From Andy Dennis of Coburg Consultants

On the afternoon of November 1^st, the first-year CRMBA class was asked to meet in the Rowe building and await instructions.

The first-year cohort had heard stories of late nights, heated negotiations, and the anxiety of not knowing what would happen next. So far, at least the latter was true.

Prof. Rick Nason waked into the room, randomly handed each team of three students an envelope, and wished them good luck. The teams opened their envelopes to reveal the task at hand.

With 48 hours on the clock…was a transaction with Blackberry possible?.?

The Integrative had begun.

The Integrative is a weekend-long, live business simulation formulated around a real-world business case. First year CRMBA students are broken up into small teams and randomly assigned a role.  This year the MBAs were tasked with representing Blackberry, a potential buyer (Fairfax, Facebook, Lenovo, etc.), or an advisory firm. It was then their job identify the problem, formulate a solution, and pitch their bid to the ‘Board of Directors,’ all while adapting to real time changes to the business environment.

Integrative weekend is fueled by competition but framed on collaboration.  Ultimately the winning team will be the one whose bid is accepted by the board, but no team can succeed without both competing and cooperating with the other teams.

On-the-fly learning, stress reduction, adaptive thinking, and relationship management are skills that are rarely developed in class-based learning, but are essential for dealing with complex business problems.

“The integrative made us realize that there is more to business than what is taught in a textbook. It really made us think outside the box,” says Amir Toulany, a first year CRMBA student. “Not knowing what to expect made us remain aware of any uncertainties and adapt to those events accordingly.”

 

The first-year integrative presents students with a truly unique learning opportunity.

“[It] allows students to experience dealing with ambiguity, having to learn what the problem is rather than having it given to you,” says Prof. Nason, the coordinator of the integratives since their inception.

Prof. Nason outlines three key advantages of the weekend-long simulation:

1)   It allows students to compete.  This motivates participants to push themselves beyond what is easy, and towards that which will allow them to succeed.

2)   It requires students to “make it rain” – in essence create something out of nothing – be it defining a problem when there isn’t one or working through a complex scenario (See Dr. Nason’s TEDx talk ‘It’s not complicated’).

3)   It shows students that interpersonal skills are often more important than technical skills.

The importance of interpersonal skills and learning about how both you and your peers deal with intensity is often what resonates the most with students having completed the integrative.

“The integrative illustrates how important some basic skills are,” says Eric Fleming, a second year CRMBA student and integrative veteran. “Both communication and honesty were integral to effectively working together. Once these were embraced by groups, partnerships were formed and solutions were created.”

The integrative is an opportunity for students to learn about themselves, their peers, and the complexities of real-world business problems. Technical skills will be crucial throughout one’s careers, but it’s this type of learning that will truly set Dalhousie CRMBAs on the path to success.