As the semester draws to a close on campus at Mount Allison University, 15 business students donned suits to present recommendations to JDI Executives for the Direct Exchange Case Competition. 

Paul Berry, Head of the Commerce Department, was very impressed with how the students performed throughout the presentations. "Win or lose, all of these students will be able to learn from this experience - which will help them once they enter a work environment."

At the Direct Exchange Case Competition, students in teams of four are presented with a real-life business 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 their thorough content, presentation skills, and responses to specific questions posed by the judges. 

When asked how his team came up with their proposal, Ben Tingley, 4th year Accounting Student noted the importance of brainstorming and teamwork. "It was your typical late night, sock feet, drinking lots of coffee, kind of brainstorming session. There were no wrong answers, and in the end we came up with a unique solution." 

Tyson Woods, Strategic Sourcing Manager for Cavendish was a member of the judging panel for the case competition. "There was clearly a tremendous amount of effort put into each of the presentations we saw today. It was great to see such creative ideas coming from the students." says Tyson about the presentations at the case competition. 

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 4,000 talented students have participated in JDI-led case competitions. 


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