Nurture Stage
The first stage of the 2024 Systems Innovation Challenge saw students apply systems thinking to the retail industry’s billion-dollar product return problem. The Nurture stage culminated with an in-person session in London, Ontario where students showcased their ideas.
Watch this video recap of the 2024 Systems Innovation Challenge:
Navigate Stage
Five teams advanced to the Navigate stage and moved on to a new challenge focused on transforming Walmart Canada’s retail spaces into community spaces that foster connection.
Three teams were declared winners after presenting their ideas to leaders at Walmart Canada at the company’s headquarters in Mississauga.
- Most feasible idea ($5,000) – Schulich School of Business (MBA students Pallab Kumar Doley, Ankita Sharma, Menka Ahlawat, Ashwin Vignesh Rajagopal, Nikita Prabhu – not pictured);
- Most creative idea ($5,000) – Rotman School of Management (MBA students Derek Leung, Sirun Wan, Armanda Iuliano, Sandra Villasenor, and Camilo Gonzalez); and,
- Most scalable idea ($5,000) – Mixed team from Telfer School of Management (PhD students Wrenford Thaffe, Sneha Pujani, Shirin Biglari, Meraj Bousaki – not pictured) and the University of Waterloo (Masters student Mithara Fonseka).
Hussain Bandali, MBA ’11, is Senior Director, Store Layout and Experience at Walmart Canada was impressed with the students’ understanding of Walmart’s capabilities: “I was most impressed by the depth of research the teams conducted to understand what programs Walmart has tested and implemented already, not just in Canada but in other markets around the world, and how the proposed ideas were very feasible, tangible, and ready to execute.”
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