Wharton West one of L'Oreal's best

L'Oreal thinks Wharton is worth it.

A team of students from Wharton West, the business school's San Francisco branch, has advanced to the final round of L'Oreal's e-Strat competition, which asks participants to play the role of a simulated cosmetics company's general manager.

Contestants are given the task of making professional-like decisions, ranging from setting hypothetical prices to conducting research.

"The main goal is to communicate and demonstrate to as many students as possible the strength, the complexity and the dynamism of . the beauty industry," Francois de Wazieres, vice president of Corporate Strategic Recruitment for L'Oreal USA, wrote in an e-mail.

And officials at Wharton West, which offers an MBA program and executive education, are excited at what the team's success means for the school.

"This is an example of how good our students are," said Dean of Wharton West Len Lodish.

The competition boasts 15,000 entrants worldwide, a number that has since been narrowed to eight over the course of six grueling rounds.

"It certainly can't hurt to have students at Wharton West succeed so well in a very big competition," Lodish said.

Participating teams say the last round may prove to be the hardest yet.

"Our goal is to present to the panel and try to sell our company," said first-year MBA candidate Alice Zhang.

"It's kind of like The Apprentice," she said.

And that challenge, de Wazieres said, is part of the draw.

"e-Strat gives . an unrivaled learning opportunity to apply and challenge [students'] knowledge on critical business skills," he said.

And although Zhang agreed that business skills are important to her team's accomplishment, she pointed out that another factor has played a big role in its success: diversity.

The team's three members, she said, hail from around the world - Loren Simon is from the United States, Bolaji Olutade is from Africa and Zhang is from China.

"I feel we truly represent the diversity of a global company," she said. "The mission of our company is to provide cosmetic products to the rest of the world."

The team represents the competition's sixth region, which includes the United States, Canada and Australia. Eight regions will send representatives to the final round in Paris.

Before they return, the participants plan on taking full advantage of their chance to explore to the fashion capital of the world.

"My plan is to go shopping," Zhang said.

Simon added that he is looking forward to the opportunity to "just kind of hang out and relax and enjoy the city."

"It's a week after finals, so it's kind of like a little getaway," Olutade added.

The final stage of the competition will be held on April 18, and the winning team will be announced the next day.

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