Students from 16 of the world’s top international business schools have converged on UPEI for the 24th Network of International Business Schools (NIBS) Worldwide Case Competition championship.
Over a week of intense competition, students will draw on every ounce of skill, training and teamwork they have to prove they are the best of the best.
The championship round began Feb. 17 and wraps up today.
This is the first time in the competition’s 24-year history that an institution in the Maritimes has been chosen as host.
NIBS is a worldwide association of business schools united by a belief in the importance of global perspective, cultural insight and international experience in management education.
Founded in 1993, the organization has more than 70-member institutions in over 30 countries.
Since 1996, a key component of the NIBS portfolio has been the Worldwide Case Competition. The process begins with a qualifying round, involving more than 30 top business schools from across Canada and around the world.
Participants compete in teams of four — one team per school — and have eight hours to analyze a case and prepare a report with their recommendations.
UPEI’s faculty of business has enjoyed tremendous success over most of the last decade in case competitions around the world, including NIBS, drawing the attention of the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.
The top 16 teams advance to the championship round, hosted this week at UPEI, where the winner is determined through a series of head-to-head matches.
With as little as three hours between the time they receive their cases and the moment they present their solutions to expert judges, teams need every ounce of insight, training and teamwork they can muster.
In each match, the deliverable is a 20-minute presentation, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A.
A key element of the NIBS case competition is judging. While some competitions rely primarily on academics to evaluate the ideas and solutions proposed by students, NIBS also reaches out to senior managers, entrepreneurs and policymakers who understand the realities of doing business.
UPEI’s faculty of business has tapped its extensive network of alumni and industry mentors to ensure that teams are being judged by the best minds in Canadian business.
