It was a case competition that served as a learning experience in more ways than one, providing students with a platform to work through a real-life business case, and a crash-course in Canadian culture. As an entirely student-run event, Ivey HBAs helped create an authentic international experience where students could share their business-savvy, their country and their culture.
Ivey welcomed 14 international teams representing 11 countries from March 25-28 to its annual Scotiabank International Case Competition (SICC), sponsored by Scotiabank for the 15th year in a row.
Students were given a case about WestJet Encore President Ferio Pugliese and his venture with WestJet’s new regional air service. Ivey also surprised the students with a field trip to the Fanshawe College Aviation Centre at the London International Airport, where they received details on the case.
Over the course of three days, students were given set times for case preparation and then presented their findings to a panel of judges comprised of 14 Ivey alumni. The four finalists included a first place tie between the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the University of Otago, New Zealand, second place went to the University of Hong Kong, and third place went to the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST).
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Spirit and culture, Canadian style
Ranging from a night on the town, to Laser Quest, to Canadian-themed games and a multicultural show-and-tell, the students were given opportunities to experience Canadian culture.
Krupa Shah, one of the event co-chairs, noted that, “It was interesting to see how receptive everyone was to each other's cultures. The flow of cultural sharing became stronger as the competition went on. Instead of just sharing Canadian culture, we really got a taste of a variety of cultures.”
A new addition to the event this year involved a vote by all participants for the team who they thought demonstrated the most spirit and deserved special recognition for their contributions to the overall experience. As a symbol of that recognition, Team Peru was awarded a Spirit Cup, as well some Canadian culture-inspired SICC hockey jerseys.
Kelsey Paskell, event co-chair, still can’t believe that the experience is over. “Organizing this case competition has truly been the highlight of my HBA2 year.”
Both Paskell and Shah noted that they worked diligently to make the experience a “crash-course” in Canadian culture. “We wanted to expose our international participants to everything that we value most in Canada - politeness, a warm, welcoming environment, and friendship,” said Paskell. “And I am happy to say that we accomplished this.”
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