Their teamwork and competitive spirit were deemed outstanding among participants from 36 business schools worldwide.
By JOSÉ ÁNGEL DE LA PAZ | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL
A team of students representing EGADE Business School - Tecnológico de Monterrey received the Richard Outcault Team Spirit Award, within their participation in the 41st edition of the John Molson MBA International Case Competition, in Montreal, Canada.
This is a special accolade awarded to the team that demonstrates exemplary teamwork and competitive spirit.
The winning EGADE team members were the Online Master in Finance student, Melissa Jarrín; EGADE MBA student José Luis Salinas; and EGADE - UNC Charlotte MBA in Global Business & Strategy students Ricardo Argüelles and Kevin Mellado, who were accompanied by professors Juan Antonio Enciso and Juan Carlos Rivera as advisors.
THE EXPERIENCE
"It is difficult to explain how wonderful this experience is. It opens an impressive door to the world; we have very different perspectives than the rest of the competitors who come from countries that are world powers. To learn how and what they think, what ideas they bring to the table, their analysis, and their experiences is very enriching. Thus, the competitiveness and excellence of the teams is notorious, and as the days went by, each case required more effort, more knowledge, and strategy as well," said Jarrín.
"The unpublished cases presented in the competition were exceptional, varying in industry, company size, and problems presented. It was a real challenge and honor to be able to analyze, solve and present these problems from real companies that generally have to deal with situations of the contemporary world," said Argüelles.
"Being surrounded by highly competitive professionals gives you a new perspective of the world and great humility to continue developing in the business world. In addition, learning how professionals from different parts of the world deal with problems help you get out of the paradigms that you had formed during your career and opens you up to many new possibilities and possible solutions for real-world problems," said Mellado.
“It is a life-changing event; Competing in an international arena with top-level schools from all over the world makes us work hard. The level of demand from the judges and the quality of the presentations are lessons that I will take with me and put into practice at work and school,” said Salinas.
THE COMPETITION
The competition, organized by the John Molson School of Business - Concordia University, and recognized globally as the most important of its type, was held from January 1 to 6, enjoying the participation of 36 business schools worldwide.
In the initial phase, under a round-robin format, all the teams had the opportunity to analyze five business cases and present their solution to a jury, applying their skills, knowledge, and experience.
The semi-finalists and finalists in the competition evaluated a fifth and sixth case, respectively, with the team from DeGroote School of Business - McMaster University winning first place.