BBAs capture gold at IIBD Case Competition

The Beedie School of Business team captured gold at the IIBD Case Competition. From left to right: Qaid Jivan, Madhav Goyal, team coach Isaiah Baldissera, Edwin Hendrawan, and Scott Hirsch.

Beedie School of Business undergraduates took home the gold medal at the recent International Institute for Business Development (IIBD) Case Competition, one of Asia’s most prestigious business case competitions.

The team, consisting of BBA students Madhav Goyal, Scott Hirsch, Edwin Hendrawan, and Qaid Jivan, and coached by Beedie School of Business alumnus Isaiah Baldissera, was one of five teams selected to compete in the finals after emerging from an initial field of 29 entrants from 13 different countries.

This year’s competition was hosted by Hong Kong Baptist University, and featured a theme of “The Sustainability of Social Enterprises: Managing the Double Bottom Line”.

The students were rewarded for their first place finish with a trophy and a cash prize of US $600. In addition, Goyal, who is a graduate of the Beedie School of Business Case Competition Training Program, was selected as the competition’s best presenter, taking home an individual trophy, and a further US $100.

“The IIBD competition was a fabulous experience and achieving first place is a recognition of the amount of work we put in as a team,” said Goyal. “Although I won the award for best presenter I would dedicate that to the entire team, who all worked tirelessly together to ensure that we were fully prepared on the day.”

After qualifying by submitting an initial report in the preliminary round earlier this summer, the finalists were presented with a real world business case focusing on a local social enterprise that employs middle-aged women lacking in business skills.

The students were given six hours to prepare their cases before presenting to a panel of judges made up of academics and industry professionals. The judges were impressed by the Beedie team’s strategy of a “Triple Bottom Line” which included not only financial and social considerations, but also environmental.

The team’s attention to detail was the result of a rigorous training regime that began with ten days of twelve hour shifts to prepare the preliminary round report, followed by weekly practice meetings beginning at 7am involving mock presentations in front of guest judges.

The team’s success is all the more impressive given that each team member was simultaneously training for two separate case competitions. Jivan recently took first place at the Eller Ethics Case Competition, while in January Goyal will compete in the HR category at the prestigious ICBC competition, and both Hirsch and Hendrawan will be involved in the 2014 JDC West competition.

For more information about the IIBD Case Competition, visit http://iibd.hkbu.edu.hk/CC2013/.

Click here to read Goyal’s post about the competition on the Experience Beedie blog.