UPEI case team goes international...again!

The success of UPEI case competition teams continues with a team winning the right to compete internationally. Team IJAM- comprised of fourth-year business students Isaac Townshend, John Williams, Alex Whalen, and Mary Whitrow-was recently accepted into the Network for International Business Schools (NIBS) 2013 Worldwide Case Competition in Leuven, Belgium. This is the second time a UPEI case team will compete at an international case competition.

The NIBS case competition consists of a qualifying round and a championship round. In the qualifying round, IJAM was given a case the team had never before seen-on sustainability in China's pharmaceutical industry-and was asked to create a case-analysis report in eight hours or less.

Of the 22 teams attempting to qualify, only 10 teams successfully advanced to the week-long championship round on March 3. UPEI will compete against the likes of Thailand's Assumption University, Finland's Lahti University of Applied Sciences, and Germany's Heilbronn University.

Whitrow and her teammates are grateful for the chance to compete at the international level. 'We've dedicated many long hours to secure our spot in the championship round,' she said. 'We couldn't have done it without the guidance of our professor, Edward Gamble, and the support from faculty, staff, and the UPEI community. We look forward to representing the University and Prince Edward Island in March.'

'The continued success of our case teams demonstrates the strong foundational education that students receive through the UPEI business program,' said Alan Duncan, dean of the school of business. 'It also highlights the effort, dedication, and inspiration of the team and its professor. The quality of the program is highlighted by the quality of our students. These students demonstrate this quality at each and every competition entered.'

This success does not come without a cost. These students have invested a significant amount of time, effort, and their own financial contributions to compete at this level. For more information on how to support Team IJAM, please contact their faculty advisor Edward Gamble at (902) 620-5144, egamble@upei.ca, or Alan Duncan at (902) 566-0340, awduncan@upei.ca.

For more information on the NIBS 2013 Worldwide Case Competition, visit: http://www.khleuven.be/nibs/.