On Dec 5th, the "Team 857" composed of students from the School of Management and Economics (SME) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)—Hong Yilin, He Bingxuan, Wang Sihan, and Fu Pingyu won the champion of the HKICPA Business Case Competition.

The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (the Institute) Business Case Competition (HKICPA Business Case Competition, referred to as BCC) is a high-level professional competition organized by the Institute for accounting and business students from universities in the Chinese Mainland, Macau and overseas countries. This year, 505 teams from colleges and universities across the country and overseas signed up to participate. After two rounds of fierce competitions, the team composed of students from SME, CUHK-Shenzhen won the championship.

The theme of this year's competition is “Advising the master chefs”, a case study in the catering industry. Participants should work with the team to develop business thinking, improve case analysis, communication, and English presentation skills.

About this year’s competition, what do coaches and the students think?

Combine interdisciplinary knowledge

The team members are from different majors. When summarizing the outline and making the draft based on the competition topic, we deeply realized the importance and practicality of professional knowledge integration analysis. For example, we need to apply the principles of report analysis, cost accounting, corporate governance, and treasury management in the accounting field, combined with marketing strategies, internal management models and financing methods in other disciplines, to propose appropriate and feasible solutions for customers.

Focus on details

This competition requires the participating teams to write reports and make presentations as the consulting team of an accounting firm. Therefore, we used a second person perspective to report and communicate with the judges. In addition, the calculation of the statement is based on the new standard of "HKFRS16-Lease". This is also what makes our report effective, authentic and professional.

Help students apply theoretical knowledge

In the data analysis of this competition, our team made the greatest use of the knowledge of the accounting course ACT2111 and other courses. At the same time, we used the financial accounting learning materials provided by the business competition organizer and some knowledge in the ACCA exam materials. In the preparation process, we not only had a good review of the learned knowledge, but also learned some practical knowledge from the competition. With the application of theoretical knowledge, our teammates gradually realized the actual meaning behind different multiplier s, ratios, and numbers.

A fictitious project gave students more autonomy and made the competition fairer.

The topic is about a fictitious project of a company, which is positioned as an international fast food and pasta company originated in Hong Kong. The good thing about the fictitious project is to provide students with more autonomy by setting the case suitable for students’ analysis while reflecting different typical problems. In addition, the fictitious object avoids the guiding effect of the realistic decisions adopted by the real object on the preparation of the business competition, making the business competition fairer.

Tips for business case competition:

1. Properly manage time and make preparations as soon as possible

Participating in the business competition requires a lot of learning, and at the same time, you need to constantly check and improve on the existing results in the later stage. If you want to participate in this kind of competition, it is better to register as soon as possible, and prepare as soon as possible.

2. Choose teammates strategically

Teammates are one of the essential factors in a business case competition. When choosing teammates, you can consider the diversity of majors, past experience, and versatility. Teammates from different majors can provide more diverse perspectives during case analysis. Teammates with rich experience can lead the team in an orderly manner. At the same time, diverse skills will also enhance the competition of the team.

3. Learn to seek help

SME provides a wealth of resources for students. In the process of preparing for the business competition, if you encounter challenges or bottlenecks, you can actively seek help from SME professors and staff members. This can not only improve the professionalism of the results, but also avoid too many twists and turns.

4. Be prepared to work hard

Preparing for the business competition is a task-intensive process. It takes a lot of time from case analysis, to finding information, proposing measures, and demonstrating the feasibility of measures. At the same time, after writing the first draft or making PPT, it also needs to spend a lot of time to check and modify. Therefore, be prepared to bear hardships and be hard-working, and find a good balance between business competitions and heavy academic tasks.

5. Keep clam and take it easy

Preparing for the business competition may be a process of more inputs with less outputs. Insufficient experience and lack of knowledge reserves will require more energy and time to prepare. At the same time, many factors, such as the team’s limitations or strong competitors, will lead to unsatisfactory results. Therefore, you need to calm down and treat the whole process as a process of continuous learning and accumulation of experience, so that you can gain a sense of accomplishment and move forward for a longer time.

Comments from Competition Coaches

Prof. Stella SO

Assistant Dean of SME (Student Affairs)

The students performed very well in this competition, and I am proud of them. Before the competition, the CCT Month held by SME provided students with four business competition trainings. Two external industry experts shared case analysis and solution skills with the students. The previous business competition winners and I also shared a lot experience in terms of presentation and preparation for business competitions. It is worth mentioning that after the training, the presentation skills of the participating students have improved significantly. They have had such an outstanding performance as sophomores, and I believe they still have a lot of room for improvement and growth in future business competitions.

Dr. Wong, Ho Yin (William)

Lecturer of SME

The winning team used disciplinary knowledge flexibly and integrate the knowledge into the case. In addition, the team’s unique analysis also clarified the impact of COVID-19 on the catering industry, so the judges gave a high evaluation for their proposals. On the whole, our team can fully demonstrate business thinking and analytical ability, and can explain and respond clearly, orderly and confidently. Four partners from Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PWC (Big Four Accounting Firms) also gave positive comments on their overall performance. Students who are interested in participating in business competitions should cultivate their business thinking, professional judgment, writing and speaking skills.

Translation: Fiona

Proofreading: Ella, Claire