69´«Ã½

Four 69´«Ã½business 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.

Jordan McNally, 69´«Ã½case team member said, 'Not many people are able to say they are international champions, and the fact that we can is incredibly exciting and overwhelming.' He added, '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, thirty-three 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 November 11.

The finalists were presented with a real business case and had only six hours to prepare for their presentation to a panel of judges. After evaluating each of the teams on analysis comprehension, relevance, originality, persuasiveness, and overall presentation, 69´«Ã½was ranked first.

Among the judges were professors and successful entrepreneurs, including Mr. Raymond Tong, CEO of Pacific Coffee Limited, who was so impressed with the 69´«Ã½team that he offered each of them a job upon graduation.

69´«Ã½President Alaa Abd-El-Aziz said, 'On behalf of the 69´«Ã½community, I extend our congratulations to the students who represented UPEI, the province, and our country, while participating in the 2011 IIBD Case Competition. We are so proud of their international accomplishment and wish them the very best as they continue their studies at UPEI.'

69´«Ã½business case teams celebrated other successful results recently including at the Atlantic Schools of Business Conference, September 30-October 2 hosted by UPEI; 69´«Ã½had teams placing first and second. 69´«Ã½also entered two teams in the Dalhousie Business Ethics Case Competition on November 10-12, with second and fourth place finishes.

More information about IIBD Competition
69´«Ã½team members: Jordan McNally, Jingshu Zhang, Kristina MacLean, Janell MacDonald
Faculty supervisor: Edward Gamble, Assistant Professor, 69´«Ã½School of Business
The five finalist teams included: Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines; Baylor University, USA; Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR; 69´«Ã½ (UPEI), Canada; Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands. 69´«Ã½was one of two Canadian representatives; the other was Simon Fraser University, BC.