School of Business booming at competitions
In this, the second in our series on Capilano Universitys School of Business successes, students make a Cool Blast in local and international case competitions.
School of Business winners (L to R) Rhita Hassar, Alexis Morton, Richard Harvey, Stephanie Hahlen, Matt Shepherd and Ileana O’Keefe
A win at the Western Canadian Business Competition last March galvanized instructor Andrea Eby to start working in August to ready a team for the prestigious American Marketing Association competition.
“Success helps build success,” Eby says.
Eby and four full-time business students invested long hours every week during the fall term preparing a case report for a new Hershey’s product that’s a hybrid of a mint and gum.
Students travelled to Bellingham to research Ice Breakers Cool Blast Chews, which weren’t available in Canada at the time. They compiled a 50-page report, replete with their analysis and market research that included more than 600 survey responses and then polished their presentation skills.
On January 29, 2016, the team learned they’d placed in the top third of the competition, ahead of prestigious collegiate chapters, including Pennsylvania State and Carnegie Mellon universities.
“There were only four people on our team. Other universities have 20 people on their teams,” Eby notes.
The team presented their case in New Orleans in March. “It was pretty amazing to be recognized out of 91 schools who participated in the case competition, being recognized as an Honourable Mention,” says case team student leader Rhita Hassar. “Especially as it was our first year participating, our first year at the conference.”
In the Big Easy, Hassar learned how far their hard work had taken the team when she saw the winning case presented.
“We realized how close we were,” she says. “We have the understanding. We have the skills that are necessary for our field out there.”
Hassar, a fourth-year Bachelor of Business Administration student aspiring to become an event and tour promoter, reports making great connections with music industry professionals at the conference.
Real-world wins
And that little team of four that won Honourable Mention in New Orleans? They also won the BCIT Marketing Association Regional Case Competition in January.
In February, another Cap U team from the School of Business made the Top 4 in the Whitecaps Sales Project competition. They’re currently receiving mentorship from Whitecaps staff.
Business student Ali Abassi surpassed 1,550 students to become a semi-finalist in the Great Canadian Sales Competition in Toronto. Feb. 29, he learned he’d bested 388 students to compete as one of 25 finalists.
As we approach exam season, it may be that these students have already passed some of the toughest tests of the year. Congratulations, all.
Submitted by: Communications & Marketing