Students up for new challenge

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This article was published 24/02/2023 (981 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Students from across Canada are tackling Manitoba businesses’ challenges in a new competition.

The University of Toronto, University of Calgary and Concordia University are among eight post-secondary institutions that will send students to the University of Manitoba’s inaugural Asper Leadership Case Competition.

During the two-day contest, students will present solutions to two challenges relevant to local businesses. The winners receive prize money and a trophy.

“It’s one thing to represent the school. It’s another thing to actually win,” said Mbetini Ekpo.

He and three University of Manitoba peers have been preparing for weeks, in addition to their full-time jobs and graduate coursework.

They’ve built a plan on how to execute parts of Manitoba Hydro’s latest business road map, Strategy 2040. It’s the first challenge, or case, and is to be presented today, the competition’s first full day.

Ekpo and his colleagues will showcase their ideas to a panel of eight judges.

“(You can) have that 15 minutes, 20 minutes in front of corporate organizations, and the opportunity to network with other people,” Ekpo said. “It’s really a big deal.”

Judges won’t know which university is presenting, said Judith Jayasuriya, the Asper School of Business’s lead of experiential learning.

It’s the first time Asper is hosting graduate students nationally for a case competition. However, the school’s students have been abroad for similar events, in Thailand, Lithuania and the U.S.

“It’s so lovely… to have the opportunity to welcome other schools to our home, and (to) work on a business challenge that’s so pertinent to Manitoba,” Jayasuriya said.

She envisions expanding the competition to international students in coming years. This week, ice biking at The Forks and maple-taffy tasting at Festival du Voyageur are on the competitors’ schedules.

“There was a gap on the MBA competition circuit. We thought, ‘This is the time,’” Jayasuriya said. “We can really showcase Manitoba.”

Scholars will be graded on the feasibility, creativity and business insight of the pitch, among other things.

They won’t know details of the second case until three hours before their presentation.

“I’ve never seen such a level of commitment (by the business community) to the business school that I’m seeing here,” said Bruno Silvestre, the dean of the Asper School of Business.

Panel judges come from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Manitoba Hydro, Canada Life, World Trade Centre, Deloitte and RBC, among others.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com