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Business Students From Across Canada Grapple with Controversial Case
This year's competition was based on the controversial case involving the conflict between the former military government of Nigeria and the Ogoni ethnic minority over Shell oil operations in Ogoniland. The conflict culminated in the 1995 execution of Ogoni leader, playwright and author Ken Saro Wiwa, provoking international condemnation of the Nigerian regime and of Royal/Dutch Shell.
The competition, sponsored by NestlÈ Canada, awards the business school team with the best plan for securing environmentally and socially sustainable economic development in response to a case study. Thirty-one teams from universities across Canada were given just 36 hours to read the details of the case and prepare a reconciliation and re-engagement strategy for Shell Nigeria and the Ogoni. In keeping with the theme of reconciliation, the judges for the competition were:
Ken Wiwa, eldest son of the late Ogoni leader. Wiwa is currently a Toronto resident and freelance journalist. His book describing his relationship with his father, Shadow of a Saint, will be published this fall by Knopf.
Margot Franssen, founder and president of The Body Shop in Canada, member of the Board of Governors of York University and a York alumna. The Body Shop International campaigned for justice for the Ogoni for many years. In Canada, the company is well known for its outspoken advocacy of human rights and the environment.
Murray Jones, a sustainable development expert with Shell Canada. He has extensive experience in issues of environmental and social responsibility in the oil and gas sector in developing countries. He was Shell's lead player in the Camisea project, a proposed natural gas development in Peru. The project did not proceed for business reasons.
All of the judges will attend the award ceremony, which runs from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Metropolitan Hotel, 108 Chestnut St. Prizes will be presented by Keith Conklin, President and CEO of NestlÈ Canada. Margot Franssen will give the keynote address entitled Business and Sustainability: the Ultimate Challenge, and Ken Wiwa will say a few words on behalf of the judges.
"We were delighted with the very high quality of entrants to this year's competition from business schools across Canada," said Prof. David Wheeler, Director of the Schulich School of Business Erivan K. Haub Program in Business and Sustainability at York University. "The brief required a variety of skills: analysis, organization, business acumen and sensitivity to human rights and environmental responsibility in developing countries," said Wheeler. "The entries showed that many of Canada's future business leaders are very well equipped to meet one of the greatest challenges of 21st century business: how to deal with complex economic, social and environmental challenges in a global economy."
Teams from Dalhousie, Western and York universities are shortlisted to win the national competition. The result may be obtained in advance, on embargo until 8 p.m., Tuesday, June 6, from the competition organizer Nancy Sutherland.
The Schulich School of Business at York is the largest graduate management school in Canada with more than 1,200 MBA and International MBA students. One in three MBAs entering the Ontario work force is a Schulich graduate. A recent Financial Times survey ranked it among the top 50 business schools in the world. Approximately 450 MBA students graduate each year, and 95 per cent are employed within six months after graduation, with an average compensation package of $81,000. Undergraduate business graduates do equally as well -- surveys indicate that more than 95 per cent of them accept employment within six months of graduating.
For further information, please contact:
Nancy Sutherland
Dr. David Wheeler
Susan Bigelow
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