Working against time and disappointment, a team from NUS Business School clinched the top position at an international case competition.
Undergraduates Andre Ong, Clarisse Gan, Ernest Koh and Kevin Darmawan had taken part in the Rotterdam School of Management STAR Case Competition, a by-invitation only event that is among the world’s most prestigious case competitions.
The road to victory however, was not a smooth-sailing one. The team was off to a discouraging start when they placed second last in their division in the first round, which involved cracking a case based on Coca Cola in 12 hours.
The judges said that their analysis was robust, but the creative elements in their marketing campaign did not stand out. Undaunted, the team resolved to turn things around. The second round held a higher weightage, so the team knew they still stood a chance.
The NUS Business School represents: Andre Ong (top left), Clarisse Gan (top right), Ernest Koh (bottom left) and Kevin Darmawan (bottom right)
The comeback kids
They were raring to go. The task was to analyse the business position of Docubird, a Dutch document management start-up, and recommend how to grow the business.
This time, the team made sure to allocate enough time for creative brainstorming. It was through passionate discussion that great ideas were born. Being finance majors, the team leveraged their strengths in data analysis and projections to identify the Docubird’s key pain points.
They concluded that Docubird had to emerge as the thought leader to truly succeed. The team developed strategic solutions that aligned with Docubird’s strengths. Each recommendation was also equipped with animated mock-ups to highlight its feasibility. The team also lay forth make their ideas implementable for the client. Also, underpinning each recommendation was a set of robust financials that mapped out growth for the client in several scenarios.
Part of the team’s presentation slides for the Docubird case
The hard work paid off. The team topped their division this time, earning a spot in the finals.
In the final round, the team faced strong competition from Copenhagen Business School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Rotterdam School of Management. Confident of their ideas, the team stood their ground, defending their position with unwavering conviction.
In a unanimous vote by the judging panel, the team was named overall Champion! Despite not being in the same physical space, each team member felt a collective and overwhelming sense of pride, having come a long way to attain victory.
The moment of victory for the NUS Business School team
The team reflected on valuable learnings which they believe will define their future careers:
If you want to go far, go together
The diversity of thought and character that each team member brought to the competition played an important role in the win.
Remain resilient in the face of setbacks
It’s important to remain positive and view failure as an opportunity to learn and come back even stronger.
Passion unlocks potential
Excitement kept the team’s energy levels high despite little sleep. It brought out the best of our ideas and helped us push the limits of creative thinking. Because of this passion for case competitions, we gave our best effort while creating a truly memorable experience.
Hard work and preparation always pays off
To prepare for the competition, the team sacrificed many weekends to build team camaraderie, problem solving abilities, and presentation skills. They would also like to thank their Case Consulting Group club members and faculty mentor Associate Professor Tan Soo Jiuan for their valuable feedback during the case trainings.
The team with their faculty mentor and adviser, Associate Professor Tan Soo Jiuan
