The International Business Challenge, held at the University of Texas at Austin this year, is a large-scale undergraduate business case competition for students in the world. Founded by the Undergraduate Management Consulting Association in 1995, the competition was opened for universities in the U.S. and was then expanded to include top schools around the world since 1997.
This year's participants came from top-tier universities including Indiana University, the University of British Columbia, the University of California – Berkeley, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Each team was requested, within three days, to develop a marketing strategy for Netcase HD (a newly developed internet based entertainment network that delivers High Definition multi-media solution) to leverage and position itself in order to capture a significant market share to sustain growth. Then each team was needed to present their business proposal to a panel of more than 10 judges consisting of distinguished business scholars and business leaders.
Our winning team comprised of four members coming from different disciplines with their own areas of expertise – Chan Yeung Yun Grace (Year 3 Integrated BBA – General Finance), Lui Chung Yan Jacky (Year 2 Global Business Studies), Yeung Wing Lam Winnie (Year 4 Integrated BBA – Marketing) and Hung Tik Yuen Raymond (Year 3 Quantitative Finance). Our team proposed using "The Blue Ocean Strategy", which advised a company to focus on developing innovative ideas so as to capture uncontested market of huge potential for development, rather than mobilizing all resources to lift the siege against fierce competition with endless competitors in the existing market.
In the preliminary round, our team beat HKU, HKUST and other 2 overseas universities and got into the final. Although the Netcase HD and the industry were not popular in Hong Kong, our team managed to provide an in-depth analysis of the feasibility, profitability and substantiality of the proposed plan and creative ideas supported by sound evidence. The judges were deeply impressed by our team's comprehensibility and competence to crack such a case. For instance, our team suggested the Netcast HD to form a strategic alliance with a surveillance company in their B2B business model. In the final round, our team out-performed the other three finalists (the University of Washington, the Babson College and the University of North Carolina) and won the glorious Championship.
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Let's have a taste of our team's challenges during the competition and hear the words from Winnie, one of our team members:
"So is it a 'yes' or 'no'? I just want a 'yes' or 'no'."
"Could you skip this SWOT analysis and move on?"
"What is the per head acquisition cost? I want the number!"
Guys, it was not a separate Q&A session after the 20-minute presentation but an interrupted presentation after 2-minutes introduction.
Did you have any presentation experience as such? Did any judge stop you in the middle of your presentation of the business model and ask you to show the financials?
Right, that was exactly what happened to us in the International Business Challenge 2006 held at the University of Texas at Austin. It was definitely a new challenge for every one of us as it was nothing similar to any of the presentations we have done in the past in which the judges would patiently wait until you finish what you want to say before criticizing your ideas. If you want us to quote a similar experience, it would be like the TV series "The Apprentice". The presentation can be interrupted at any time under the control of the judges. However, with our detailed analysis of the industry, creative ideas and strong teamwork, we managed to survive this challenge.
Big thanks must be given to BA Faculty for giving us this great opportunity to learn and grow! Thanks must be also given to all the professors and trainers who equip us with the best knowledge and skills. And of course, thanks must be given to our families and friends for their endless support. This experience was for sure a valuable business course for all 4 of us.
