A team of Schulich delegates won first place at the recent HEC Corporate Responsibility Challenge, a rigorous three-in-one case competition hosted annually in Montreal. Catherine Sim, Grishma Saheba, Suran Ravi and Abhilash Shashidharan faced teams representing 21 schools from Canada, the USA, Spain and the UK to take the $5,000 top prize.

This year the competition introduced topics such as big data and artificial intelligence into the mix. Over two days, teams of 4-5 students developed solutions to the multiple case challenges, focusing their recommendations around how to mobilize business leaders in bettering their communities. A breakdown of the cases can be seen at the end of this article.

The team attributes their victory to two key ingredients for success: practice and a strong team dynamic.

“We trained for this competition with the help of our coach Joe Fayt,” said team spokesperson Catherine Sim. “It was the practice that ensured consistently high performance, which ultimately played a huge role in our victory.”

Another helpful secret: Her team’s genuine bond and shared commitment to each other during the competition. “Every individual on the team brought their 100% to the table. The dedication fostered a fantastic dynamic among the team that really helped us push through the 3 hour case preps,” said Catherine.

“We compete in these competitions not only because we love to make Schulich proud, but also because we love the challenge of solving complex, real-life business problems under significant time and resource constraints.”

-Catherine Sim, MBA Candidate

 

 

 

Make no mistake: such short prep windows are an intimidating challenge for any team.

“[It was] intense! Three cases in less than 48 hours was certainly a challenge with respect to mental toughness,” said Catherine. “The general standard for case competitions is one case per competition.”

For the winning team, the pressure was well worth it – and even a major draw in choosing to participate in this particular event.

“We compete in these competitions not only because we love to make Schulich proud, but also because we love the challenge of solving complex, real-life business problems under significant time and resource constraints.”

The competition’s focus on corporate social responsibility framed in the current business environment aligns with Schulich’s own teaching values.

“Schulich has long been a pioneer in the sustainability and CSR space, which has very much influenced our approach to business problems,” said Catherine.

Congratulations to the team!