On Sunday, April 14, three Burman University students competed and won the virtual Undergraduate Healthcare Business Case Competition hosted by Loma Linda University Health. Six teams from Schools of Business in the North American Division provided a strategic case analysis of how Loma Linda could respond to the very real challenge of a significant minimum wage increase for workers in healthcare facilities in California.
The Burman CASE team was captained by Thirsa Ward, a second-year Business major and two seniors, Anna Flores, a 4th-year Business Major and David Sundresan, a 4th-year business major. The team was advised by Danae Brousson, an instructor in the Burman University School of Business. Participants had two weeks to analyze the case, do background research, and create a set of recommendations that Loma Linda could implement to minimize the overall impact of the wage increases. The resulting assessment was sent to a panel of judges to determine the top 4 teams that would then move on to the final round of the competition where each team would present their recommendations and answer questions from the panel.
The team came up with several creative ways to address the issue of the minimum wage increase, as well as provide cost savings from operations overall. They were able to communicate their ideas clearly and professionally throughout their presentation, in addition to fielding questions from the panel of judges. The judges recognized their hard work and awarded them first place in the competition along with cash and other prizes. Case competition participation is a well-recognized achievement within the business community and the team will be able to leverage their win to further their academic and professional goals.
For team captain Thirsa Ward, the time and energy spent on the project was well worth it! “We put a lot of time and effort into the competition, and it was really rewarding to see it all pay off. It was good to know our late nights running through the presentation in the library weren’t for nothing. The competition definitely helped me with my research skills, as well as working in a team setting and time management,” commented Thirsa.
For more information about the Burman University School of Business visit our website at www.burmanu.ca/business.