The East Meets West MBA Case Competition

From February 5 to 7, 2020, MBA students from across Canada participated in the annual East Meets West MBA Case Competition hosted this last and final year at the University of Calgary through Haskayne’s Canadian Centre for Advanced Leadership in Business (CCAL).  East Meets West began in 2014 as a joint venture between CCAL and Ivey’s Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership at the Ivey Business School at Western University.

The participating schools included the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, Ivey Business School at Western University, Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba, Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta, Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University, Ted Rogers School of Business Management at Ryerson University, DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, and the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. The teams from each school consisted of four MBA students paired with an advisor that assisted them throughout the competition.

Upon arrival at the University of Calgary, students and advisors were greeted with a welcome reception dinner and the traditional Calgary White Hat Ceremony. The white hat has become an iconic symbol of Calgary’s international reputation. Project specialist and organizer of East Meets West Kathleen Boskill stated, “I had a few people come up to me at the end of the night saying that this was one of the most memorable opening ceremonies of a case competition they had been too.”

This year, students worked on two different cases over the span of two days. The first case provided by Western, focused on enhancing employee buy-in and a company stifled due to the diminished engagement of its employees. The second case, provided by the University of Calgary, focused on cyber-attacks, and ultimately the ethical decision-making process that weighs privacy, data, and security. MBA participant Melissa Hughes, from the Haskayne School of Business stated, “I felt my leadership abilities develop during both days. The mixed team day was challenging to get to know people in a quick way, but it was great to see how quickly people can come together to work towards a common goal.”

The first case, which comprised of the mixed university teams, were divided into two pools. The six judges were John Brussa –  Partner and Chairman at Burnet, Duckworth and Palmer LLP (BD&P) and former Jarislowsky Fellow, Rick Filipovic – President and CEO at Vertex Downhole, Saskia Houwen – Director, Business Intelligence at Nutrien, Omer Farooqi – Commercial Transformation Leader, Eastern Hemisphere at Weatherford International and DBA Candidate, Candace Moody – Accounting and Auditing Instructor at the Haskayne School of Business, and Sylvia McConnell – former Regional Director at IG Wealth Management. The winner of this case included students from the Ted Rogers School of Business Management, Haskayne School of Business, Ivey Business School, and Asper School of Business.

The second case consisted of home university teams separated into two pools. The eight judges for this case were Kendra Scurfield – Brand and Communications Manager at Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort, Mark Ward – Organization Designer at Fuzzy First Ventures Ltd. and DBA Candidate, Helen Knight – Principal and CIO at Helen Knight Consulting Inc., Kevin Brown – Executive Chair and Director at ARC Financial, Peter Taylor – former Senior VP and CIO at Shaw Communications Inc. and former CIO at the Calgary Police Service, Graeme Edge – Co-Founder of Energy Disruptors and McLaren Dion Edge, Brad Stevens – Former Deputy City Manager and CRO at the City of Calgary, and Ken Bowen – Senior VP, Retail at Campus Energy Partners and DBA Candidate. Ultimately, the judges selected one team from each pool to advance to the final round.

The two finalists included teams from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University and the Asper School of Business from the University of Manitoba. The finals were held at Hotel Alma and was attended by students, faculty, and industry professionals. The judges for the finals were Marcia Nelson – former Deputy Minister of Executive Council of the Government of Alberta and the current Executive Fellow for CCAL and the School of Public Policy, Debasis Bhaumik – VP Information Technology at Nutrien, Craig Hampson – Senior VP, People and Culture at ATB Financial, and Rita Egizii – Director and Co-Founder of IMAGE Consulting Inc. The night ended with the announcement of the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University as the winners of the competition.