SMU's Team Cognitare, comprising Bay Jin Cheng Justin (year 2, business and accountancy), Colin Chng Min Kiat (year 2, business and economics), Feng Luwei, Chris (year 2, accountancy and business) and Vedant Daga (year 1, Economics), has brought back the top honours from the inaugural Audi and Robert Walters Global Business Case Challenge 2015!

The competition, held at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu, Ōita, Japan from 9 to 14 June, aims to create a stage that encourages young business talents globally to challenge their analytical and problem-solving skills.  This is also the first international case competition to be held in Japan.

In tackling the challenge, the SMU team of four spent 23 hours analysing and developing strategic recommendations for premium automobile manufacturer, Audi, before presenting their proposal to a panel of esteemed judges from top firms, including those from Audi, Robert Walters and Samsung.

The competition was intense, however, Team Cognitare eventually triumphed over 12 other teams from eight countries, including University of California, Berkeley, Thammasat University (Thailand) and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, to gain victory.

The judges and audience were highly impressed by the logical in-depth analysis, strong teamwork and engaging presentation.  Chris also received special commendation as the 2^nd Best Speaker of the competition.

“For this competition, we were required to think out of the box and come up with innovative recommendations for the future Audi car.  The huge difficulty lies in balancing between what is technologically possible and the need to creatively differentiate ourselves from the other teams.  Our training and preparations had taught us to systematically break the case down and tackle it logically, while creating a seamless flow throughout our recommendations,” said Chris.

“I am glad that our efforts had paid off and we managed to impress the judges with our creativity and rigour.  We would very much like to extend our sincere gratitude to SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business, our professors and the club for making the championship dream a reality,” he added.

The excellent performance of the Team Cognitare at this international case competition certainly showcases the high quality of SMU’s undergraduate students.  Well done!

[Featured Photo: SMU Team Cognitare emerged champs at the Audi and Robert Walters Global Business Case Competition 2015.  (L-R) Bay Jin Cheng Justin, Colin Chng Min Kiat, Feng Luwei, Chris and Vedant Daga, with faculty advisor Senior Lecturer Ma Kheng Min (middle).]