Building on Success

Vying for the medals in February are Algonquin, Centennial, Mohawk, Saint-Lawrence, Seneca, and Sheridan Colleges, from Ontario; and Vanier, Champlain, Dawson, John Abbott, and Lionel-Groulx, from Quebec. “We are very excited to be welcoming so many participants this year,” indicates David Moscovitz, Coordinator of Business Administration at Vanier College and principal organizer of the event. “The competing colleges see the Vanier BDC Challenge as a unique opportunity for their students to get involved in a business competition.”

Case challenges are pressure-cooker events aiming to give students a taste for real world business problems. Teams made up of three students have three hours in a secluded room to analyze a business problem and create a viable marketing plan, then make a twenty-minute Power point presentation on their marketing strategy in front of a panel of judges.

This year’s competition will take place at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel (Montreal Airport). “We wanted the students to experience a professional setting, so we decided to hold the challenge in a hotel since that’s where a lot of business presentations often take place. Case competitions are very instrumental tools in preparing young people for the realities of working in business, and everything we can do to enhance that feeling of realism gives our students that much more training,” explains David Moscovitz.

A key difficulty that is often underestimated during such competitions is how the competitors must organize their team and assign each other roles once they read their case. Who leads the team, who creates the computer presentation, what is the order of the speakers – who opens, who develops and who closes the presentation – all those decisions will determine how well the team performs. “Knowing the strengths of each team member, and drawing on that knowledge to structure their team quickly and accurately is a linchpin for success,” says Moscovitz. “So in class we focus a lot on team work because that’s not only the key to doing well in the competition, it’s also the key to succeeding in today’s business environment.”

(Source: Vanier College)