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Four ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ business 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, ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ case 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 ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ, 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, ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ was 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 ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ team that he offered each of them a job upon graduation.

ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ President Alaa Abd-El-Aziz said, 'On behalf of the ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ community, I extend our congratulations to the students who represented ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ, 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 ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ.'

ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ business case teams celebrated other successful results recently including at the Atlantic Schools of Business Conference, September 30-October 2 hosted by ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ; ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ had teams placing first and second. ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ also 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
ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ team members: Jordan McNally, Jingshu Zhang, Kristina MacLean, Janell MacDonald
Faculty supervisor: Edward Gamble, Assistant Professor, ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ School of Business
The five finalist teams included: Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines; Baylor University, USA; Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR; ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ (ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ), Canada; Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands. ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ was one of two Canadian representatives; the other was Simon Fraser University, BC.