The Citi - HKUST International Case Competition is Asia’s first and leading case competition that brings about 100 undergraduate business students to Hong Kong annually. It provides an exceptional opportunity for students to solve real-life business issues in a multi-cultural environment.
In its 13th consecutive year, the HKUST Business School has once again joined hands with global bank Citi to co-organize the event, where 18 teams from ten countries got together in Hong Kong to compete for the highest honor in late October.
The three-day competition challenged students to devise an expansion strategy for Techtronic Industries Co Ltd (TTI) in just 22 hours.
A global leader in cordless power tools, TTI provided the students with a case to explore a strategic Asia expansion plan. All teams were tasked to put forward and present viable solutions to address the strategic issues faced by TTI.
Mr Frank Chan, Group Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer of TTI and also one of the final round judges for the competition, remarked, “We've been overwhelmed by the talent, caliber and passion of the students and their presentations. They were not only creative, but also displayed their keen and unique understanding of our business when it came to presenting their analysis and proposals. I would like to especially congratulate the finalists for demonstrating in such a compressed time their strong problem-solving skills and ideas that are relevant to our company and industry.”
First-time participant Nanyang Technological University from Singapore won the 2015 championship title, while Queen’s University from Canada and Korea University were first and second runners-up, respectively.
The champion team in a media interview with the Hong Kong Economic Journal talks about the challenges they faced in the competition and their winning tips. They attribute their success to great teamwork, clearly-defined work scopes and a logical solution that they proposed.
Commenting on the positive value of case-study learning, Professor Emily Nason, Associate Dean and Director of UG Programs says: case competitions not only provide an excellent learning platform for students to learn how to solve real-life business challenges, but also an exceptional opportunity to learn from and compete with the brightest students around the world.
The Business School will continue to collaborate with the business community and top business schools around the world to encourage, train and support students to participate in case competitions and promote a case-study learning culture.