On Saturday November 9, 250 first-year MBA students, drawn from the Waterloo full-time and part-time programs as well as the Toronto weekend program, came together in Waterloo to compete in a Company Project.

Each group of five students were to pick two companies from a particular industry, perform a strategic and financial analysis and then, projecting out a year, advise on whether to hold, buy or sell the stock. Company pairings ranged from the airline industry to trains, snack foods to mining, pharmaceuticals to beer. Dr. Howard Teall, project coordinator and a member of the teaching team stated that "the project raises awareness of two companies for each group while also familiarizing all participating students with 100 companies."

Students agree that the experience was very challenging but rewarding. Students were amazed at the responsiveness of companies to assist them and provide them with information. Many indicated that the networking amongst the programs was the best part.

Dr. Hugh Munro, former MBA Program Director, commented that the experience "provides students with an opportunity to present ideas and information in a different style and format" (versus the classroom structure with overheads and PowerPoint).

All poster presentations were peer evaluated and instructor reviewed with a score assigned for the overall thoroughness of the analysis, effectiveness of the presentation and soundness of the recommendation. Three winning teams were selected, one from each program.

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Following the poster sessions, a panel discussion with three guest speakers was held. Tom Connell, Managing Director, Canadian Ratings, Standard & Poor's; Sandeep Uppal, CEO Economical Insurance Group and Peter Kastelic, Managing Director, Mitra addressed the group regarding core earnings values, financial reporting and the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as the focus and role of a CFO. Discussants commented on the "very professional presentations of the students" and joked about re-evaluating their own picks Monday morning based on the recommendations of the groups.
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