The recent final of the 2011 CIMA global business challenge (GBC) saw an enthralling competition with a worthy winner. Insight editor Adrian Clifton reviews the action.
At the final of the 2011 CIMA global business challenge, held on 23 and 24 July, team Scions from the University of the Philippines beat off competition from 16 other strong regions. The two day final was held in Chengdu – one of China’s rising economic centres.
Team Scions was made up of Jerard Megg D Cordero, Ordisi P Osonio, Marra Francillan P Cordera and Dominique A Dabad. They provided innovative and feasible solutions that balanced attention to detail with the appreciation of broad strategic issues.
During the global final, which attracted an audience of over 700, Scions presented a business case and was assessed by a panel of industry expert judges from organisations across the globe, including Barclays, Shell, L'Occitane en Provence, Tangs Department Store, TRW and CIMA.
Their presentation began with a rousing video introduction, which truly captured the audience’s imagination. They also gave a detailed situational analysis of the case study, and how will it feed into strategy.
The judges quizzed Scions on marketing strategy, and what the ROI would be. A very measured approach to their answer, involving a clever Scions talk through celebrity marketing proposal, won them many plaudits.
Notes and quotes
On discovering their triumph, the team members were ecstatic. ‘This is unbelievable – we have faced a gruelling six months to get to this stage. It has been such a thrill to compete at the GBC and we are honoured to represent our country and win!
‘We are incredibly grateful to everyone who helped and encouraged us. Presenting to the judges was truly an amazing experience.’
Andrew Harding, managing director of CIMA, headed this year’s GBC judging panel, and said of team Scion’s achievement: 'I would like to commend team Scions on their outstanding performance and on becoming this year’s CIMA GBC champions.'
You can read about and revisit the live feed of the event on CIMA’s online communities executive Deirdre Molloy’s blog.
Best of the rest
The first day saw 17 teams whittled down to six, with Singapore, the Philippines, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Australia and South Africa making it through to the second stage on day two. All six impressed the judges.
Case Crackers from Singapore were named the runners up, and Eva Consulting of Australia came in third place. Apex of Sri Lanka won the video competition and Minh Pham of Vietnam team Fingerprints was named the best future business leader.
Andrew Harding added, ‘The GBC is the most important event in CIMA’s calendar as it gives the world an opportunity to discover the business leaders of tomorrow. It highlights the critical importance of developing business talent in what is an increasingly competitive global market.
‘The competition has been a phenomenal success and I applaud each of the finalists on making it through to the global final. It has been exceptionally difficult to judge at times as the level of business skill has been striking.’
Rise and rise
The GBC is an international competition designed to bring out the best in potential young business leaders and give them the opportunity to showcase their talent on a global platform.
While only three years old, it has grown rapidly. In 2009 eight regions and less than 6,000 participants took part. This year, 17 diverse regions featured over 8,500 participants, demonstrating the global reach of the event.
Teams from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, the Middle East, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the UK all took part in 2011. You can discuss the competition on the GBC Facebook page.
Watch more
See a video about the competition below: