Participating in the Interactive Business Dashboard Competition and placing first!
As part of the AFM 112 - Analytical Methods for Business 1 course, we embarked on a group project with the aim to create an elegant, functional business dashboard. This exercise was created to enable the application of textbook concepts into the real world - an exciting and welcoming challenge. We wanted to provide the company management with as much information as possible, but we recognized the limitations of a single dashboard and the potential of overcomplicating its usability.
In December 2021, we competed in the second annual Interactive Business Dashboard Competition (IBDC), a competition sponsored by the University of Waterloo’s Centre for Information Integrity and Information System Assurance (UW CISA). Our task was to develop an interactive business dashboard for a toy store retailer, TTS, where the company can monitor their own performance.
Having met each other through predetermined groups assigned by the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF), there was no real expectation to what we could accomplish. We quickly got to know each other and have formed great friendships already. Recognizing and capitalizing on each other’s unique strengths and abilities has been a great learning experience and further speaks to how the Accounting and Financial Management (AFM) program prepares us for working in the real world. Our fantastic teamwork led us to the top and winning the IBDC!
After reflecting on our accomplishments, we can conclude that leveraging our various skills, using our knowledge from SAF courses, and our continuous communication were the pinnacle aspects of success for our team. Through our experiences, we highly recommend students to participate in external competitions and extracurriculars. These events enable students to expand on their soft skills and create meaningful connections with other students within SAF.