What Makes Rotman Different? A foray into the world of Business Design

In anticipation of our trip to LBS, Geoff and I have been asking ourselves: “What makes Rotman different?” In discussing this idea, one of the key points at the top of the list was business design. This week, I’ve had the pleasure of attending various events over at Design works where members of a university in Singapore are undergoing certification for Business Design.

On Tuesday, Geoff and I attended a working session with Anita McGahan discussing the evolution of demographics across different geographies and the implications for the future of the health care industry around the globe. With our guests present, we learned a great deal about the specific differences in the Singaporean culture and life style and were impressed by the innovation produced by their ambitious programs.


This exercise was particularly enlightening for me, not only because of my previous work as a Wireless Consultant for RIM in the healthcare communication and process optimization space, but also to learn more about the business design process.

Today, I also attended a talk given by my class mate and president of the Business Design club, Jason Huang, at Design Works for our Singaporean guests. He gave a very inspiring speech about the current state of business design at Rotman as well as a road map to the initiatives he and his team are putting into place to further develop the program at Rotman at the academic and extra-curricular levels. I am particularly impressed by his attitude, aiming to be the top club at Rotman. I think he also has demonstrated that he has the will and ability to execute on these new initiatives, launching business design more prominently into the spotlight.

He also had a great point about case competitions where “the idea isn’t just to try to do well, but more importantly to learn” a sentiment which I would like to echo and I think reflects my personal motivation for participating in various case competitions, including those not necessarily related to my chosen profession.

What is Business Design @ Rotman? Find out for yourself by watching the YouTube video below: