[Featured Photo: Team Sun Tzu Risk Advisers comprising Joshua Lim, Tevin Chew, Kelly Kok and Lim Yong Chuan, posing with their prize at the MSIG Insurance Risk Management Challenge 2018]

Singapore Management University (SMU) Accountancy students have emerged as champions at the MSIG Risk Management Challenge 2018 held on 17 March.

Sun Tzu Risk Advisers, comprising Accountancy students Lim Yong Chuan, Kelly Kok Jia Ying, Tevin Chew Jun Ji and Joshua Lim Tze Hao, all second year Accountancy students, took part in the competition which saw participation of about 21 teams from various local universities.

Organised by the Nanyang Technological University’s Risk Management Society, the annual business case competition aims to further participants’ knowledge of the risk management industry through the lenses of the industry's leading firms. This is done through professional coaching sessions, networking sessions and guaranteed scholarship and internship interviews with the top five teams.

In mid-February, the competition case question, “For a pseudo-telecommunications company, Saturn Media Group, analyse its future risks, translate them to their present effects, and propose a series of mitigation strategies to prepare the company for the future”  was released. In order to qualify and prepare for the competition, Sun Tzu Risk Advisers had to submit a report by the end-February deadline. They used tools such as alternative futures-scenario planning, scenario risk analysis and risk threats mapping, to come up with mitigation strategies to tackle future risks that may occur.

The team breezed through the semi-finals where 12 teams were shortlisted and had the opportunity to attend a Risk Management Workshop on 9 March held at Jardine Lloyd Thomson’s office. Thereafter, the team worked hard on their presentation, incorporating skills and lessons learnt from the workshop and eventually won the competition at the grand finals.

According to the team, they took part in the competition to explore new career opportunities other than external audit, which is a popular route many accountancy students take when finding internships and post-graduation jobs. In addition, they wanted to challenge themselves to apply what they had learnt from their year 1 and year 2 modules, such as “Managing in a VUCA context”, a management strategy module, to the case challenge. 

Said Kelly Kok, "Joining a challenge like this broadens your horizons as you not only get to learn from other competitiots in terms of their varied presentation styles and thought processes, you also receive valuable feedback from industry experts for the work that you painstakingly put together. Much of this feedback pertain to industry practices that can and will continue to be used even when we go out to the workplace." 

For Joshua Lim, it was a learning journey, "We came together as a group looking for exposure in new areas, and walked away with a priceless experience. Connections were formed, ideas exchanged, and we gained insights into the bigger picture of how different industries interacted with each other. It was also fulfiling to witness that many skill sets we learnt and practised in classrooms were applicable and effective in tackling the challenges of the working world. We are thankgul for the grounding in SMU that has taught us to think, to challenge and to dare.

During the networking session, the team consulted the judges who shared that the team won because of two reasons. One reason was because their strategic initiative of diversifying into Indonesia was creative and well-supported by academic/industry papers. The other competitive edge they had was their presentation and public speaking skills. Said Tevin Chew, "Altough we won, the judges told us that there wasn't a clear, strong winner based on the content because each team had their own strengths and weaknesses. But we were fortunate that SMU has honed us in our presentation skills, which in this case, made all the difference."

Recalling the experience, team leader Yong Chuan has set a challenge for other students, "You won't know how much you learn until you push yourself out of your comfort zone. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself!"

“My heartiest congratulations to the team members of Sun Tzu Risk Advisers! Once again our Accountancy students have proven their mettle at an established case competition. Such experiences give them great opportunity to cooperate as a team efficiently and effectively, while taking on real-world business cases within a tight timeframe. I am very proud of their impressive performance” said Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor Cheng Qiang, Dean of SMU School of Accountancy.

More photos can be found on NTU Risk Management Society’s facebook.