As co-host of the 2015 Corporate Knights-Schulich Business for a Better World Case Competition, the Schulich School of Business congratulates members of the winning MBA team from the University of Victoria’s Peter B. Gustavson School of Business.
The University of Victoria’s Peter B. Gustavson School of Business team wins first place in Davos
The Gustavson team faced off against MBA teams from the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, which placed second, and York University’s Schulich School of Business, which placed third, on Jan. 23 in Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum annual conference.
The winning team, which received a $6,000 prize, developed a plan for the Swiss-based multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis to improve its sustainability performance by expanding its reach into the developing world and increasing the effectiveness of its spending on innovation.
“I would like to congratulate the winning team from the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria. The calibre of the sustainability presentations from all of the Canadian finalist teams – from the Gustavson School of Business, Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business and York University’s Schulich School of Business – was impressive,” said Dirk Matten, a professor of strategy at Schulich and one of the competition organizers. “This was the second year of the Business for a Better World Case Competition and we had 26 teams enter from eight universities from countries all over the world. I can’t wait to see the exciting results of next year’s competition.”
The Schulich team takes third spot in Davos
Eric Cornut, chief ethics, compliance and policy officer at Novartis, said the presentations from all the finalist teams were strong. “It was really impressive. There were lots of good ideas presented here.”
The three-part case competition whittled down the initial 26 teams to five competing teams for the second round, with three teams qualifying for the finals in Davos.
The yearly competition was established in 2013 in partnership with Corporate Knights magazine, the world’s largest circulation magazine reporting on responsible business.
This year’s competition asked teams to develop a business plan that improved the sustainability performance of the Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Novartis. Their challenge was to identify a wide range of social, environmental and governance metrics to boost Novartis’s standing on the Corporate Knights Global 100 ranking relative to its industry rivals.
Finalists for the 2015 Corporate Knights-Schulich Business for a Better World Case Competition
Last year’s winner was Sweden’s Stockholm School of Economics, which had the challenge of elevating the sustainability performance of Canadian oil developer Suncor Energy.
For more information, visit the Corporate Knights-Schulich Business for a Better World Case Competition website.