Sloan Women in Management

After eleven months of planning, the Sloan Women in Management (SWIM) club was scheduled to organize its 3rd annual conference the next day. They were able to manage the operations, marketing and sponsorship activities to make sure that the conference is held successfully. The setup was slated to begin in the next few hours with the speakers ready to board their flights for Boston. In contrast to their plans, they were facing a difficult decision as it was around the same time a winter storm, fortified with up to 50 inches of snow, was predicted to hit the Boston area. The impending storm was an ironic twist for the conference leadership team that had overcome a number of challenges during the months leading up to the start of the conference. At 2:00pm the day before the conference was to begin, the leadership team needed to decide whether the show should go on, be modified, or be canceled altogether .

Situation Analysis

The case represents the situation of a student-run club named Sloan Women in Management (SWIM) which works through networking events, speaker series, professional development workshops, mentorship programs and community building events to increase opportunities for all women at MIT Sloan. Every year, members of SWIM participate in the planning and execution of a student-run conference. This event presents a unique opportunity for the group to host thinkers from a variety of industries and to engage in a dialogue with leading women in business. Last year the event turned out to be a great success with more expectation this year. To meet the expectations they started working on it 11 months before the event. Rachel, Lea and Tarini took on the major role of the event leadership and Janet & Merrill assumed the role of co-president. They got the sponsorship meeting their expectations. They confirmed with all the keynote speakers for the event. Just few days before the event they came across the news of bad weather prediction on the event day. Snow storm was arriving towards Boston where the MIT is located. As they have finalized all the keynote speakers and distributed tickets to all the attendees and also they gave advances to caterers, it has added to their troubles. They were worried about the reputation of the institution and the financial consequences of their decision .

Problem Statement

What should be the decision of the management team about SWIM’s 3rd annual conference, considering the uncertain weather conditions and its consequences?

Options

Option 1:

Cancel the conference

Option 2:

Hold a half day conference with eminent speakers.