Submitted by Jeffery Zou, Co-Chair of the Banking & Finance Club
A team from the Nanyang Business School comprising of Jeffery Zou, Stephanie Zhao, Sona Sethi, and Dr. I Putu Mahendra Wijaya participated in the Bangkok Business Challenge and Asia Venture Challenge in February and March 2015 respectively, both held at Bangkok. The team was guided by NBS’s Prof Vijay Sethi.
Continue reading Bangkok Business Challenge and Asia Venture Challenge 2015
Submitted by Cory Reid, Student Exco VP Case Competition
As mentioned in the earlier journal entry on the post-competition celebration, the Nanyang MBA team was victorious at the 2015 John Molson MBA International Case Competition. (News coverage on Channel News Asia, Straits Times, NTU Website).
Not only that, but we remained undefeated throughout the competition. The team consisted of myself, Cory Reid, and Aswathi Suresh, Sunitha Vijiyasingam and Jonah Wong. We were accompanied by our coach, Akshay Regulagedda whom we couldn’t have done without. We also had coaching by past participants and Nanyang MBA alumni Gaurav Goel and Minti Sen. In addition, Prof Vijay Sethi was instrumental in helping select the team and provide feedback after multiple practice sessions.
Continue reading John Molson MBA International Case Competition
Submitted by Reina Wong, Student Exco VP Communications
The Nanyang MBA joined the Japan MBA Case Competition for the first time this year. After three rounds of selection process within our class, the team representing the Nanyang MBA in this competition consists of Teo Angie, Wong LinLing Reina, Diyora Karabaeva and Noopur Singhal (left to right).
The Japan MBA Case Competition is organized by McGill University Japan, Aoyama Gakuin University and Hitotsubashi ICS. The 12 participating teams were given the case at the beginning of November and had about one month to work on the case analysis and recommendations. Although marketing was mainly done in Japan, this year’s competition attracted two schools from outside of Japan, namely Nanyang Business School and Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, in addition to the 10 participating schools from Japan.
The competition took place on 30 November 2014 at the beautiful campus of Aoyama Gakuin University. We were divided into 3 divisions in the preliminary round by drawing lots, and each division were assigned 3 judges to choose the best performer in each division to enter the final round that would take place later in the afternoon. Our team gave our best during the presentation to showcase our effort put into the competition in the past month.
The preliminary round result was announced shortly after all 12 teams had finished their presentation within their divisions. Unfortunately, our team did not come in first in our division. The 3 teams that entered the finals were McGill Japan, Waseda Business School and Hitotsubashi ICS. All other teams were allowed to stay and watch the finalists’ presentations. We learnt much from the 3 teams’ presentation.
After the finals, all participants were invited to proceed to an after-event party held at Icon Lounge in Shibuya where the results would be announced. Invitation was also open to the public and students from the participating schools. It was a great opportunity to interact with other participants, the judges, the event organizers and sponsors.
Teams were also given the chance to sit down with judges to understand how we had performed during the preliminary rounds, such as our strengths and areas for improvement. We were glad to hear from our judges that we came in second in our division. We also received valuable feedback on how we could have improved our analysis and presentation.
McGill Japan, the defending champion, came in as the champion again this year. Waseda Business School and Hitotsubashi ICS came in as runners-up.
Our team would like to sincerely thank the school for providing us the opportunity to compete in this case competition. We have learnt much and the trip is an unforgettable experience.
For more information about Nanyang Business School click here.
Submitted by Raymond Rueda, Student Exco VP Career Development
Myanmar, compared to its Asian counterparts, has been lagging behind for decades in terms of socio-economic and political stability but thanks to U Thein Sein’s rise to presidency in 2011, it has now opened its doors to the global market, bringing in investors from various industries. Multinational companies see its huge potential—it is strategically located between Asian countries with huge populations—India and China—and is next to some developing Southeast Asian nations as well such as Thailand.
Because of these factors, the Nanyang Business School has chosen Myanmar for the second time as a destination for its students’ Business Study Mission (BSM), which was scheduled last October 25 to November 1. Now on its second year, the redesigned MBA program requires participants to go on a BSM either in Singapore or overseas. This year, 11 full-time students, 3 part-time students, and 1 EMBA participant joined the Myanmar group, which visited both local and multinational companies with offices in Yangon.
A trip abroad, however, would not be complete without sight-seeing so the BSM also had its fun side. During the first two days, we visited popular tourist spots in Yangon such as the Inle Lake, Botataung Pagoda, the Rangoon War Cemetery, the Shwedagon Pagoda, and Bogyoke Market. We also tried out local Burmese dishes in popular restaurants in the city and found them uniquely delicious.
After a weekend of touring the city came the more serious part of the trip—the company visits. Companies that the group got the chance to interact with include Chevrolet, Consumer Goods Myanmar Limited, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Samsung, Coca-Cola Pinya Beverages, Ooredoo, Kia Motors, Schneider Electric, CNQC, and Petronas. Aside from the private sector, officials from the government and non-profit institutions also gave insightful presentations about the current challenges, opportunities, and programs being promoted in Myanmar.
