[CHARLOTTETOWN, PE] — Four UPEI business students recently returned home after a well-deserved first place finish at the Wing Lung Bank International Institute for Business Development (IIBD) Case Competition in Hong Kong.
"Not many people are able to say they are international champions, and the fact that we can is incredibly exciting and overwhelming," Jordan McNally, UPEI case team member said. "Our whole team dedicated many hours of hard work preparing for this competition and it has most definitely paid off. The opportunities this win will create for us are incomprehensible."
The IIBD competition focuses on strategic challenges and managerial dilemmas faced by today's global business leaders. Students had to work under pressure and a tight deadline to solve a real world business problem and form action-oriented recommendations.
During the first round of competition, 33 teams submitted written case reports which focused on this year's theme, "Value Creation Through Branding." Five teams, including UPEI, were then chosen to compete in the final round hosted at Hong Kong Baptist University on Nov. 11.
The finalists were presented with a real business case and had six hours to prepare their presentation to a panel of judges. After evaluating each of the teams on analysis comprehension, relevance, originality, persuasiveness, and overall presentation, UPEI was ranked first.
Among the judges were professors and successful entrepreneurs, including Raymond Tong, CEO of Pacific Coffee Limited, who was so impressed with the UPEI team that he offered each of them a job upon graduation.
