The numbers speak for themselves at the annual gathering of some of the top international business students; as the Family Enterprise Case Competition (FECC) returned to the University of Vermont (UVM) in Burlington last week.
Twenty-five teams and more than two hundred participants from five continents traveled more than eighty thousand miles to take part in the sixth iteration of the competition.
Hosted by the Grossman School of Business, the FECC has earned a deserved position as a demanding and memorable global student competition; the only case competition in the world focused on family business.
After four days of rigorous competition, the Sprott School of Business team from Carleton University, Canada took top honors in the undergraduate division, while the University of Adelaide from Australia emerged victorious in the graduate division.
Individuals were also recognized in several categories including best presenter, coach and team ambassadors.
"I became involved with FECC my first year at UVM, and looking back, I can safely say this is the greatest opportunity Grossman students have. FECC not only challenges students' abilities to fine tune key aspects of 'professionalism' but it provides a platform to which students can engage and lead on a global scale" said Grossman student lead coordinator Doug Hirschhorn.
His sentiments were echoed by Simon Cornet, coach of the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences team from the Netherlands who stated “This event delivered an exceptional learning experience to the students in my team. The high level of the competition really challenged them to exceed expectations. In addition they had a lot of fun and made new friends. Hope to see you again next year!”
Many student competitors were also excited by the competition. "FECC is awesome! You really feel part of a global event and the experience really nurtures growth in everyone who takes part in it,” said Mario Zuñiga, an MBA Student from UFM Guatemala, while Cassandra Lee, a seasoned case competitor from the winning Sprott team commended the quality of the event “Of all the case competitions I have attended, FECC is easily the most seamless and well-orchestrated event.”
As a testament to the FECC experience, several ex-student participants returned to participate as judges or in the case of Liam Gravely, as the coach of the winning Sprott team. “Simply put, the overall experience was incredible” he said. “I was heavily involved in Sprott Competes as a student, having competed on various teams including FECC 2017. I look back at my experience with the case competition fondly, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to be involved again!”
Dr. Pramodita Sharma, the Daniel Clark Sanders Chair & Professor of Family Business at the University of Vermont, Grossman School of Business was already looking forward to the next edition of FECC. She commented “The 6th edition of FECC, reinforced the central role of this competition in Family Business education around the world.”
She continued “25 teams came from 16 countries. Five were new teams while 20 came from institutions that had competed earlier in this competition. Three of the six teams that placed as top-three in the Graduate and Undergraduate leagues were new to this competition. These six teams came from Australia, Canada, Guatemala, Mexico, Philippines and the Netherlands. 50+ judges from 12 countries too! Inquiries have already started to come from coaches wanting to field a team in 2020 and judges eager to be part of this event. Our student leaders were undergraduate students who ranged in age from 18-22. This superb team put together a spectacular event that has become the talk of family business educators, advisors and owners around the world! They bring pride to us all!”
The 7th global Family Enterprise Case Competition will be hosted by the Grossman School of Business at the University of Vermont, January 2020.
You can find the full list of award winners here.