A team of four students from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) bested contenders from a range of world-renowned business schools and took the top prize at the McGill Management International Case Competition. The first runner-up was Wharton at University of Pennsylvania and the University of Washington came in third. This is the first time that a team from Hong Kong has won the prestigious award.
Held on March 23-27, 2004, the competition is an annual event organized by the McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
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The HKUST team comprised four undergraduate students from the Global Business stream. They are Hannafew Chan Hang Ting, Vishaal Prem Lalwani, Brian Lee Ho-kei, and Mandy Lee Man Kuen. The judges, who included academics and senior executives from sponsor companies, spoke highly of the team's strategic analysis and rigorous recommendations. They were particularly impressed by the fact HKUST's was the only team to really identify and highlight the moral implications of the case in question. In addition, the judges commended the team for its engaging and professional presentation, thorough and practical recommendations, excellent answers in the Q & A session, and a conclusion that tied everything together.
Prof Stephen Nason, HKUST team advisor and Associate Director of the Undergraduate Programs, said: "Their [HKUST team] presentation was interesting, dynamic, clear, and most importantly, contained excellent recommendations…They did an outstanding job in a very strong competition that included eleven teams from four continents. The HKUST team represented the University and Hong Kong exceptionally well and we can all be proud of them."
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Prof Kar Yan Tam, Associate Dean and Director of Undergraduate Programs, HKUST Business School, said: "It has always been our goal to develop the critical thinking, communication and leadership skills of our students. We are very pleased that the UST team won this prestigious award. Apart from case competitions, we also offer our students opportunities to participate in a wide range of other enrichment activities including international exchange programs, business mentoring and internship programs."
Prof K C Chan, Dean, HKUST Business School, said: "The UST team was competing against elite students from top global schools and they came out with flying colors. It is a big boost to the morale of our students, faculty and also Hong Kong. We are very proud of them."
McGill Management International Case Competition (MMICC)
The MMICC was first held in 2001. The annual event focuses on cases centered on innovation and globalization. This year, eleven leading business schools from around the world took part in the competition. Each school was represented by a team of four undergraduate students who were asked to analyze and recommend business development strategies for a small biotechnology company.
Teams received the case on March 26 and were given 24 hours to deliberate. Presentations were held on March 27. Each team presented to two different panels of judges and received the judges' feedback afterwards.
Participating schools:
- Budapest University
- Copenhagen Business School (Denmark)
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)
- Luigi Bocconi University (Italy)
- McGill University (Host)
- National University of Singapore
- Simon Fraser University (Canada)
- University of Cape Town (South Africa)
- University of Hull (U.K.)
- University of Pennsylvania (U.S.)
- University of Washington (U.S.)