Schulich School of Business MBA Team Wins Schulich International Case Competition in Sustainability

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Nov. 29, 2011) - A team of MBA students from York University's Schulich School of Business has won the inaugural 2001 Schulich International Case Competition in Sustainability, held November 25-26 at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Two weeks before the competition, the 17 teams received the case study, featuring a complex issue facing the mining industry written by Schulich executive-in-residence Richard Ross, former chairman and CEO of Inmet Mining Corporation, and Carolyn Burns, MBA student and President of the Schulich Natural Resource Opportunity Club.

The Schulich team of Michelle Hassen, Deanna Wu, Rafal Smerd and Jeff Butchereit beat 16 other teams from leading Canadian and U.S. business schools, including Columbia Business School, Fletcher School from Tufts University and Queen's School of Business. The winning team members will share a cash prize of $5,000.

The students had just two weeks to research, write and practice their presentation. In the first round on Saturday, the winning Schulich team faced teams from Dalhousie University, University of Alberta and Carleton University. During the second and final round, the Schulich team beat teams from University of Toronto, Ryerson University and the University of Alberta to take the top prize.

"In the final, our winning team presented the most viable, well-researched and impactful solution to a real-world problem facing the global mining industry," said Richard Ross, Executive in Residence at Schulich and former chief executive at Inmet Mining Corp. "Their case analysis was right on target and their presentation skills were also excellent."

The event included networking and social events. Keynote addresses were given by Kinross Gold Corporation CEO Tye Burt, and Joanne Alexander, Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Precision Drilling, one of the companies that assisted in the rescue of the 33 trapped Chilean miners.

According to Peter Sinclair, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at Barrick Gold Corporation, "This was an excellent event. The case presented students with a complex, real-life situation facing mining companies today. I was greatly impressed by the level of understanding students brought to the case as well as their creative solutions to address these real-world challenges. As these students represent future executives and CEOs of mining companies, our industry is certainly in good hands."

In addition to Alexander, the other judges for the event included mining industry business leaders such as Rick McCreary, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Barrick Gold Corporation; and Ross Gallinger, Executive Director, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC). A full list of the judges can be found at http://www.schulichinternationalcasecompetition.com/judges.php.

On Monday, Schulich School of Business announced that Schulich students will be offered a full complement of mining-related business courses to allow them to graduate with an MBA degree specializing in Global Mining Management. The full offering of courses will be available starting in September 2012.

"The MBA case competition will be an annual event at Schulich School of Business and we look forward to the continued support of the mining sector," said Kendal Bradley, president of the Schulich Case Analysis Club, which hosted the event in collaboration with Schulich's Natural Resources Opportunities Club and Net Impact Club.

"Schulich School of Business is known for being a leader in sustainability issues," said Ms. Bradley, a Schulich MBA 2012 candidate and member of the winning team at the 2011 Rotman Net-Impact Case Competition earlier this year.

"This is the only MBA-level student case competition in mining, and I believe discussing the current challenges in sustainability and corporate responsibility faced by the industry will help to ensure an event that is educational, timely and stimulating. The winning team came up with an innovative solution to a vexing industry problem and some of the industry judges indicated they were going to look into adopting some of the practices presented."

"These events are a great opportunity for business students to connect with students with similar interests and to make valuable industry contacts that they will be able to draw on in the future," said Ms. Bradley.

The Core Sponsor for the Schulich International Case Competition was Barrick Gold. Additional sponsors at the Gold Level include Goldcorp, HudBay Minerals, IAMGOLD, Kinross Gold and New Gold. Silver sponsors include Avalon Rare Metals, Dundee Precious Metals, Inmet Mining, and Teck Resources; and bronze sponsors are Banro Corporation, Bedford Resources and the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada.

Canada's mining industry is among the largest in the world. The Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange lists 58 per cent of the world's mining companies and has raised 80 per cent of the world's mining equity capital.

Known as Canada's Global Business School™, the Schulich School of Business in Toronto is ranked among the world's leading business schools by a number of global surveys.

In its latest issue, Corporate Knights magazine declares Schulich's MBA program the leader among Canadian business schools for integrating sustainability into the MBA experience. The Aspen Institute, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., ranks Schulich's MBA program #2 in the world in a survey that identifies business schools doing the best job of preparing future leaders for the environmental, social and ethical complexities of modern-day business.

Further details are available on the SICC website at http://www.schulichinternationalcasecompetition.com/.