Undergraduate students take part in business case competition in Washington DC
Four undergraduate students namely Christopher Ching from BBA Global Business, Cynthia Hsiao from BBA Business Economics, Jessie Cheng from BBA Accountancy and Tristan Lau from BBA Management represented CityU to join the McDonough Business Strategy Challenge (MBSC) 2020 in Washington DC, United States from 4-9 February 2020.
MBSC is an annual case competition organised by the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University. It offers students an opportunity to hone their business skills and to network with judges from leading consulting firms as well as competitors from all over the world.
This year, the business case competition attracted 22 top-notch university teams to develop creative solutions to financial, strategic and operational problems for non-profit organisations. In the semi-final, four to five teams competed in a bracket and champion of each of the five brackets would enter the final. Students were only given 36 hours to analyse a case and provide a business plan to a client. The plan was then reported in a 10-minute presentation, followed by a 15-minute Q&A and a 5-minute conclusion.
CityU team won runner-up in Bracket 2 in the semi-final, ranking top ten out of 22 teams in the competition. The team was also one of the two Asian teams and the only Hong Kong team out of three in the top ten position. Students applied innovative gamification, blockchain, and smart contract solutions to help Care International, a not-for-profit organisation, create an open platform to raise donations and manage charitable activities. The CityU team did an excellent job in the competition and got commendations from the judges on the organisational analysis with great insights and the impressive work of developing a prototype within a short period of time.
Team advisor Dr Alvin Leung from the Department of Information Systems accompanied students to the US. He said, “I am very happy to see the great performance of the team among various strong competitors, for example, ESADE Business School, University of Virginia, University of Washington, and Chinese University of Hong Kong. The team had put a lot of effort in the pre-competition training and rehearsed many times in mock presentations. Witnessing their improvement over time, I’m proud of the team who made a great achievement on their own under a tight time constraint. I am impressed that the team applied innovative information management solutions into their business plan and even developed a mobile application prototype.”
Team trainer Dr Zachary Leung from the Department of Management Sciences was impressed by the team’s performance, he said, “I enjoyed working with the four students in the team, because I could see their creative ideas, and their eagerness to work together and improve. Personally, I feel that business cases about non-profit organisations are more challenging than those involving for-profit businesses, so I was proud to see how much they had grown individually and together as a team, and were able to come up with a great solution to the case question.”
Team member Christopher said the entire experience had been exceptional from start to finish, “When I joined City University’s Case Competition Team, I was not aware I would be exposed to such diversified opportunities with such depth. In this competition, we were able to experience, learn and grow hugely. From visiting the Capitol Building and the White House to the extensive array of museums we were able to fully experience the City. The competition allowed me to expand my networks with over 20 universities in attendance. Moreover, I was able to use my business skills and knowledge to give back to the community and society through working on the case.”
Jessie from the team said all team members had strove to think bold and practically in the competition, she said, “Having researched key technology trends in today’s world, we blend our fruit of brainstorming with a unique perspective of non-profit operation. Our idea received very positive feedback from Senior Assistant Dean and judges from the sector. I will remember this amazing opportunity which allow me to innovate for enlarging social impact, meet friends from all over the globe and visit the beautiful city of Washington DC.”
Another member Tristan said he was happy that the team had overcome many challenges, and had been able to perform as good as teams from the world-class business schools. “Unlike other business case competitions, MBSC focuses on non-profit organisations, we need to create value for stakeholders while doing good to the society. It is indeed a one of a kind experience and I highly recommend CB students to apply for it,” he added.
Member Cynthia said, “The case competition helped me think more holistically, which allowed me to see the whole picture, assess the organisation situation better and develop a better problem-and-solution linkage. It was invaluable to learn from my teammates and other teams to develop problem-solving, critical thinking and storytelling skills. I would also like express my heartfelt thank to Dr Zachary Leung and Dr Alvin Leung for their tremendous support to the team.”
