Four CB students, Viki Lai Wing-ki (BBA Global Business), Phitchayapha (Fern) Sitthitan (BSc Computational Finance and Financial Technology), Andy Wong Ho-chi (BBA Global Business Systems Management), and Ronny Torres Cardenas (BBA Global Business), attended the 19th Annual McDonough Business Strategy Challenge (MBSC) at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. during February 7-12, 2023, where they competed against other top performing universities around the world in NGO case consulting. The team was asked to analyze a US social enterprise in the competition.
The 5-day event also offered them a valuable opportunity to share with other participants, acquire experience and knowledge from consulting lectures and engagements with nonprofit leaders and experts. The students share their experience from the event.
(From left): Ronny Torres Cardenas, Fern SITTHITAN Phitchayapha, Vikki Lai and Andy Wong
Polishing problem-solving skills at MBSC 2023
BBA Global Business
Viki Lai Wing-ki
Viki Lai gained experience at the 19th Annual McDonough Business Strategy Challenge (MBSC) at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. during February 7-12, 2023. Here’s her sharings.
Participating in MBSC was an unforgettable experience for me. We got the opportunity to meet in person with other teams and clients after the pandemic, receiving insightful feedback for future improvement. The competition was challenging, yet, working with teammates taught me a lot. It has further polished my problem-solving, strategic thinking, and cooperation abilities. We are grateful to have Dr Zhou and Dr Leung for their continual support and guidance. Overall, it was remarkable to join MBSC. We struggled and worked hard to analyze the problem set in a USA social enterprise thoroughly and develop comprehensive solutions. Having a USA case has enabled me to explore the globe deeper and drilled me more about cross-cultural business practices. I am proud of my team's accomplishments and grateful for the opportunity to participate.
Connect with people who share the same interest at MBSC
BSc Computational Finance and Financial Technology
Phitchayapha (Fern) Sitthitan
Phitchayapha (Fern) Sitthitan is one of the four students joining the 19th Annual McDonough Business Strategy Challenge. He shared his experience.
MBSC was my first in-person international case competition after having the online ones for quite a long time.
Having an opportunity to find a creative but still feasible solution for the social enterprises and non-profit organization is another thing that is very meaningful to me. I can see the hope in the eyes of the company’s staff and see how invested they are in their own project, which inspires me a lot.
Having a chance to learn from the other teams, both in terms of the creativity and the culture is also the thing I am really thankful for. MBSC is like a bridge that connect you with the people who share the same interest and then you all can bring something good to the table. It is not easy for us, in Hong Kong, to meet and share the experience with the people from the US, Singapore, Canada, Spain and so on, but MBSC bring you this opportunity.
Thank you to all my teammates and the coaches for making this journey even more memorable. It is a very privilege opportunity to work with the like-mined people with a lot of positivity and creativity.
Competing with brilliant minds is enlightening
BBA Global Business Systems Management
Andy Wong Ho-chi
Andy Wong shared his insights after participating at the 19th Annual McDonough Business Strategy Challenge 2023 in February.
Reflecting upon my experience attending the MBSC case competition, I cannot help but emphasize the incredible opportunities and challenges it presented. Despite the particularly short preparation time, competing with brilliant minds from around the world has been an enlightening experience. Participating in this prestigious event has been immensely rewarding, allowing me to form lasting connections and friendships with individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
The competition has been an unforgettable journey, and I am truly grateful for the chance to collaborate with three exceptional teammates. Together, we have grown our problem-solving skills and broadened our horizons, making this experience invaluable.
Grateful to the support and opportunity given by CB of CityU
BBA Global Business
Ronny Torres Cardenas
Represented CityU for many times, Ronny Torres Cardenas’ latest experience in international case competition at MBSC 2023.
Over the past 4 years, I've had the privilege to represent CityU at many international case competitions. Sadly because of the pandemic all competitions were held online, all of them except the MBSC competition, which was the first and last competition where I actually got to travel to a different university and country, in this case Georgetown in Washington DC.
It was, without a doubt, the crowning achievement of my university life. We were extremely well received, not only by the wonderful organizers Ken and Cat, but also by the new friends from around the world from whom we learned so much. We also developed a very strong bond among our team, and traveling helped us enrich our teamwork. The NGO case was tough, and ultimately our lack of knowledge of the local market proved too hard an obstacle, but we are very proud of the presentation we did and of the impression we left on people's memory, always leaving CityU's name high. I shall always remember those days with a bright light shining over them. Thank you to the College of Business for sponsoring us and for our coaches, Alvin and Huazhong, for their support.