Okanagan College Students Place 2nd in Western Business Competition

Three Okanagan College business students are back in Kelowna with a silver trophy from the HRCWest Case Competition in Alberta last weekend.

Miranda Birkbeck, Faye Hughes, and Sarah Kelman went to Edmonton with their faculty advisors Laura Thurnheer and Roger Wheeler.

Birkbeck, a fourth-year Bachelor of Business Administration, placed third in the competition last year.

She said it was totally worth it to take part again.

“I was more confident this year and that’s one of the really great aspects of participating in case competitions like HRCWest,” said Birkbeck, in a statement. “You have to think on your feet and work under stress with different personalities.

“Those are great skills to develop and are critical to success in the workplace.”

The team had to analyze a business case in three hours and come up with a 20-minute presentation in front of a panel of judges.

The top three teams moved on to the finals.

This time around, the students had to decide how to overcome the situation faced by the 2009 Domino’s Pizza corporate management team, after employees filmed a prank in one of their kitchens that violated health codes and corporate policy.

“It was a really interesting case,” Birkbeck continued. “We felt like we produced a solid plan and the judges seemed to agree.

“We will be getting a full report on our performance, but for now, we’re really happy with how we did.”

The Okanagan College group beat out teams from MacEwan University, Mount Royal University, NAIT, The University of Alberta, Thompson Rivers University, University of Lethbridge, and the University of Manitoba.

“This was the second year we have sent a team to compete in HRCWest and we have continued to get stronger in a very competitive field,” said Thurnheer, also in a statement. “Our team was very pleased with their first round delivery and making the finals was a highlight, both Roger and I are very proud of the team’s performance and results.”