Singapore, August 14, 2015 (Friday) - Singapore Management University students have triumphed in the global final of an international competition for future business leaders in Poland.

SMU’s Tueur Consulting, were crowned champions at the CIMA Global Business Challenge (GBC) 2015, beating 25 other talented teams from around the world.

The contest, into its seventh year, is run by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, in partnership with Barclays.

Business and accountancy undergraduates, Samuel Tan, Feng Luwei, Tan Jhun Boon and Han Meng Siew made up the team called ‘Tueur Consulting’. They flew to Warsaw after winning the national final in June to represent Singapore.

At the global final they presented a business case which was assessed by a panel of industry expert judges from organisations across the globe.

The GBC is an international competition designed to bring out the best in potential young business leaders and provide them with the opportunity to showcase their talent on a global platform.

The team initially beat more than 30 teams to become Singapore champions, then outshone over 14,000 international students to emerge as global champions at the GBC in Poland.

Other competing countries and regions included Australia; Bangladesh; China; Ghana; Hong Kong; India; Indonesia; Ireland; Malaysia; the Middle East; Nepal; New Zealand; Pakistan; the Philippines; Poland; Russia; Singapore; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Vietnam and Zambia.

On discovering they had been awarded top prize, Tueur Consulting’s team leader Samuel Tan said: ‘This experience has been incredible. We came to the global finals with the intention of bringing home the first champions’ trophy for Singapore’s Golden Jubilee. We are thrilled that we have succeeded!’

Feng, recalled the nerve-racking moments in the final hour of the competition. ‘We were given a case scenario and were instructed to come up with solutions to be laid out in a 20-slide presentation within 15 minutes! I relied heavily on what I have learned in the last two years as a member of SMU’s business case club, Cognitare, to develop a concise and conclusive structure that was logical and simple to follow. I am so glad we managed to put forth a convincing case!’

Andrew Harding, managing director at CIMA, said of the SMU team: ‘I would like to extend my congratulations to this year’s GBC champions, Tueur Consulting, and pay tribute to them on their outstanding performance.’

'The GBC is a hugely rewarding event for CIMA as it gives us the opportunity to discover and showcase the talented young business leaders of tomorrow. The standard of this year’s competition has been one of the highest we’ve ever seen and I have no doubt that our winners have a bright future ahead of them.’

Shavonne Sim, CIMA’s Singapore Country Manager added: “The Singapore Management University team has certainly proved their mettle at the GBC with their top-notch skills and potential. They faced stiff competition from international competitors and were judged by some of the world’s top executives at companies including Barclays, Deloitte, Shell and CIMA. We are elated that Singapore has emerged champions at the GBC for the first time!’

Professor Cheng Qiang, Dean of SMU School of Accountancy concluded: “My heartiest congratulations to Samuel and his team members! Our students have been rewarded as worthy winners for all the hard work they have put into this global competition. Such an experiential learning activity gave them a great opportunity to work as a team efficiently and effectively, and tackle real-world business cases within a very short time. I am very proud of their exceptional performance and would like to thank Assistant Professor Yuanto Kusnadi who has given considerable amount of time and energy to guide the SMU team towards attaining this fantastic achievement on the world stage!”

The winning team received the champion’s trophy and an Apple Watch for each team member.

Runners-up for the overall title came from Asian universities namely the Sardar Patel Institute of Technology in India and the De La Salle University in the Philippines.

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For media queries, please contact:

Ms Lyn Lee Foo                                                                       

Assistant Director, Corporate Communications             

Office of Corporate Communications and Marketing      

DID: (65) 6808 5238/ (65) 9694 0842

Email: llfoo [at] smu.edu.sg

Ms Shavonne Sim

Country Manager

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

DID: (65) 6824 8254/ (65) 9654 2220

Email: Shavonne.Sim [at] cimaglobal.com