Cognitare, Lee Kong Chian Business School’s business case club, represented the University at the Heavener International Case Competition 2017 (HICC) and emerged with stellar results!

An international case competition organised by the University of Florida in USA, the HICC held in mid-February 2017 aims to showcase the analytical capabilities of undergraduates from various international business schools.  In this competition, teams are given six hours and 30 hours to develop recommendations for two different American corporations.  They then present their solutions to top executives from both companies.

This year, the SMU team comprising third-year student Ian Chua Yong Kwang (BAcc & BBM) and second-year students Ho Bang Ying (BBM & BSc Econs), Raghvendra Narang (BSc Econs) and Tan Jing Han (BSc Econs & BBM) competed against 19 other teams from top universities hailing from four continents.  They included University of California, Berkeley, Maastricht University, and The University of New South Wales.

Team Cognitare was exceptional in the 30-hour case, during which all teams were tasked to develop strategies for rail-freight solutions provider CSX Transportation.  In the six-hour case, the team also impressed the judges with their spot-on analysis of human resource issues faced by aerospace & defense juggernaut Northrop Grumman.  Team Cognitare eventually did Singapore and SMU proud – emerging second only to the team from Corvinus University of Budapest.

The distinguished panel of eight judges, comprising CSX C-suite executives and industry experts, praised Team Cognitare for their exemplary teamwork and professional presentation.  Well done!

[Featured photo: (L-R) Ho Bang Ying, Tan Jing Han, Ian Chua Yong Kwang and Raghvendra Narang]