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 Trent Business Students Place Fourth in National Human Resources Case CompetitionFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Four Trent Students Tops among 23 Teams from Tuesday, March 30, 2010, Peterborough Four Trent Business students who travelled to Montreal on March 19 and 20 to compete in the 2010 Excalibur Human Resources Case Competition returned victorious – placing fourth among 23 teams from leading business schools across Canada. Despite this being the first time that Trent has ever competed in the high-profile, challenging event, the students enjoyed support from throughout the Trent community during their preparation for the event. They also relied upon their exceptional team-work and case-analytic skills in earning their fourth place showing. “As a department, we are immensely proud of the accomplishments of our students,” said Excalibur Team coach and Trent Business professor Dr. Sheldene Simola. “Our students have demonstrated again and again that they have what it takes to compete successfully with the very best students in the country. This is a major competition and our students performed extremely well under pressure.” In the first round of this year’s competition, the students presented their action plan for a case involving a Canadian manufacturer of pro hockey jerseys that was facing significant labour relations issues in three different plants while also contemplating a strategy of market development along the North American west coast. In the second round of the tournament, the team had just 40 minutes in which to read and analyze a brand new case, complete a written report and provide an oral presentation on their recommendations. The tournament also involved developing and presenting a solution for a “live case” to the CEO of an actual business firm. In order to succeed in the Excalibur Case Competition, students need to be able to think strategically as well as tactically. They also need exceptional case-analytic and integrative problem-solving skills. “This was Trent’s first time competing at Excalibur, and relative to other teams we had a very short-time frame in which to prepare for the tournament,” said fourth-year Business Administration student and team leader Teresa Adachi. “Although our competitors may have had more preparation time, a hallmark of our training at Trent is to trust the rigour of our day-to-day classroom experiences—and to move forward in confidence knowing also that we will be stronger as a team than we will be individually.” Speaking on behalf of her teammates and fellow students David Frazer, Kristina Goldring and Tishina Zavery, Ms. Adachi went on to say how proud the team was of its ability to work together. “When we first started training for the competition, we were four separate students, from four different countries. But, throughout the process, we became more than teammates, we became very close friends. We had an amazing chemistry that allowed us to flourish as a team—we call it the Bolivia-Zimbabwe-Bahamas-Canada connection!” The coach and team were also quick to emphasize their appreciation to various individuals throughout the Trent community for their support. “We received so much support and encouragement from so many people even beyond our own Department and Department chair—including the head of Colleges Robin Lathangue, Brian Kombani and Clayton Powell of the Trent Central Student Association, Trent HR manager Karen Derian, and fellow business students. People provided not only financial support to help us get to the tournament, but also shared their own knowledge, expertise and tips for success at the tournament.” -30- For more information, please contact: |
