JDI Finance and Dalhousie University Team Up for Case Competition
Final presentations at the end of the semester are common in university classrooms. Something uncommon, delivering a final presentation in front of executives and business leaders. For sixteen Dalhousie students, this scenario is what they've been preparing for all semester.
Professor Laura Cumming explains that she enjoys making case competitions part of the semester because they apply their classroom learning in a real world scenario. There's an added bonus, "I get to see my students shine, show their presentation skills, and ability to work in groups," said Cumming. "It truly is an amazing learning experience for them so thank you to J.D. Irving, Limited."
At the Direct Exchange Case Competition, teams of four students are presented with a real-life scenario at JDI, including the relevant data and conditions that a JDI manager was facing at the time. After research and analysis, the teams each suggest a solution, complete with the logic to support their decision. Teams are judged based on content completeness, presentation skills, and responses to specific questions posed by the judges.
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The question period following the presentation is one that Samantha Rudy, member of the winning team, found valuable: "Presenting in front of executives is a great learning experience because they're throwing questions at you that you could face on the job. I've participated in other case competitions in the past. The kind of applied learning case competitions provide is what has helped me most during my co-op experience and what I anticipate will help me most when I graduate."
Kate Horne, Leader of Accounting and Reporting for JDI Finance at the Halifax Shipyard is passionate about her profession, and she loves sharing that with students. "I was delighted to be asked to return to the DAL campus as a judge for this case competition. The aspect that I can give back to the school and students in an academic setting is something I really value and enjoy." Kate is one of 190 Dalhousie University graduates on our team today.
A case competition can also be the start of a career. Jake Simon of Mount Allison University, Jane McTague of St. Francis Xavier University, and Johnathan Bienko of Dalhousie University are a few examples of people growing their careers at JDI after experiencing a JDI case competition in class.
J.D. Irving, Limited (JDI) is a longstanding partner with Dalhousie University giving students an opportunity to solve a real-life business case. Over the past nine years, JDI has sponsored IT, Finance, Supply Chain, and Marketing case study competitions at several post-secondary institutions.
Our eight university partners include: Acadia University, Dalhousie University, Saint Mary’s University, Université de Moncton, Mount Allison University, Saint Francis Xavier University, and the University of New Brunswick (both Fredericton and Saint John campuses). To date, over 3,900 talented students have participated in JDI-led case competitions.