2011 Achievements

Overall champion at inaugural Ernst & Young Singapore Business Case Competition

Our students have once again proven their mettle in case competitions by bringing home the championship of the inaugural Ernst & Young Singapore Business Case Competition. Open to all undergraduates from the four universities in Singapore, the finals on 26 March 2011 saw the NUS Business School team comprising Choo Xin Yao (BBA), Damien Goh Jun Rong (BAC), Lim Swee Keat (BBA) and Wang Jiazhao (BBA) beat their competitors hands-down, and emerged winners. The theme for this year's competition was sustainability. The competition aimed to encourage the exploration of innovative yet sustainable ideas, and to promote sustainable behavior amongst business leaders of tomorrow. Participants were not only tested on their business skills and acumen, but were also engaged in the analysis and development of sustainable practices and strategies. After five hours of grueling intensive preparation, teams were given 15 minutes for presentation, followed by a 15-minute Q&A by the judges. The NUS Business School team made such an impression with their proposed business plan that they were, without doubt, the best among the lot.

 

NUS School of Business wins CBS Case Competition

This year's CBS case competition was one of the largest ever as it was marking its 10th anniversary. Guests-of-Honour included Danish royalty, Her Excellency Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, Danish Minister of Science and Technology, Ms. Charlotte Sahl-Madsen and ambassadors from the different countries. With support from renowned companies such as the Carlsberg Group, Deloitte, Saxo Bank, the Scandinavian tobacco group, Boston Consulting Group and Wunderman, the budget for this year's competition amounted to nearly half a million Singapore dollars. To the delight of the ladies, the case that the team was assigned was on fashion retail giant H&M's future growth direction. The team had only 32 hours to solve the case, prepare a PowerPoint presentation and submit an executive summary. In between cracking their heads for the solution, the team also had to get used to the freezing climate and vastly different food options. The European business environment which the team was unfamiliar with raised the challenge quotient further. The finals presentation proved to be a totally unforgettable experience for the team. Numerous outbursts of thunderous cheers and applause from the audience kept their adrenaline running high, but it also resulted in an unexpected challenge - Tobias, the last speaker, had to deliver his speech in just one minute as the interruptions from the audience had eaten into his presentation time. Fortunately, all's well that ends well. He managed to finish up with just a few more seconds to spare. NUS Business School was the clear winner. When making the announcement, chairman of the jury Mr Oscar Mosgaard commented that the panel had decided to award the championship to the team that "kept it simple, understood the consumer, understood the business and showed H&M how it can expand into Asia-Pacific." It was obvious that NUS Business School had won. The team received a standing ovation from the audience when crowned the champions. Do join me in extending my heartiest congratulations to Caroline, Candice, Tobias and Che Min for thriving under such intense pressure and turning in such a sterling performance!

 

The 33rd Inter-Collegiate Business Competition

The 33rd Inter-Collegiate Business Competition (I.C.B.C) organized by the Queen's University School of Business, Canada was held from 6th to 8th January 2011. In the first time NUS was invited to participate in this international competition, our Business Policy team did the school proud, and emerged 2nd Runners-Up! Consisting of Chan Fun Ruey, Candice Lim Min Wei and Vincent Low Kah Kee from the BBA(H) program, team Aegis Consulting had to go through gruelling preliminaries, and after that endure a 5.5 hour deliberation period where all they were equipped with was one laptop without internet connection nor pre-prepared content. In this instance, the team pooled their expertise in Marketing, Finance and Operations to present a convincing case to the judging panel. The trio faced overwhelming odds to emerge as the only foreign team/school to obtain a placing in the entire competition. This year, the competition attracted a record submission of over 180 from more than 40 universities. Other universities that participated include Chulalongkorn University, HEC Montreal, McGill University, Simon Fraser, Richard Ivey, University of British Columbia and many others. Team Captain Chan Fun Ruey shares, "We are fortunate to have prevailed in the largest and longest-running undergraduate business case competition in Canada. This is the first time NUS participated in this competition, unlike some of the schools who have been participating since its inception. By applying what we have learned from school as well as from our previous case competition experience, we were able to close this difference. Having had the opportunity to participate in numerous other case competitions, we've learnt that every competition is unique and cannot be compared. The most important takeaway that we have, and that the school would want every student to have, would be to learn from every experience and stand ready to grab the next opportunity whenever it comes. We are proud to carry the NUS flag up high in the international arena once again.