Seeing Myanmar suffering from poverty and corruption is quite saddening especially when one learns that it used to be the the second wealthiest in the region during the British occupation. Nevertheless, it is slowly making progress especially as it gains support from more powerful countries such as the US and Japan. All of us saw how promising Myanmar could be and we hope that one day, we will see it as competitive as or even more developed than its neighboring countries in the region.
To Prof. Ravi Agarwal, Prof. Chung Lai Hong, Ms. Lindsay Tan of the MBA Office, and everyone else who made the Myanmar BSM possible, chezu tinbade!
For more information about Nanyang Business School click here.
Submitted by Cory Reid, Student Exco VP Case Competition
The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Accelerate business consulting competition was held in the Philippines at the AIM campus in Makati, Manila from October 9th to 11th, 2014. The purpose of the competition is to serve as a venue for young and talented students to showcase their skills and apply what they have learned in school through actual application.
Four students from the Nanyang MBA program were selected for the finals: Vivek Negi, Vishal Bhatnagar, Bhrigu Vasish and Cory Reid.
The competition is in the second year of implementation and this was the first year it was opened up to MBA students outside of AIM itself. The format of the competition is unique in that each team works directly with a local small or medium enterprise (SME) to tackle their most pressing issues while developing a realistic growth strategy for the company.
With over a hundred applicants from business schools such as ISB, NUS and NTU, the event drew talent from some of the top schools in Asia. 24 students were selected for the finals and were grouped into 6 teams of 4 each. Each team was paired up with a local SME about 4 weeks before the finale in Manila.
The Nanyang MBA students said the competition was a great learning experience since they had to collaborate with students from different universities to solve a real issue for a Philippines SME. In fact, they only met their teams and SMEs in person when they arrived in Manila two days before the final presentation.
The competition also featured seminars on ASEAN integration in 2015, faculty and industry mentors and a 30 minute pitch clinic for each team. The finale on Saturday had each team present for 15 minutes to a panel of three judges, followed by 10 minutes of Q & A. After dinner, the winning team was announced and the award was presented to Team Beauchem, which Nanyang MBA student Cory Reid was proud to be a part of.
Members from Team Mr. Wilson at the opening event with Nanyang MBA student, Vivek Negi, in the centre:
Team Beauchem at the finale dinner with Nanyang MBA student, Cory Reid, third from right in the back row:
Team Wilkonstruct at the finale dinner with Nanyang MBA student, Vishal Bhatnagar, second from left:
Teams on stage:
Faculty and the winning team – both students and SME participants:
The competition was featured in local newspapers such as the Asian Journal and Business Mirror. Articles can be retrieved from:
http://asianjournal.com/news/aim-accelerates-smes-potential/
For more information about Nanyang Business School click here.
Submitted by Dilina Fernando
The Amazon Customer Excellence (ACE) challenge, organized by Amazon India, was held in two phases. In Round 1, 18 top business schools across Asia were invited to form teams to solve and submit three case studies within 96 hours. The case studies were across 6 categories, namely Category Management, Operations, Product Management, HR, Sales, and Onboarding. According to the Amazon representatives, about 3800 teams submitted solutions in the first round, out of which 3 teams were selected from each category into the final round.
One team from the Nanyang MBA, Team Stormtroopers comprising of Dilina Fernando, Sharan Grover and Aditya Bhargava, was selected in the Product Management Category. It was the only foreign school team selected to participate in the final round.
In the finals, the teams were given 5 days to solve a case which involved giving solutions to real life problems of Amazon India. After submission of the solutions, Team Stormtroopers flew to Hyderabad, India to present their solution on 21st September 2014. The panel of judges comprised of Amazon Senior Leadership in India who evaluated the merits of the ideas proposed.
In the end, Team Stormtroopers did not win in the final round in the Product Management category, of which the team from IIM-Bangalore won. However, the experience was truly an enriching one, especially for a team just 2 months into the MBA program. Working as a team on tight academic deadlines, facing a panel of experienced judges, understanding what they look for and what details they expected provided valuable insights to competing even better in the future.
For more information about Nanyang Business School click here.
Author: Charlotte Kong, MBA Office
Having one of our alumni, Mr Greg Chiu, working as a senior executive in Infinite Frameworks Studio provided us the excellent opportunity of extending our network to Indonesia through an overseas company visit earlier this year.
When we first arrived at IFW, we were really impressed by the wonderful environment of the company. Surrounded by lush greenery and located right next to a stylish swimming pool complete with palm trees decorating the vicinity – it felt like a relaxation haven!
After we got accustomed, the company visit commenced. It began with the introduction of IFW’s development and its major projects.
We learned about the operation, marketing and HR matters of IRW. We were even shown some creative animation clippings.
Mr Chiu elaborated on the different factors and how they affect the company’s business decisions as well as shape the course of their development. It was a great case study with first hand information coming straight from the company management.
Following our fruitful exchange, we were told that IFW would approach our students for help regarding their future projects! It was a truly advantageous experience and I believe our Nanyang MBA students certainly learned a lot, just like I did.
The trip certainly ended on a high note with all of us networking and dining al fresco at a modern Indonesian restaurant and reminiscing about the great experience we had. It was really a really good way to just relax, and have fun with your peers, when the journey’s done!
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