UPEI business students take second at ICBC
Annual competition took place recently at Queens University
Students from UPEI’s faculty of business have earned second place at a case competition at Queens University.
The Inter-Collegiate Business Competition is Canada’s longest-running undergraduate business case competition, featuring competition in eight different events, including accounting, business policy and ethics.
After strong showings at the preliminary round in October, two teams from UPEI earned invitations to compete in the final round in the categories of ethics and business policy.
UPEI’s ethics team was comprised of Quinton Gorman and Zach Geldert who placed second after competing against teams from the University of Alberta, University of Calgary, Concordia University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Wilfred Laurier University.
“ICBC was a great learning experience and I am happy that we were able to achieve this result,’’ said Geldert. “This competition gave us the chance to put what we have learned in the classroom to use in a very practical way.’’
The team had five-and-a-half hours to prepare with access to textbooks, but none to the Internet. They had 15 minutes to present their solution to a judging panel of industry professionals, with an additional five minutes to answer questions and defend their recommendations.
“If you want a big return, you have to be willing to take a risk,’’ said Gorman.
“Even though preparing and presenting a case in a short amount of time may be daunting, it is undoubtedly one of the greatest experiences that a business student can have. You learn how to approach a business institution and provide a recommendation in a hands-on way.’’
UPEI’s business policy team was made up of Alex Dunne, Callum Wood and Sydney Gallant.
The university says the team had a great showing in an extremely competitive field, but unfortunately didn’t crack the top three.
The students will be busy with more case competitions this semester.
Dunne, Wood and Gallant will compete at the John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition, an international competition in Montreal in mid-February. Geldert will be competing in late February at the Network of International Business Schools Case Competition, an international competition in Guatemala.