Laurier students help CIBC tackle data management challenges

By Alex Kinsella | March 19, 2024

On Feb. 29, 2024, students from the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University pitched their data management solutions to representatives from CIBC at the inaugural CIBC X Laurier Data Management Case Competition. The competition challenged student teams to develop a data quality management framework for lending data.  

The participating students are from the Lazardis Master of Science in Management Analytics (MMA) program. Launched in Fall 2020, the 12-month program provides students with the skills to understand and analyze business data to help their companies utilize it in today’s hyper-competitive markets. 

Michael Pavlin, associate professor, Operations and Decisions Sciences and William Birchall Chair in Management Analytics, said the innovative case competition is an example of the university’s commitment to finding opportunities for industry and students to work together. The idea for the CIBC X Laurier Data Management Case Competition came from conversations Pavlin had with CIBC about the work students were doing in the Master of Science in Management Analytics.

“We'd been speaking with CIBC, trying to find an opportunity to bring them to Laurier and show them what our MMA students are all about, what they’re working on, and ways to potentially partner with them,” Pavlin said. “This case competition is a great way to give students an opportunity to explore an area that they haven't explored before and to give the CIBC team an opportunity to see the quality of our students.” 

Salimah Manji, senior manager, Education & Strategic Partnerships at CIBC, said they were attracted to the potential partnership based on their early conversations with Pavlin and the Lazaridis team. 

“Michael raved about the ‘small but mighty’ data and analytics cohort at Laurier, and we at CIBC were instantly intrigued to get to know their talent, said Manji. “Connecting with a focused group allowed us to be flexible throughout the planning process and resulted in an incredible experience for all parties.”

The case competition kicked off on Feb. 15 with a presentation from CIBC to the MMA students. The case competition provided students with an inside view of how the bank currently manages data across its various divisions, highlighting CIBC’s commitment to data management and security. 

“CIBC has been investing in data management, and the competition was a particularly exciting opportunity for our students who have both a business and analytics background,” Pavlin said. “Our students can play a strong role in identifying where business data value is and making people have the right information at their fingertips when they need it, without too many hoops to jump through.” 

The winning team consisted of MMA students Cassandra Murillo Santana, Xiaoye Li, and Zhanying Feng. Santana said the presentation and the case competition allowed her and her team to learn about the role of data management in a large organization like CIBC. 

“It was a great opportunity to see how we could use what we’re learning in our careers. The case competition helped us better understand what our role could be, especially since we all have different backgrounds like finance or economics,” Santana said. 

Before the case competition, Santana said she planned to return to her previous company and put her degree to work in her corporate finance role. Now, she is also considering pursuing a business analytics role after graduation.  

Fellow team member Li added that the case competition has also shown her the possibilities her degree can open in the business world.  

“I wanted to do something related to data, and I majored in data science before. From this competition, I learned how data works in business and financial institutions, and after graduation, I want to do something related to business analytics as well,” Li said. 

Beyond learning about real-world data management, the case competition also helped team member Feng make a connection at CIBC. Feng has a background in finance and hopes to find a position that combines data management and analytics with finance. 

“I had a coffee chat with a data governance consultant at CIBC, and now that I understand that role, I’m interested in that as an option,” Feng said. 

The CIBC team was impressed with the presentations. Manji said the teams demonstrated a strong understanding of the business problem and a commitment to detail in their solutions. 

“Some of the teams went well above and beyond to offer complex dashboard demos, dived deeply into data management research, and more. It was interesting to see the difference in direction across teams, and allowed us to easily celebrate the teams that went the extra mile for their final presentations,” Manji said. 

Mojtaba Araghi, director of the Master of Science in Management Analytics program, said the case competition showcased the technical and business education students receive. 

“It's good to show that this is not a data science program in an engineering school nor is it an MBA program that is focused on general management. It’s a combination, and that’s important,” Araghi said. 

The case competition is another example of how industry partnerships at the Lazaridis School prepare students for tomorrow’s career challenges. It is also an opportunity for leading organizations like CIBC to advance their mission and find the talent to propel Canadian businesses to new heights. 

“Part of our mission within enterprise data teams at CIBC is to attract, acquire, and develop exceptional early talent within the marketplace,” Manji said. “We’re always looking for fresh perspectives and new skillsets to continue supporting our bank’s purpose: to help make our clients’ ambitions a reality. This partnership with Laurier directly feeds into that mission and we’re excited to continue strong relationships that help bridge the gap between corporate and academia.”