MBA teams take the high wire: three hours for Cirque proposal
If only for a few hours, competitors in the John Molson MBA International Case Competition got to join the circus. The Cirque du Soleil was the big name behind this year’s live case.
Marc Gagnon, vice-president corporate services of the renowned company, briefed competitors on their mission: to decide whether or not the company should diversify its ventures to ramp up profits and if so, how.
Students had three hours to formulate a business plan and design their presentation using acetates. “There’s no PowerPoint, no jazz, just the solutions,” said top student organizer Anouk Bertner.
The live case is particularly thrilling, because participants get to wrap their minds around a real-life business quandary.
Last year, Captain Al Spain, Senior Vice-President, operations of JetBlue airlines, gave students the task of expanding his small company without sacrificing its soul.
As with the other cases, teams have 25 minutes to present their business plan before the judges grill them on it.
It was the third of five cases in the round-robin competition, which whittles 36 teams down to nine for the semifinals. Three proceed to the finals, from which the winner emerges.
Gagnon said the Cirque floats several cases at similar competitions around the world. “The main reason we come is to get an idea how MBA programs are growing in terms of the way they think.”
Teams devised a plan with the Cirque’s commitment to creativity and its desire to give back to the community in mind.
“You can’t keep creativity in a box. It would be like trying to capture moonlight,” said JMSB team member Ivan Soltero during that team’s presentation.
They favoured aggressive diversification with the development of Cirque-themed television shows and circus camps for children. For the 18-to-30 crowd, they proposed a new brand, Cirque de la Lune, with theme clubs in cities around the world.
“It’s a party at night. It’s darker, passionate and sexy,” Binh Nguyen said.
Participants from the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore also targeted the youth market, and suggested bringing the Cirque to the massive Chinese and Indian markets it has not yet explored.
Before visiting Montreal, they had never even heard of Cirque du Soleil. “We come without having any bias. That gives us a fresh perspective,” Bijesh Vijayen said.
Did Gagnon expect to find answers that the company could use in the future? “That’s the million-dollar question,” he laughed, after watching two presentations. “They discussed some ideas we’ve been considering, and some we’ve decided against.
“There’s no right or wrong answer: It’s how you arrive at it.”