UPEI business students gain practical experience in business world

Two groups of fourth-year UPEI business students taking a strategic management course gained first-hand experience working in the real-life business world this semester.

The students took the course, a requirement for their degrees, from business professors Gary Evans and Juergen Krause. The course provides business students with opportunities to explore strategic thinking, analysis and planning, and includes case studies to give them experience in developing business strategy.

Evans told his friend Roman Makarski, president of BCD Automation Inc., about the course, and out of that conversation came a hands-on project for the students. Each class was asked to develop a strategic plan for BCD Automation Inc, with the winning team receiving a $1,000 prize.

Tucked away in Rocky Point, BCD Automation designs and manufactures motor and process control system panels for automated car wash manufacturers and distributors around the world. Makarski started the company in Quebec on 1996 and moved it to P.E.I. in 2000.

BCD's products are used by companies such as Shell, Esso, Sunoco and Canadian Tire in the car wash sector, as well as in a variety of other applications; including conveyor systems, stretch wrappers, pump controls, and on Prince Edward Island, potato sorting equipment.

Makarski was very impressed with the calibre of the work that both groups of students produced.

'They analyzed my markets, and thoroughly researched my competitors and client expectations,' he said. 'They exceeded my expectations. It was very difficult to choose a winner.'

SAGA, the team comprised of Sean Arsenault, Adelee MacNevin, Graham Watts and Ashley Higginbotham, came out the winner, but Makarski was so impressed by the other team that he awarded them a prize as well. This team, called Fire and Ice, included Jessica M. Gillis, Bethany Sellar, Jessica P. Gillis, Susan Frizzell, Jillian Banks and Kristen Landry.

Krause also praised both teams for their excellent work.

'The opportunity to work with a real company and to win a prize fosters the competitive spirit and encourages student teams,' he says. 'Interacting with senior management of a company allows them, in turn, to understand how company owners approach business plans, goals and growth strategies. Students get an opportunity to apply what they learned to a real life situation."

MacNevin says that the project it was an excellent experience. 'It helped to bridge the theory that we learn in class with practical application in the real world.'

Higginbotham agrees. 'When you work with a real company, it [the project] takes on more value. We had access to real-life knowledge and expertise to develop our plan.'