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SFU Beedie wins big in Western Canada’s top undergraduate case competition

Feb 06, 2023

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group photo of undergraduate students standing in front of JDC West backdrop

SFU Beedie’s undergraduate team at 2023 JDC West.

For the third time in five years, SFU Beedie’s undergraduate team has emerged victorious at the 2023 Jeux du Commerce (JDC) West case competition, the most prestigious event of its kind in Western Canada. SFU Beedie’s outstanding performance this year won them the coveted Academic School of the Year and School of the Year titles in competition against some of the top business schools in the country.

JDC West has taken place annually since 2006, bringing together approximately 550 undergraduate delegates from the leading business schools across BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba to compete in a range of disciplines. It is the largest undergraduate business competition in Western Canada.

SFU Beedie has enjoyed past success at JDC West, winning first place in the School of the Year and Academic School of the Year categories in both 2021 and 2019, and second place in 2022.

“It has been the highest honour of our undergraduate degree to lead a delegation of 46 outstanding individuals to the annual JDC West competition,” said Yu Bin Chae and Wayne Yan Muk, co-captains of the SFU Beedie team, in a joint statement. “We are grateful for the opportunity to have played a role in our delegates’ personal and professional growth, and we know that they will continue to achieve great things in the future.”

“We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to our dedicated executive team: Maylim Siem, Claudia Enriquez, Rachel Vicencio, Tala Awwad, Lillian Chen, and Penny Sidhu. Their tireless efforts and unwavering commitment were a driving force behind our team’s success leading up to and at the competition.”

After two years of virtual JDC West competitions, this year’s competition was hosted in person at the University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business and was inspired by the theme Triumph through Perseverance. The competition was a three-day event that showcased a range of disciplines, including academics, athletics, debate, and the Challenge.

52 undergraduate students took part in this year’s event, travelling to Saskatoon to participate in the case competition after completing seven months of training with SFU Beedie’s alumni coaches. This year’s team was led by students and alumni and supported by faculty members Anne Macdonald, Stephen Spector, and Susan Christie-Bell.

The SFU Beedie team placed in eight of the 10 academic competition categories: first in Business Strategy and Entrepreneurship; second in Finance, International Business, Operations Management, Marketing and Business Technology Management; and third in Not for Profit. SFU Beedie also set a new record by going 14-0 undefeated in Athletics and placed first in the Challenge for the third consecutive year. Additionally, SFU Beedie placed third in Charity Hours and first in Participation, with their intro video and skit judged first in each category showcasing the delegation’s excellence not only within their individual categories but as a whole.

Case competitions provide an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge to real-world business situations in a setting that simulates the type of complex problem-solving under time pressure encountered in a real workplace. SFU Beedie’s consistently high performance in these competitions reflects the school’s commitment to preparing business-ready graduates who are equipped with problem-solving skills in the real world.

“Once again, SFU Beedie has built upon our reputation as a formidable opponent and showcased the excellence of our students in a case competition setting,” says Peter Tingling, associate dean of undergraduate programs at SFU Beedie. “I’m incredibly proud of our students and the hard work they’ve put in this year.

“Participating in competitions such as this one is a true test of our students’ abilities and character in addition to developing many of the skills that are so sought after in today’s global economy.”