Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1998

BBA TEAMS SHINE IN INTERNATIONAL AND LOCAL COMPETITIONS Mclutive International Case Competition Organized by the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, the Mclntire International CaseCompetition is one of the most w e l l - k n o w n competitions in the United States for undergraduate business majors. It is also the one with the longest history. In the past years, participation was invited from universities in the US and Europe. This year, for the first time, a university from Asiawas invited. The Chinese University becamethe first and only institution from Asia to be invited to participate in the competition in its 17 years of history. The CUHK team offour students from the Faculty of Business Administration, moreover, defeated four other teams from Europeand America and walked off w i th the title. The CUHK team arrived in Virginia on 18th February 1998. Between rules presentation, case review, and brainstorming sessions, they were given guided tours by their hosts and invited to different dinners. The competition proper took place on 21st February 1998 at the University of Virginia. The participating teams were given the task 14 hours before the competition. Within that time frame and in isolation, they had to write a proposal for solving the problem as well as prepare a 20-mmute oral report. The task this year was to find a marketing strategy for Apple Computer Company in order to improve its sales. The panel of judges included academics from the University of Virginia and leading personnel in American firms. The four other teams, all English-speaking incidentally, were Queen's University at Kingston from Canada, the University of Dublin from the Republic of Ireland, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Texas at Austin from the US. The members of the CUHK team, Julie Cheng (Marketing), Venus Ho (Finance), Anne Tse (Finance), and Carol Wong (Finance), welcomed the opportunity to compete abroad as it allowed them to measure their analytical faculty, ability to apply theories, creativity, and English writing skills, against their peers from other parts of the world, and also to polish their oral reporting skills. Despite their f i nal success, their i n i t i al response upon being told the case was fear, fear due to, they believed, their comparatively meagre know- ledge of American products and the technology involved. Yet being the first participating team from Asia, and knowing that they had the full support of Asian students in America, they soon resumed their cool and went on to clinch the title. 'We've won not only for ourselves but for all Asian students. Our success also shows that Hong Kong's students are just as good as students anywhere in the world. We've learnt that trust is the most important element of team spirit. We experienced hardship f r om preparation to competition, but we also experienced warmth from being classmates to being close friends,' they said. From left: Carol Wong,VenusHo, Anne Tse, and Julie Cheng Potential Unlocked 21