Ryerson MBA

2011 Integrative Week winners from left: Marco Gonzales, Anthony Deonarain, Darnel Leader, Krystina Sulatycki, Shakil Alam, and Ana Yanes

Ryerson MBA students get a unique opportunity to put their education to the test.

For one week each year, MBA classes are postponed and students spend the entire week solving a real-world case challenge. This year, students were asked to create an operating model for the Bombardier Aerospace aircraft health management system, which is a combination of technology and tools that effectively manages its fleet. The model was divided into four areas: customer satisfaction, sales and marketing, revenue and governance.

It's called Integrative Week, an annual competition that promotes hands-on learning and allows Ryerson MBA students to work in groups to solve a real corporate challenge. Integrative Week takes an experiential approach to learning, teaching students how to apply their skills and knowledge in a practical setting. It happens once per term.

"Integrative Week is unique to the MBA program. It allows students to integrate what they have learned in all of their courses in a real project for a firm," said Dale Carl, director of graduate students, Ted Rogers School of Management. "The students learn to work intensely within a stringent timeframe and then present and defend their recommendations to senior executives from the company. They also learn to rely on each other's knowledge and expertise because the depth and breadth of the project requires active participation from each team member to complete the task on time."

The integrative element gives students the ability to incorporate the information and practices presented in the curriculum, as well as their team building skills, and turn it into business success. This term, 11 teams worked diligently over four days, and presented their solutions to a panel of judges. The top three solutions were presented to Bombardier at a board meeting, chaired by mechanical engineering alumnus Todd Young, vice president, customer services and support, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.

This year’s winners are Shakil Alam, Anthony Deonarain, Marco Gonzales, Darnel Leader, Krystina Sulatycki and Ana Yanes. Team leader Sulatycki found the experience exciting and rewarding on many levels.

"It was a challenge creating a competitive edge for a service in such a competitive industry. [But] I think we handled it well. We learned to channel our creative ideas with practical recommendations that appealed to an actual board of directors," Sulatycki said. "The opportunity to bring together all the theory from all the different courses you take as well as your own experiences and apply them to a real-world problem is really valuable. It forces you to see the interconnectivity of the work you are doing."

Young, lead Bombardier judge, presented the winning team with the Ken Jones Cup, sponsored by Ted Rogers School of Management dean Ken Jones.