Competing in an international setting

What do you say to the head of a generic drug manufacturer in India, who just saw half his top executives resign after they were denied the right to sell their products in the U.S., their biggest market? How can you suggest he manage this challenge, while creating a better relationship with a company that has recently acquired his business - a company that specializes in producing innovator drugs in Japan?

Four McGill undergraduate Management students had forty hours to answer these questions, as they represented the only Canadian school at the Asian Business Case Competition (ABCC) in Singapore earlier this month. The competition, now in its fifth year, brings together students from top business schools around the world to compete in solving a real-life business case. The competition kicked off with a few days of social and networking activities that gave students the chance to get acquainted with the vibrant city-state in the heart of Southeast Asia while meeting colleagues from other universities across the globe.

None of the niceties distract teams from the arrival of the main event: when they are locked into a hotel room and given the case for the first time. Here, all the gloves come off. From this point onward, each team has forty hours to develop a recommendation to help the company move past its challenges. Finally, each team attempts to convince a panel of judges that their strategy is best suited to propel the firm to future success during a 15 minute presentation.

Representing McGill this year were final-year students Sarah Chow, Christopher Hartman, Sumira Jayabalan, and Samuel Latham from the Desautels Faculty of Management. According to the group, the key to doing well is to stay patient and not get frustrated.

Read full article: The McGill Daily, October 20, 2011