By Wilson Lim Yew Phern, Lindi Yip Wei Wei, Lim Yan Chen, Amelia Wong Yao Yin, Ye Peng Xin and Le Gia Bach, SMU School of Accountancy
As National Champions of the NAAT-ICAEW Accounting & Business Case Challenge 2020, our team, SG ASociates, represented Singapore on the international stage at the ICAEW Greater China & South-East Asia Business Challenge 2021. This year, the challenge was held in May and featured 11 top teams across five nations: China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Preparing for the Competition
As it was a virtual competition, our team anticipated the potential technical difficulties that we would face. We came up with a strategy leveraging collaborative online platforms to ensure real-time collaboration and effective communication. We understood the importance of time management during the actual event, and we knew that preparation was one of the critical factors for us to succeed. The team studied the different markets in South-East Asia and Greater China leading up to the case competition. Concurrently, we familiarised ourselves with notable economic trends, business models and researched how international companies align themselves towards a more sustainable future.
Team SG ASociates in action at the Regional Challenge
The Competition
Participants took on the role of a Business Advisor to an assigned company. They had to develop comprehensive business strategies to help the company embrace new frontiers while ensuring sustainability and mitigating key risks. Each team had 90 minutes to analyse the case study and prepare for a six-minute presentation, which was followed by a two-minute Q&A segment.
Our dynamic chemistry and unique skillsets helped us thrive in this competition. We understood each other’s strengths and weaknesses and were thus able to work together to develop innovative and sustainable solutions efficiently. We developed solutions designed to help the company leverage its existing strengths while differentiating itself from competitors by providing a sound financial forecast. The combination of thorough preparation and strong teamwork helped us put forth a formidable presentation that the judges received positively, as we emerged as the Most Agile Team (2nd Runner-up).
SG ASociates emerged 2nd Runner Up and Most Agile Team
An Incredible Finale
We would like to thank the distinguished panel of judges – Mark Billington, Jeremy Phua, Tan Lee Lee, Angus Ho, Lim Kim Hwa, Richard Ong and Phan Vu Hoang – for taking the time to listen to our business proposals, provide valuable feedback and adjudicate the case competition.
We are also immensely grateful to ICAEW & the regional sponsors Deloitte, ShineWing and SBA Stone Forest for this great opportunity and experience. This competition has helped us gain deeper insights into different industries across the region and, at the same time, allowed us to apply the analytical and research skills that we have gathered throughout our journey in SMU to solve real-life business challenges. We are also humbled to be able to learn from our counterparts from different regions and universities. As final year students, this experience proved to be an incredible finale to our university journey together.
