One week ago, the HBA1 class at Ivey spent a few days engaged in the Bruce R. Dodds Cross-Enterprise Challenge. This event was an opportunity for HBA students to integrate their first year learning and apply it in an entrepreneurial context.
The challenge positioned each class section as a group of consultants to entrepreneurs who are currently being faced with real-life, real-time business challenges. Representatives from each business presented their current problem to each section, and the classes broke out into groups to attack the key issues.
Students had the opportunity to draw on the Marketing, Finance and Strategy expertise of a volunteer panel of executives (many of whom were former Ivey grads) to assist in developing their proposals. The groups spent the better part of two days combining the unique characteristics of the respective businesses with their knowledge and skills to develop a plan of action for the future. Clients for this year’s event included: College Pro Painters, Eva Redpath, Camp Tamarack, OurPlane, and The Healthy Butcher.
HBA1 student Patrick Duncan had this to say about the event: “The exercise makes the learning very real and very tangible, as you are working on something that the entrepreneur sitting in front of you has worked so hard on. I personally enjoyed the challenge, as I think it pushed our classroom knowledge of several business disciplines into real ideas and plans.”
On the final day of the challenge, each student team presented a two-minute pitch to their respective clients. The client then chose the top three teams to present a 15-minute pitch. Prizes were then awarded to the four winning teams.
HBA1 student Phil Gene also found the experience beneficial; “The traditional case method has its benefits, but students become accustomed to this method and forget that at the end of the day we’re dealing with real businesses and real entrepreneurs with real problems.”
This event provided HBA students with the opportunity to learn how to tackle real issues currently faced by local entrepreneurs. The challenge is just another example of the hands-on learning provided by Ivey’s Entrepreneurship Institute.
See a full album of photos from the competition here.
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