NIBS 2019 – UPEI on the Global Stage

By Mary Whitrow

Participants from the University of Guelph-Humber celebrating with their UPEI Ambassador, Khaled Abdelmalek (centre).

THE FACULTY OF BUSINESS is committed to being a globally minded faculty. Our new programs like the MBA in Global Leadership or the specialization in International Business in the Bachelor of Business Administration program demonstrate this focus, but we also engage with the global community in many other ways, including our membership in the Network of International Business Schools (NIBS). NIBS is an association of business schools from around the world, with currently about 70 member institutions from 30 different countries, who are united by a shared view that the internationalization of business and globalization of the economy are essential elements in the evolution of managerial practices. The University of Prince Edward Island has been a founding member of the NIBS Association since 1996. The crown jewel of the NIBS Association is the NIBS Worldwide Case Competition for undergraduate business students. It is a competition that brings together top business schools from around the world to compete in a six-day case competition focusing on international business issues. UPEI has had great success as a competitor in recent years, winning bronze in 2013 and silver in 2015 and 2016. The competition is unique in that there is a different host institution every year; recent locations include Carleton University in Ottawa, St. Mary’s University in Texas, USA; Satakunta University of Applied Sciences in Rauma, Finland; and Universidad del Istmo in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

The UPEI Faculty of Business won the bid to host the competition in 2019, becoming the first institution in the Maritime Provinces to be selected in NIBS history. The week-long event, which ran from February 17–22 2019, coincided with the 50th anniversary of UPEI. It offered an unparalleled opportunity to showcase the province and university to future business leaders from across the globe. The competition began with a Qualifying Round in November 2018, involving more than 30 top business schools from across Canada and around the world. Participants competed in teams of four—one team per school—and had eight hours to analyze a business case and remotely prepare a written report with their recommendations. The 16 teams that created the strongest reports advanced to the Championship Round at UPEI. The competition week kicked off with an opening ceremony and reception at UPEI on February 17, featuring a warm welcome from UPEI and provincial government representatives, including opening remarks from the Honourable Wade MacLauchlan, Premier of Prince Edward Island. The tournament unfolded over six rounds of competition, from Monday to Friday. Teams were separated into four divisions, where they competed in a series of head-to-head, round-robin matches. The top teams in each division then moved on to the quarter-, semi-, and final rounds. In each match, teams were tasked with creating a solution to a business case that they had never seen before, sometimes in as little as three hours. The deliverable at the end of their preparation was a

20-minute presentation, followed by a 10-minute Q&A with a panel of judges. A distinguishing feature of the NIBS Worldwide Case Competition is the importance it places on the cultural and social experience. When they were not competing, participants engaged in activities designed to show the distinctive cultural and economic aspects of Charlottetown and PEI. During the evenings, all teams and coaches were introduced to local restaurants to experience the culinary wonders of PEI, and on their one day off, they were taken on a tour of the Island. This was a great way to engage with local business owners and the greater UPEI community. After the final round on Friday afternoon, all participants, volunteers, and judges were invited to celebrate their hard work and success at the final gala, held at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. The winning team, Guelph-Humber of Toronto (Canada), had impressed the judges with their clear analysis and sound recommendations for the final case. Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands) took the silver medal, teams from Technological University Dublin (Ireland) and St. Mary’s University‘s Greehey School of Business (USA) shared the bronze medal, while the Most Spirited Team award went to Guatemala’s Universidad del Istmo for the third year in a row. Mary Whitrow, Chair of the NIBS 2019 Organizing Committee, received the NIBS Distinguished Service Award for her significant contributions to this year’s event. con’t ...

The UPEI NIBS student team, (L-R) Olivia Lants, Hani Mayaleh, Alec Brown, Taylor Meek.

Four members of UPEI’s case team (Alec Brown, Olivia Lantz, Hani Mayeleh, and Taylor Meek) represented UPEI in the competition and now know first-hand the value of case competitions for students interested in experiential learning. After the competition, Hani Mayaleh reflected, “NIBS was perhaps the most challenging week of my university career, but also the most rewarding in terms of the practical learning and problem solving that I was able to engage in.” Taylor Meek added, “I am beyond grateful for my experience at NIBS! The opportunity to network at an international level and compete against the best resulted in an unforgettable week.” As the most recent host, UPEI automatically qualifies for NIBS 2020, which is being hosted at Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences in Schwäbisch Hall (Germany). For those interested in being a part of the UPEI Case Competition Program, please visit http://www.upei. ca/business/case-competition-class.

“ I am beyond grateful for my experience at NIBS!”

Thank you to our sponsors

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THE PEOPLE OF NIBS Organizing Committee Seven individuals were part of the organizing committee, and generously gave their time during the whole duration of the competition. • Mary Whitrow (Case Competitions Program Coordinator), Chair of the Organizing Committee • Anna Mallard (UPEI BBA student), Communications and Logistics • Dr. Tina Saksida (Assistant Professor of Management), Logistics Advisor • Katelyn Lord, CPA (Senior Accountant with Grant Thornton Charlottetown and former UPEI Case Competition student), Volunteer Coordinator • Dr. Andrew Carrothers (Associate Professor of Finance), Judges Trainer • Zach Geldart (Dalhousie University JD student and former UPEI Case Competition student), Logistics Coordinator • Kate Kinsman, CPA (Associate at Arsenault Best Cameron Ellis and former UPEI Case Competition student), Transportation Coordinator Special thanks to Dr. Robin Ritchie (Professor of Marketing at Carleton University and NIBS VP Case Competitions) for his hard work leading up to and during the event.

Volunteers

IT TOOK OVER 80 STUDENT VOLUNTEERS from the UPEI Faculty of Business to make this event a success. Volunteers worked together to create a welcoming atmosphere for their guests; they helped with monitoring teams while they prepared their cases, monitoring and running presentation matches, and working with the organizing committee to make sure everything was running smoothly. Sixteen students took on the role of Ambassador, acting as a buddy for each of the competing teams. In addition to making sure their teams were on schedule, they also ensured participants had everything they needed and were comfortable in PEI throughout the week. Ambassadors had the unique opportunity to create lasting friendships with their teams and to network with university representatives from around the globe. Judging A key element of the NIBS case competition is judging. While some competitions rely primarily on professors and academics to evaluate the ideas and solutions proposed by students, NIBS also engages senior managers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers who are active in the business community. Here in Charlottetown, we were able to tap into our extensive network of alumni and industry mentors (60 judges in total) to ensure that teams were being judged by the best minds in Canadian business. We are especially thankful to our judging partners, Grant Thornton Charlottetown and MRSB, who supported the event by providing multiple judges on each day of the competition. Participating Universities • Avans University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) • Bishop’s University (Canada) • Concordia University (Canada) • EPHEC (Belgium) • Heilbronn University (Germany) • IBA International Business Academy (Denmark) • London South Bank University (United Kingdom) • Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) • St. Mary’s University (USA) • Southeast Missouri State University (USA) • Technological University Dublin (Ireland) • UC Leuven-Limburg (Belgium) • Universidad del Istmo (Guatemala) • Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico (USA) • University of Guelph-Humber (Canada) • University of Prince Edward Island (Canada)