This morning, the participants had the pleasure of preparing for a third consecutive day of case presentations. While each case study presents its own unique challenges, this particular one was perhaps the most difficult – for both the students and the members of the judging panels.
Unlike previous days, there was not an obvious case resolution. Instead, the judging panels were focused on how well the university teams were able to communicate their solution and defend their recommendation for their strategy. Given that the university teams had a variety of solutions, it is safe to say that they were innovative in their respective case presentations.
Elena Porosnicenco, who served as a timekeeper, had the opportunity to watch two case presentations – that of the University of Alberta and University of Western Ontario. While both teams presented completely different solutions, she went on to say that the two universities provided enough information to convince her of their respective strategies.
Members of the judging panels included a number of representatives from Xylem, as well as other prominent members from the local business community: (1) Peter Comito, CEO of Selectcom Telecom; (2) Jason Vantomme, COO of EA Games Mobile; and (3) Benoit Gowigati, Associate Partner for IBM Global Business Services.
Feedback from University Students:
According to Chulalongkorn University, “ the case study presented a number of technical issues that needed to be addressed for Xylem“. Despite the level of difficulty, the team feels it has improved based on the feedback sessions from the previous two days.
Meanwhile, the University of South Carolina informed us that they defended their position well during the question period – especially since they recommended an acquisition strategy.
About the Case Study:
Today`s case study was based on Xylem. The company`s mission is to help solve their customers`most challenging water problems – while aiming to set industry standards for fluid technology applications and water solutions.
University teams were asked to carefully put a strategy in place to maximize the presence of Xylem within the Maritimes – while keeping in mind that Maritime H2O is their exclusive means of distribution, a partner and a competitor.

Time To Relax:
With the conclusion of the first three case presentations, participants will be treated to a nice dinner at the popular restaurant, Steak-Frites St Paul (on Laurier Avenue). It will allow the participants to put aside the competition for one night, and focus on building friendships throughout the course of the evening. After dinner, participants will be making their way over to L’Écurie – located in Plateau Mont-Royal – to continue the celebration!
Since there will be no case presentations on Thursday, participants will have the choice of sleeping in or exploring the many wonders of the City of Montreal!

Royal Roads University, Hong Kong University and University of Vermont amongst others were up bright and early ready to leave on the first bus leaving the Hilton Bonaventure to the John Molson School of Business to solve their first case at JMUCC 2012.
Today’s case was about an entrepreneurial venture by Wynand Rutten, a talented individual who is extremely keen on accepting consultation from the delegates of JMUCC 2012 and was intrigued by the ideas presented to him throughout the course of the day. He also personally judged a few of the presentations; which was extremely appreciated by participants.

The first set of presentations began as early as 10:40 a.m. and universities presented in front of a panel of 3 to 5 judges. Distinguished members of today’s judging panel included Roberto Depani (Partner at IBM), Marc Vinh (senior business partner for CN) amongst others.
The Carleton University student delegates were extremely satisfied with their performance for the day and hope to keep up the good work through the week! One of their participants, Rhea Wootton Higginson very enthusiastically spoke about their success and shared a few words of appreciation towards the case itself. Jon Øyvind Bjørnstad, a student delegate from BI Norwegian Business School emphasized that his team was extremely excited about tomorrow’s case since the first case and judges’ feedback has certainly prepared them well in terms of understanding what is expected from them for the rest of the week!
The dinner hosted by Group Dynamite has been a tradition at JMUCC consecutively for the last four years, and was held this evening at Le Crystal. The location was gorgeous and Group Dynamite went out of their way to participate and even placed tempting gift bags on each of the participant’s seats. The ten Dynamite representatives mingled and seated themselves amongst the volunteers and delegates from around the world! Anna Martini, President and CEO of Group Dynamite inaugurated the event by welcoming all participants, especially paying importance to the diversity of the crowd. A delicious three course meal followed Anna’s kind welcome, and participants enjoyed interacting with the Group Dynamite representatives at their tables.
The organizing committee, participants, coaches and students are looking forward to tomorrow’s case and social event. We encourage you all to attend presentations and encourage student delegates to continue working hard for their next two challenges.

The JMUCC organizing committee is very pleased to welcome all participants, coaches volunteers, faculty members and sponsors to the 4th annual edition of the competition!

All twenty-four of the participating universities have arrived, registered and checked in at the Hilton Bonaventure, Montreal. Universities have settled in and are all set to begin competing tomorrow. Universities have gathered for this event from all around the world. While Chulalongkorn University participants, after a long journey were happy to be received at the airport by their extremely enthusiastic volunteer team ambassador David Nam, delegates from the University of Florida are eager to explore Montreal and the city’s major attractions; the old port and Mont Royal are already on their list!

A cocktail was hosted in the first part of the evening which gave participants, coaches, volunteers and organizers a chance to mingle and network amongst each other. The opening ceremony held during the second part of the evening included three guest speakers. The President and Vice-Chancellor of Concordia University, Dr. Frederick H. Lowy, the first speaker, shared words of encouragement to all participants and thanked the organizing committee for putting the events together. The second speaker Alan Hochstein, the interim dean of the John Molson School of Business reminded students about the pride in representing their respective universities. Last but not the least, Canadian Senator and former president of the Montreal Alouettes, Larry Smith, motivated the crowd by highlighting the importance of ‘adding value’.

The most exciting part of the evening was the division draws; which determined the division each university would compete in, and their respective competitors for the entire competition! The results are as follows:

Division 1:
Chulalongkorn University
Dublin Institute of Technology
American University in Cairo
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Division 2:
Royal Roads University
Carleton University
Wilfrid Laurier University
University of South Carolina

Division 3:
University of Hong Kong
Western University
University of Alberta
University College Cork

Division 4:
University of Vermont
University of Navarra
University of Florida
HEC Montreal

Division 5:
Purdue University
Maastricht University
BI Norwegian Business School
Concordia University

Division 6:
Elon University
Brock University
Aalto University
University of Sao Paolo

Presentations will be held at the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Monday through Wednesday. The final case presentations are held on Saturday the 25th of February at the Hilton Bonaventure. All case presentations are open to the public.

On a final note, the organizing committee wishes the best of luck to all delegations.

Aalto University

BI Norwegian Business School

Brock University

Carleton University – Sprott School of Business

Chulalongkorn University

Concordia University – John Molson School of Business

Dublin Institute of Technology

Elon University – Martha & Spencer Love School of Business

HEC Montreal

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – Business School

Maastricht University – School of Business and Economics

Purdue University – Krannert School of Management

Royal Roads University

The American University in Cairo

University of Alberta – Alberta School of Business

University College Cork – College of Business and Law

University of Florida – Warrington College of Business Administration

University of Hong Kong

University of Navarra – IESE Business School

University of São Paulo

University of South Carolina – Darla Moore School of Business

University of Vermont

Western University

Wilfrid Laurier University – The Laurier School of Business & Economics

Congratulations to all the universities! We take pleasure in welcoming you as the official participants of the competition where you will compete with the some of the world’s most renowned and prestigious business schools!