In October, teams from Cognitare, Lee Kong Chian Business School’s business case club, competed on the international front and emerged with stellar results – they came in 1st runner-up in the Audi Global Business Case Competition 2016 (GBCC) and 3rd runner-up in the Thammasat Undergraduate Business Challenge 2016 (TUBC). In both business case competitions, SMU was the only Singapore university that made it to the finals.
Audi Global Business Case Competition 2016 (GBCC)
GBCC is an international case competition dedicated towards building the corporate minds of the future. The second edition of this competition was held in Japan’s Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) from 11 to 17 October 2016.
This year, the SMU team comprising second-year students Bryan Lum (BBM) and Ho Bang Ying (BBM & BSc Econs), third-year student Jazelle Tan (BBM), and fourth-year student Sally Tan (BBM), competed against 11 other teams from top universities hailing from four continents. They included Chulalongkorn University, University of Auckland and University of British Columbia.
Team Cognitare was exceptional in the 24-hour case challenge, during which all teams were tasked to strategise and develop solutions to tackle the talent shortage that foreign companies operating in Japan were facing.
Coming only second to the team from University of California, Berkeley, SMU’s Team Cognitare impressed the judges with their innovative strategies and impactful presentation. Ho Bang Ying was named the competition’s Best Speaker for his superb presentation and performance during the Question & Answer session.
The distinguished panel of ten judges representing different industries and sponsors of the event included Dr Martin Voelkl, HR General Manager at Audi Japan; Mr David Swan, Managing Director at Robert Walters Japan & Korea; as well as Directors from Goldman Sachs and Samsung. The judges praised Team Cognitare for their exemplary teamwork and professional presentation.
Thammasat Undergraduate Business Challenge 2016 (TUBC)
In the week preceding GBCC, Team Cognitare was also up against some of the world’s best case teams at the Thammasat Undergraduate Business Challenge (TUBC) held in Thailand. Already in its 19th year, TUBC, organised by Thammasat University, is one of the most established and prestigious business case competition worldwide.
The SMU team comprising third-year students Josephine Soh (BAcc & BBM) and Lim Keng Siang (BBM & Bsc Econs), and second-year students Lim Shi Ying (BAcc & BBM) and Raghvendra Narang (Bsc Econs), were up against 19 other teams from renowned universities including University of Pennsylvania and University of California at Berkeley. Eventually, the team stood out to be one of the four finalists to progress to the deciding round of the competition.
[Photo: (L-R) Raghvendra, Josephine, Shi Ying and Keng Siang, with Senior Lecturer Ma Kheng Min (centre).]
In an intense 30-hour lockdown period, Team Cognitare developed recommendations for PTT Global Chemical, Thailand’s largest integrated petrochemical and refinery company, in view of the crash in oil prices and increasing popularity of electric vehicles.
Finally emerging as 3rd runner-up in the competition, the SMU team received commendations from the panel of judges, comprising senior executives from PTT Global Chemical, consultants from Bain & Company, and directors from the banking and finance industry, for their comprehensive strategies and excellent presentation.
“We are all very proud that Team Cognitare had successfully made it to the Finals in five out of the six international business case competitions that they participated in 2016. That is an awesome achievement as only four out of the 16 to 20 participating teams from all over the world make it to the Finals in each competition!” said Senior Lecturer Ma Kheng Min, the faculty advisor to the teams.
“Only two competitions this year recognised the Best Speaker – and SMU clinched both the Best Speaker awards! All these achievements certainly exemplify the resilience and strong reputation of SMU undergraduates in the international business case competition arena,” she added.
[Featured photo: (L-R) Bang Ying, Jazelle, Sally and Bryan with Senior Lecturer Ma Kheng Min (centre).]
