SMU’s Team Cognitare, comprising undergraduates Jamie Lim Zhi En, Sashikumar Kannappan, Jordan Widjaja and Soundarya Rajan, has emerged first runner-up at the 6th Sauder Summit Global Case Competition (SSGCC), organised by University British Columbia Sauder School of Business. The team also took home the People’s Choice Award.
Held in Vancouver, Canada, from 3 to 9 March 2018, this year’s competition attracted 12 participating universities from nine countries. Teams were given 24 hours to analyse and develop strategic recommendations for Canucks Sports and Entertainment (CSE), the owner of one of North America’s biggest National Hockey League team – the Vancouver Canucks. They were challenged to formulate a strategy to help CSE combat declining home game attendance rates in its 18,900 capacity Rogers Arena.
SMU’s Team Cognitare impressed judges with their innovative strategy which aimed at both retaining season ticket members and attracting new fans to the Vancouver Canucks by improving the in-game arena experience for fans and audiences. The strategy was developed with the goal of creating independence of the performance of CSE’s business division from its hockey team’s actual performance, allowing CSE to stabilise and grow its revenue source.
In addition to their insightful recommendations, the quartet also displayed strong teamwork and delivered an engaging presentation to make it to the final round, where they faced off against finalist teams from National University of Singapore, University of California, Berkeley, and Copenhagen Business School, before clinching the 1st runner-up prize!
Team leader, Jamie, was elated with her group’s performance. “Understanding the company in the context of Canada was a tough challenge for the team, especially when all of us had limited experience in the spectator sports industry. It was ultimately a combination of thorough customer analysis and creative but feasible solutions that allowed us to do well. We’d like to thank the members of Cognitare, advising professors, and LKCSB for their support,” she said.
This article was fully adapted from The SMU Blog.
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