KPU Case Analysis Network introduces business case competition

On March 1 to 6, KPU’s Case Analysis Network will join sixteen universities across Canada to complete a business case study in under 40 hours.

KPUCAN is a School of Business initiative that was launched in 2020, and was designed to connect KPU students with case teams.

“Our mission is to connect students with Case Competition teams to view and equip them with the skills most sought after by employers in order to build better business leaders for the future,” says Damon Mann, Vice President of Operations at KPUCAN.

When KPUCAN was created, the organization’s goal was “to eventually create a competition for KPU,” he says.

KPUCAN has case teams for various areas of business where teams analyze business cases and work together to come up with intuitive solutions.

Case team competitions give students the chance to apply the knowledge from their courses to real-life situations. There are case competition teams for various business majors, such as Human Resources, Accounting, and Information Technology.

Vishwa Shrenik Shah is a student and business case competition participant. She says she has always been interested in participating in a case competition ever since she started university.

“I found out about these competitions, and I enjoy doing case studies as well…. I had enough time to form a team and reach out to some other students. That’s why I wanted to participate in this one,” she says.

However, Shah did encounter some problems when she first wanted to join.

“There was just a bit of a problem in forming a team. So that was a bit of a bummer because it was still very early, but there wasn’t anyone who seemed interested. But then slowly, we got around to forming a team for our university,” she says.

Shah says she was looking for a challenging case study where she could apply the skills and concepts she has learned through her courses.

The online event will have a networking night, which will feature various keynote speakers and industry professionals.

“One of the biggest things that in-person companies would have are sidebars and networking opportunities for you to mingle amongst the competitors from other schools. So we’ll have the same sort of feeling even though it’s all virtual,” says Mann.

For those interested in becoming part of KPUCAN, students can go online to their website and join the mailing list to begin the process of becoming a member.

“Students, as well as any industry professional, are able to watch the live stream of the opening ceremony as well as the final presentations,” says Mann.

Students do not need a business background or experience to participate in KPUCAN, as they hold different workshops that help students gain skills to analyze business cases.

For more information, refer to the KPUCAN website.