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HBA1 students put consulting skills to the test in BCG Case Competition

Nov 6, 2026

The BCG first place team: Tristan Johnston, James Ng, Chun Yee Ho, Shirinaa Madaan, Adina Pogrin, and Bohan Li

The first place team: Tristan Johnston, James Ng, Chun Yee Ho, Shirinaa Madaan, Adina Pogrin, and Bohan Li

From managing an e-commerce surge at a heritage blanket maker to charting growth for an AI-powered drone delivery company, HBA1 students put their consulting skills to the test in this year’s annual BCG Case Competition, held November 3-6.

Part of the Learning Through Action course, the annual competition asked students to work in teams to analyze two cases, develop recommendations, and present their ideas under tight timelines – much like they would in a consulting engagement.

This year’s competition centred on two distinct business challenges. One case, written by Jessica Kelly, HBA ’09, a lecturer in managerial accounting and control, and Tessa Weidner, HBA ’15, MBA ’19, focused on a premium wool blanket manufacturer based in British Columbia. The students were asked how the company should respond to a sudden spike in direct-to-consumer demand without compromising its operations, retailer relationships, or brand position.

The second-round case, co-written by Yasser Rahrovani, associate professor of information systems at Ivey, asked students to evaluate where Zipline should go next as it considers how to grow its AI-enabled drone delivery business.

Together, the cases pushed students to think through both immediate operational decisions and longer-term strategic questions.

The competition opened with kick-off remarks from BCG guest speakers Zach Hamel, HBA ’16, and Theo Kalff, HBA ’25. The students also received feedback and evaluation from BCG representatives who served as judges throughout the competition. Rahrovani also gave a short presentation to the students before the final-round presentations, offering additional context on the second-round case.

Congratulations to the HBA1 students who took part in this year’s competition, and thank you to BCG for its continued support.

Congratulations to the winners

  • First place (Section 10 – Team 9): Tristan Johnston, Bohan Li, Shirinaa Madaan, James Ng, Adina Pogrin, and Chun Yee Ho;
  • Second place (Section 10 – Team 1): Aarushi Anand, Christopher Bartha, Connor Butler-Driscoll, Aaron Chen, Faizaan Lalani, and Joanna Wang;
  • Third place (Section 6 – Team 1): Luhan Delport, Alexandra Eckler, Angus Feng, Siwon Lee, Margaret Lou, and Vincent Zheng; and,
  • Fourth place (Section 4 – Team 10): Joshua Firew, Natalie Giacomel, Shreeya Patel, Luca Rescigno, Gaven Toor, and Zhilun Yu.

Thank you to the judges

  • Ivey faculty: Jessica Kelly, HBA ’09; Kyle Maclean, HBA ’12, PhD ’17, Tiffany Bayley, and Shannon Rawski;
  • BCG judges (semi-final round): Coby Harvey, HBA ’26; Nik Hastings, HBA ’25; Theo Kalff, HBA ’25; Jake McMillan, HBA ’25; Keyaan Mithani, HBA ’26; Miren Vijayaranjan, HBA ’24; and Jasmine Virdee, HBA ’26; and,
  • BCG judges (final round): Greg Critchley, HBA ’09, MBA ’13, PhD ’19; Meera Kanani; Daniel Sire; and Ben Stafl.

View more winners below (hit arrows to scroll)

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