UTM Business students RISE to the Challenge
RISE is a case competition hosted by York University’s Schulich School of Business that challenges student teams to solve a real life problem. Sania Haider (4th year Marketing), Ethan Le (4th year Finance), Ahraniya Ragavan (3rd year Accounting) and Sarah Sultana (3rd year Management) completed the challenge and won first place for IMIC in the entrepreneurial discipline.
How did you stand out from the crowd?
Since we [competed] in the entrepreneurship discipline, the key thing we had to remember was that our plan had to be feasible. While it was hard to be creative while being realistic, we had to remember our judges consisted of successful entrepreneurs who brought their own creative ideas to life and implemented them. We also created an enticing opening and ending statement that grabbed the judges’ attention. Furthermore, we had an appealing slideshow with minimal words and tons of visuals.
What do you recommend to other students wanting to participate in RISE next year?
Choose your discipline wisely. Delegates can choose from five disciplines – finance, marketing, strategy, accounting or entrepreneurship. To attend the conference, your initial proposal has to be selected. Make sure you play to your strengths when choosing your discipline. Focus on feasibility. When given a case it’s great to think outside of the box but judges want to see that your ideas can be implemented. When you are at the conference try to meet as many of the other delegates as you can. RISE has delegates from various schools across Ontario. It’s a great opportunity to network, [learn about] the other case competitions they compete in and how they prepare. It’s also a great way make new friends.
How have you developed as a team? Are there any skills you have acquired?
Through this experience, we learned how to not only communicate effectively but also efficiently with each other. We learned how to allocate tasks according to each of our strengths, trusting our abilities and judgement which allowed us to divide tasks appropriately and achieve the best results. At the end we were also able to come together and learn our parts, allowing us to gain experiences in skills we had not used before.
What inspires your continued involvement in extracurricular activities?
It is the excitement of facing new challenges and the unexplored knowledge that comes with it. Case competitions utilize all the skills that a business student would need to develop, including: applying knowledge, learning new skills, polishing existing skills, making new friends, and networking with potential employers. Every case competition is an eye-opening experience; from the presentation of the winning team to how the event is organized and even seeing other students’ networking strategy. It motivates us to continue to become better, never get comfortable and stay humble.