A team of students from the UGM Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB UGM) has achieved remarkable success at the international level. They won third place at the 2024 OCBC Ventura International Business Case Competition on Thursday (Jul. 18) in Jakarta.
The team, known as the BBM team, consists of Beatrice Sarah Tiominar Silalahi (Economics 2021), Laras Syarafina Mazaya (Economics 2021), and Exxel Diandra Adyatma (Accounting 2021).
Under the guidance of Dr. Choirunnisa Arifa and Dr. Rr Tur Nastiti, the BBM team successfully navigated through a highly competitive process to solve business cases organized by CompetitionRealms in collaboration with OCBC Ventura.
Exxel Adyatma explained that 677 teams from 73 universities across various countries attended the OCBC Ventura International Business Case Competition in 2024, and 1,128 students participated.
“We are grateful that our team won 3rd place in this prestigious competition. We had to go through four stages of selection before reaching the final round to present our analysis of the business case provided by the judges,” he said on Friday (Jul. 19) at FEB UGM.
The competition consisted of four selection stages. The first stage was the qualification round, during which all teams were asked to create an executive summary as a poster. Each team had to develop a 15-page business strategy proposal in the preliminary round.
Next was the semifinal round, involving the top 10 teams. They were required to prepare a 15-page presentation and then proceed to the final round, which included the top 5 teams.
“In the final round, each team was asked to present their analysis to the panel of judges,” Adyatma explained.
He elaborated that the first case they encountered in the qualification stage was about an expansion strategy for an F&B company focused on providing healthy food at premium prices. In this stage, the BBM team faced expanding through equity injections from the owner, fundraising, or franchising.
The BBM team also discussed strategies to enhance profitability and business sustainability. In the second case, the BBM team dealt with a business case on mergers and acquisitions from a fast-food supply chain wanting to acquire the company discussed in the first case.
“In the second case, there was a financial analysis for two scenarios: creating their brand or acquiring another company. This analysis was divided into three stages: before, during, and after acquisition,” Adyatma explained.
The BBM team’s achievement showcases their hard work, team cohesion, and FEB UGM support. The Head of the Career and Student Development Unit (CSDU) at FEB UGM, Dr. Arizona Mustika Rini, stated that FEB UGM, through CSDU, provides various facilitation for all FEB UGM students participating in competitions at national, regional, and international levels.
CSDU facilitates student or student teams participating in competitions through mentoring by FEB UGM lecturers in areas such as public speaking, case analysis, and business understanding. Through these efforts, it is hoped that students or student teams will be well-prepared with experience and knowledge from lecturers in related fields.
Report by: FEB UGM/Kurnia Ekaptiningrum