something,” he said.

Teams regrouped after each round to improve their strategy, technique, and time and were encouraged to help each other by offering suggestions and motivation. The simulated pit crew atmosphere included screaming air guns and cheers of encouragement which added to the intensity and the competitive spirit of the day.

From identifying individual strengths to motivating team members, students were encouraged to find their own way to improve their performance. In the end, the point of the exercise was to learn from mistakes, accept constructive criticism, and set common goals. All of this is aimed at helping prepare students for their 14-week summer Team Projects which will take them inside Tauber sponsor-corporations around the globe.

The team with the best time this year was aptly named Fast & Furious, and team member Eunjin Yoon (MSCM ‘14 called the exercise an eye-opening experience. “I really loved this challenge. It is a great showcase for real business world challenges. We actually had teammates try every role and picked the best combination of roles which turned out to be a winning strategy to reduce our time from 30 seconds to 14! Encouraging and communicating with team members was key to our winning,” said Yoon.

Tasha Mangaldas (PhD Material Science and Engineering ’18) also of Fast & Furious added, “We were the underdogs from our performance in the first two runs but instead of stressing out we focused on our weaknesses and tried to get better. Ironically, our goal for the final run wasn't to win but to get the job done in less than 15 seconds. I think that helped because we felt the pressure but we were competing with ourselves and not the other teams. Winning was just an added bonus!”

Students got caught up in the competitive nature of the task, but reflected on the purpose of it all. “This event highlighted three things for me. The first is that sometimes the secret to success is to focus on the work that needs doing, not the goal at the end of the road. My second takeaway was to realize that, when you're lucky enough to have teammates who are insanely good at what they do, give them the encouragement they need but don't get in the way. Finally, I think the challenge showed me just how much of a team's success comes down to chemistry. Some people just work well together, and you need to find who those pairings are and make them happen,” said John Scrudato (MBA ’16 and JD ‘16).

“Throughout this process, we learned to leverage our network which includes both our teammates and other external experts and to remain confident in our strategy and abilities. We had a great time getting to know our teammates and learning to change a tire and hope that we can utilize a similar strategy to be successful over our summer internship projects!” said Liz Hershman, CPA (MBA ’15).

About Tauber Institute for Global Operations
The Tauber Institute for Global Operations is a joint venture between the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the College of Engineering, and many industry partners to facilitate cross-disciplinary education in global operations management. In addition to broad array of core and elective courses, the innovative LeadershipAdvantage^SM Program provides students with the tools to ascend to major operations leadership roles. Well-designed and managed team projects form the cornerstone of the Tauber Institute experience and allow students to apply their knowledge to real world settings. The Tauber Institute is an inaugural recipient of the UPS George D. Smith Prize for effective and innovative preparation of students to be good practitioners of operations research, management science, or analytics. http://www.tauber.umich.edu

Contact:
Theresa Ceccarelli 734-647-0308 [email protected]