BCBusiness

February 2020 – First Mover

With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.

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S p e c i a l F e a t u r e U N D E R G R A D F E A T U R E At SFU's Beedie School of Business, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, Peter Tingling says students need a variety of pathways. In addition to a thriving innovation and entrepreneurial program, students are interested in other aspects of management and seek hands-on, practical skills that will help them be successful across a variety of potential careers. Experiential education in their undergraduate program engages students to shape their futures, acquire the skills they need for success, and gain hard and fast experience of their choosing. Tingling says the school is designed to foster an active rather than passive environment where students can "learn to swim in the shallow end"—a metaphor referring to support students receive in achieving gradual but real-life experience and milestones. "In their first term, for example, all high school transfer students are put into groups to analyze a real business case and defend their recommendations in front of industry judges over a single competitive weekend," Nick Rutckyj, New Concepts Lead, and Zack Eberwein, CEO, at Stoko present the company's apparel-integrated bracing technology in a booth at CES 2019 in Las Vegas. The product is set to launch in standard sizes in fall 2020. S p e c i a l F e a t u r e U N D E R G R A D F E A T U R E At SFU's Beedie School of Business, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, Peter Tingling says students need a variety of pathways. In addition to a thriving innovation and entrepreneurial program, students are interested in other aspects of management and seek hands-on, practical skills that will help them be successful across a variety of potential careers. Experiential education in their undergraduate program engages students to shape their futures, acquire the skills they need for success, and gain hard and fast experience of their choosing. Tingling says the school is designed to foster an active rather than passive environment where students can "learn to swim in the shallow end"—a metaphor referring to support students receive in achieving gradual but real-life experience and milestones. "In their first term, for example, all high school transfer students are put into groups to analyze a real business case and defend their recommendations in front of industry judges over a single competitive weekend," Tingling says. "It really is impressive what they do." Students who enjoy and excel at this type of "stand and deliver" case competition can take this up a few notches in their subsequent years and compete internationally, as SFU recently did at the Universidad Panamericana's international case competition. Twelve schools, including some of the world's most renowned, like Copenhagen, Madrid's IE Business School and University of Alberta, spent a week in Guadalajara, Mexico in what Tingling calls "an Olympic level of competition". "It involved multiple rounds, and the final case was developing an action plan for a small tequila distillery competing with the likes of Patrón and Casamigos," Tingling says. "A panel of judges, including the CEO of the company, grilled the students and ours placed first." (View a wrap up video of the competition at https://youtu.be/xqxl4HHfcHw) SFU's Passport is another tool for equipping students with life-lasting business skills. Nine mandatory workshops take place over the course of a student's degree covering topics such as resume building, mock interviews, and the Marketing Me session, which includes networking 101 with industry professionals. "We are extremely fortunate to have such good relationships with so many of our business alumni and community organizations," Tingling says. "They help walk our students through important core skills such as introductions, making eye contact and how to engage in small talk. This is designed to help students compete—after all, you only get one chance to make a first impression." Coming to SFU is like coming to the buffet at the Bellagio, Tingling says, because no matter how hungry you are, you can't eat everything. "There truly is a plethora of activities and events, and our advisors help students devise a custom-tailored plan that will enable each one become the professional that they wish to be," Tingling says. ■ Nick Rutckyj, New Concepts Lead, and Zack Eberwein, CEO, at Stoko present the company's apparel-integrated bracing technology in a booth at CES 2019 in Las Vegas. The product is set to launch in standard sizes in fall 2020.

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