A YEAR LATER: RETURNING TO THE MBA CASE COMP
Ryan Rowe
Friday, December 31st, 2004, 1:26am
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Next week, I will be competing as part of a team of four MBA students at an internationally-renowned, round-robin style case competition at the Bonaventure Hilton in Montreal, Canada.  My three teammates are Paul Friesen, Mark Van Wart, and Dave Chan, all 2nd-year MBA students at the Schulich School of Business here in Toronto, Canada.

View photos of the Schulich Case Team!  Click here!

For me personally, partaking in the MBA International Case Competition will be something of an achievement in itself, and a realisation of an ambition I set for myself 12 months ago.  You see, first-year MBA students are not generally considered for a spot on Schulich's team for the competition, since they must usually complete a course on case analysis during the summer term.  Despite this, I somehow managed to convince Professor Ashwin Joshi that I deserved a chance!

Let me tell you the story behind why this particular competition is special to me.

Almost a year ago, I volunteered at the MBA International Case Competition in Montreal.  At the time, I was busy preparing myself for an undergraduate case competition.  I was part of a 3-person team in the International Business discipline competing on behalf of the John Molson School of Business at Eastern Canada's 2004 Commerce Games (Jeux du Commerce).

I had just spent several weeks shadowing and training with the John Molson MBA team, and learning business strategy under the watchful eyes of JMSB coaches Tim Field and Noor Shawwa.  Having become acquainted with the JMSB team, I was anxious to attend the event and see what they were so excited about.

I also saw volunteering as an excellent way to get involved and take advantage of networking opportunities (with MBAs, professors, and judges from around Canada and all over the world).

For me, observing MBA Case presentations was also a chance to further motivate myself for the Commerce Games, since the MBA Case Competition would clearly take strategy to a higher level than our own competition.  I saw the potential for some takeaways to improve my individual contribution to my own team's performance.

I spent about two days volunteering at the case competition and I came away wide-eyed and awestruck at the highly-charged atmosphere of the event.  The following weekend, my International Business team (Myles Hiscock, Chantal Beaudoin, and myself) took the Gold in our discipline at the Commerce Games in Sherbrooke.  Later that evening, we got news back from the John Molson team that they had taken first place at the MBA International Case Competition!

I find case study analysis to be an excellent way to pull together all of the classroom business theory and apply it to a realistic business problem.  Participating in case competitions are an excellent way to reinforce classroom learnings, build confidence in your business acumen, develop skills in critical thinking, time management, public presentations, and teamwork.  It's also a fun way to get involved in student life and contribute to the reputation of your school!  They are a great way to add value to an MBA degree.  For these reasons, I have sought out case study classes and case competitions where-ever possible.  

So, my double-whammy of positive experiences (tandem wins by my team and my "adoptive" team) left me wanting to return the following year as a participant of a visiting MBA team.  I vowed to myself that I would do everything possible to make it happen.

EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITIES.  CHALLENGE YOURSELF.  AIM FOR THE SKY.

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