OCNews

For the first time in the 17-year history of the Scotiabank National Case Competition, a business school has recorded back-to-back gold medals as Okanagan College climbed to the top of the podium – again – on Saturday.

Hosted by Vanier College in Montréal, the “real time” case competition attracts teams from across Canada looking to test their knowledge and skills.

“I am honoured to have shown to Canada that our business school has a unique approach to learning. The dedication of our coaches helped us think better, collaborate and develop creative solutions for complex problems,” says Tamzin Birch, one of the gold medal winners.

This year, the case was based on Millénia Tea, operating in Saint John, N.B. Competing student teams had to read and analyze the case, identify the principal issue and develop a series of exclusive alternatives for growth. They then had to develop a fully integrated marketing communications and sales plan and a full budget and financial return for the company. Student teams do this work under lockdown – without access to the Internet – and then make 20-minute presentations to four private-sector judges.

OC students Birch, Bryan Cresswell and Cole Stregger represented the winning team, coached by Blair Baldwin, Mark Ziebarth, Caroline Gilchrist, Dan Allen and Nakita Edwards.

The team says the double-gold performance demonstrates the success of the applied learning model offered by OC’s School of Business.

“Preparing our students to compete against the best and brightest across Canada is a hallmark of the Okanagan School of Business. We embrace the challenge of punching above our weight,” said Business Professor and coach Mark Ziebarth.

“I am grateful to the students and coaches for their results. The work effort by all involved over three months to prepare for this competition shows the culture we have fostered here amongst students and faculty. Great results come with hard work and it is an honour for our program to achieve this recognition,” says William Gillett, Dean of OC School of Business.

This was the first major business student competition held in a face-to-face environment after two years and enabled students to compete nationally and network with each other. The 2023 Scotiabank National Case Competition will be held in March 2023.