August 15, 2005
Shell Oil Introduces Undergrads to  Gourami Business Challenge

Last week, four University of Texas at Austin business and engineering seniors participated in the Shell Oil Company’s Gourami Business Challenge to gain insight into the inner workings of Shell — and a possible job offer after graduation.

While Shell has held similar business challenges in Europe over the past decade, the Gourami Business Challenge, held Aug. 8-12 in Rancho Mirage, Calif., was the first such event the company has offered in the United States. Cary Wilkins, Shell’s director of Attraction and Recruitment-Americas, said the company has effectively used the event to attract top talent from Europe; they are hoping to capitalize on that success to achieve similar results in the U.S.

“The challenge gives students exposure to the real world of energy, and also to the real world of Shell,” Wilkins said.

During the five-day exercise, Shell asks the students to create a five-year business strategy for the company’s operations in the fictitious country of Gourami. The students break up into smaller teams to focus on various departments in the oil industry, including exploration and production, refining operations, manufacturing, human resources, finance, and sales and marketing.

The students are judged partly on how they work within their own small teams of about 10 people to create a business plan for their department. Then, near the end of the week, students are faced with the more difficult task—merging all the plans together into one cohesive business strategy.

On the final day, students present their results to Gourami’s “board of directors,” judges that include several senior level executives, including both the president and CFO of Shell’s U.S. operations. After the students defend their proposal, the board decides whether the strategy could be implemented.

McCombs School of Business student Arpan Shah, a senior finance major, was one of 46 students selected from the nation’s top business and engineering schools to participate in the challenge.

“Coming from a business background, it’s most difficult to understand the engineering aspect of the oil industry,” Shah said while working on the final stages of the plan. “We have to work together so that both sides understand each other.”

Shah noticed that while he was being exposed to refinery operations, his engineering colleagues were being asked to think about whether the company would be making money or not.

“We’re a mini business where we have to do all of the functions,” he added. “It’s hard to work with all the different committees. Everyone is worried about their own projects, and it’s challenging to bring it all together.”

Shell created Gourami, a fictional island in the Indian Ocean to make the experience more interesting and to combine several different problems the company experiences in various parts of the world.

“Throughout the week the students deal with myriad social, economic and political issues that are going to be unique to Gourami,” Wilkins said. “Some of them are expected, and others are surprises. There’s a lot of roll-playing done by the Shell staff to make it more interesting and fun.”

The week is intense, with participants working on the plans from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day. However, once the plans have been submitted, students can look forward to spending the weekend playing golf with Shell executives and visiting the spa, among other activities available at the resort.

Students who perform well and demonstrate personal and professional characteristics desired by Shell may be offered a full-time job after graduation. However, the students are not competing against each other for a limited number of positions.

“Shell emphasizes working together in teams, so the students are not competing against each other for jobs,” Wilkins said. “We don’t want to pit them against each other while they are working on the challenge. I hope that at the end, all 46 students will get job offers.”

“I think it’s a great opportunity to get an insight into shell,” Shah said. “I would definitely recommend that other McCombs students get involved.”

Next year, Shell plans to expand the number of challenges held in the U.S. McCombs students interested in applying for the Gourami Business Challenge should visit the Students link at http://www.shell.com/careers for more information.