We win NIBS
As many have already heard, our very own Bishop’s University students took home the top prize at the hotly contested NIBS (Network of International Business Schools) case competition.
This year’s team consisted of four prominent business students who charmed their way to top ranks in this year’s case competition held in Kolding, Denmark, from March 7th to March 13th. Stefan Lemieux, Vicky Schaefer, Elliott Verreault, and Andrew Willis along with the coaching staff, Prof. Lissa McRae, Dr. Robert Palmer and Prof. Bill Robson, completed this year’s winning NIBS team.
NIBS has a lengthy history at Bishop’s. As one of the founding schools of this network, dating back 15 years, Bishop’s has taken home the title five times; 1999 in Canada, 2002 in New Zealand, 2006 in Norway, 2007 in Ireland, and the latest, 2010 in Denmark.
This network of schools from around the world come together for the common purpose of collaborating through student exchanges, faculty exchanges, exchanges of ideas for teaching programs and joint teaching and research programs. From there, schools involved in this network come together for conferences and case competitions on an annual basis.
This year ten teams, out of roughly 35 who tied for the case competition, made it through the qualifying round in November and eventually made their way to Denmark this March. The teams that made it through qualifiers were Kathodieke Hogeschool Leuven (Belgium), Bishop’s University (Canada), Rotterdam University of Applied Science (Netherlands), Tennessee Tech University (United States), Concordia University (Canada), Lahti University of Applied Science (Finland), Helsinki School of Economics (Finland), Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland), International Business Academy (Denmark) – 2010 host, and Memorial University (Canada) – last year’s winner.
I was lucky enough to get a chance to sit down with all members of the team and get their insight of their amazing experiences across the pond.
What do you think gave you guys the leg up in the competition, having won all your heats and ultimately leading you to take home gold?
Lemieux: I think that our presentation skills were really good, we were well coached and I think the Halo Effect came into play.
Verreault: Everyone seemed to have the same alternatives for the cases; however the BU team’s implementation plans were always very detailed. I think we had a language advantage over some of the other schools and we were very culturally sensitive in our implementation plans.
Schaefer: Our presentations always flowed really well, and our presentation style was super slick, said one judge! Bill, Lissa and Rob really prepared us where we needed to be to win.
Willis: The BU team made things real/believable, and were able to connect with the judges. We were awesome in question period, really fast on our feet, and worked really well as a team.
When asked the same question coach McRae agreed and said, “the team’s presentation style was really fluid, they answered Q&A’s really well – which is where you win the competition – and the team dynamics were really good.
As for who their biggest competition was, the general consensus was Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University. Memorial took home the trophy last year in Tennessee. In addition, the BU team mentioned that they also felt some major concerns about the Irish team from the Dublin Institute of Technology. They all agreed that the Irish team was very strong in marketing, which is what our team felt was their weakest point. In a funny turn of events, Professor Robert Palmer, who did a teaching exchange last year in Dublin, taught marketing to the very same students who competed against the BU team!
I asked their coach, Prof. McRae, what she looked for a NIBS candidate. “Academic success, concentration background, presentation ability, and their ability to think on your feet,” she said.
Taking a look at this year’s participant’s biographies, they were certainly successful in picking the cream of the crop.
Lemieux, a fourth year International Business (IB) and Maj. Economics student, from Vancouver, BC, has three years involvement in Bishop’s ACE consulting group, he is currently SEED chairman, on the Men’s Rugby team, and did a semester exchange to the University of Honk Kong last year.
Verreault, a third year IB student, from Quebec City, QC, spent a year in Japan at Yamaguchi Prefectural University last year.
Schaefer, a fourth year Finance and Maj. Economics student, from Williamstown, ON, is currently our school’s DFO, was the previous SEED Chairperson, and has been involved with ACE for over three years as project lead for the financial literacy program (STEP) and VP of ACE.
Willis, a fourth year IB student, has been involved in BUCS, the Social Ecology Club, New Plays, and was on exchange to the University of Hong Kong.
The participants of this years’ team were, interestingly enough, mostly IB students, with the exception of Schaefer. The coaches typically like to have a good mixture of business concentrations (Finance, Human Resources, Management, IB, Accounting, and/or Marketing), to have a well rounded team with a diverse knowledge base. Clearly, however, the coaches made the right strategic decision with the group that they selected for this year’s team.
I asked Prof. McRae how this year’s performance/experience compared to previous years. “This team said ‘we’re going there to win,’” she said. “These guys played as hard as they worked.”
The team started practicing for the competition as early as October, and went through rigorous practices on a weekly basis up until a few days before they presented in Kolding. The practices consisted of having four hours to read a case, come up with the case analysis, find alternatives, and implement solutions for a 20 minute presentation and a 10 minute question period. This follows accordingly to the structure of when they compete on the international front.
The kind of experience that these students get from withstanding the pressures of time, developing ideas, implementing them and working cohesively is what these types of case competitions are all about. “I can see them grow, learn, become more confident, and become quicker on their feet; it’s an amazing transformation,” said McRae.
The Williams School of Business is fortunate enough to be involved in various case competitions which add immense value to our education. Competitions vary from Excalibur, an HR case competition; NIBS, the international management case competition; and Happening Marketing (HM), a marketing case competition; among many other academic extracurricular activities available to students.
I had the opportunity to sit down with the Dean of Business, Dr. Steve Harvey, and ask him a few questions about these types of activities available to students. He believes that these academic activities provide students with a “high potential opportunity to test students to their limits.” He continued by saying that he knows that these types of academic activities are common to other business schools, however, it provides important training to business students. He added, “By simulating the environment of competition, it gives students good practice of the real world; by dealing with real world problems and being judged by people who have been there and done it.”
Q&A with Dr. Steve Harvey
CS: As Dean, how important are these extracurricular academic activities, such as SEED, ACE, NIBS, Happening Marketing, and Excalibur to you and the Administration?
SH: It’s important to us that the students’ are learning from these experiences. Experiential learning is what it’s all about. It’s also very rewarding for the institution to see teams do well. It reinforces that the institution continues to provide the highest quality of education experience and shows that we’re on the right track.
CS: What do you believe has been the dominant factor of our overall success?
SH: Without a doubt, our dedicated faculty. Professors here consistently go above and beyond the call of duty to provide students with the highest quality of education.
Having been a Bishop’s student himself, Harvey explained that “I also believe that the Bishop’s student is a motivated student. They want to be involved in their education and their experience here.
I believe that it is extremely important to highlight and celebrate the great success that our Bishop’s students have accomplished so far this year and to thank all those involved in providing us with this wonderful experience that we call an education. Congratulations to the winning 2010 NIBS team and all the other academic extracurricular competitors this year for all your hard work and confirmed success!
Elliott Verreault made a You Tube video of their trip, check it out!
Denmark – NIBS 2010 Competition <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQUbhWe-KQE>
