School of Business

Accounting students at Acadia University participated in the J.D. Irving Direct Exchange Case Competition and came away enlightened and enriched. Enlightened because case competitions are a good way to introduce business students to participative learning and real-world scenarios early in the BBA program. Enriched because the winners of the JDI Case Competition will share a cash prize. Learning with cases provides students with actual business situations with enough detail to allow them to walk the path of the original decision makers and learn by assuming their identities, so to speak. The recurring question that is asked in case studies is: What would I have done in this situation?

"Acadia University was well represented at the JDI Case Competition," said Professor Michael Kennedy, who provided academic oversight. "The team nailed most of the technical accounting issues in the case, particularly impressive because each member of the team was relatively new to accounting."

Students presented their case solutions for the fictional "Maritime Shipbuilding Limited," highlighting the accounting issues in the case along with their solutions. Each team had fifteen minutes to present its case findings, which was following by interrogative questioning from JDI judges drawn from the accounting and the Human Resources department. Here they were acting as consultants to the fictional company under review. "The judges were particularly impressed with the students’ ability to balance technical advice with strategic, critical thinking," Kennedy said.

Case competitions are one way for students to distinguish themselves. In the case of the J.D. Irving Direct Exchange Case Competition, distinguishing yourself is always a good idea since over 75 Acadia University graduates have gone on to be employed on the JDI team.