The teams at the HSBC-Enactus Workshop.

Joseph Chan from KPMG addressing the students.

Students and mentors listening to the talk.

It was as if the hall had turned into a business room. Engrossed in their notes and excitedly clicking their pens, UCSI Business students got down to the nitty gritty of what analysing a business case really meant. Welcome to the HSBC-Enactus Malaysia Case Study Workshop 2018.

Before the workshop began, the mentors were on the side doing what they do best – giving sound advice on how to make the most of the time that would be allotted to the students.

UCSI University was this year’s host for the workshop. But it was more than just students pouring over a case study.

The trainer for the workshop, Joseph Chan, Director (Financial Risk Management Services) of KPMG quickly caught the attention of students in his talk with words such as “compartmentalising”, “attainable strategies” and “good team versus winning team”.   

The next few hours would be intense. It would be taxing. It would require total concentration and complete absorption. But the students were up for it. They learnt about steps in developing strategies such practicality, measurability, long term and short term as well as actionable strategies.

But that was after the much anticipated case study analysis was given to them. Titled “E-Business Transformation In The Banking Industry: The Case Of Citibank”, students were given 30 minutes to discern, digest and dissect the study.

Chan said it was a common practice for students to highlight the main points deciding which parts were most important but that this was not how to analyse a case.

He went on to assure students that although this method was quite normal, to focus on the case requirements, to engage in mind mapping techniques where ideas and relationships are linked as well as to concentrate on processes and interdependencies.

Students were given time to work on their transparencies before their actual presentation where they would discuss the case study given to them based on the topic “Evolution of the relationship between major financial institutions and major MNCs driven by technological change: the evolution of the strategic landscape.”

The workshop then proceeded with Chan highlighting the dos and don’ts of the presentation. He said that their slides should be uncluttered, to be mindful of spelling and grammar mistakes, to be detailed and concise.

He said not to “report” but rather to bring out key points and that there should be a connection from the first to the last slide.

Six teams were selected and through their presentations it was obvious that they had put a lot of effort and work into slides.

Each team brought out salient points and presented their own analysis of the case. Each showed clarity of thought, attention to detail and most of all good presentation skills.

The workshop concluded with a sharing session by our very own UCSI University students - last year’s winning team in the 2017 HSBC-Enactus Malaysia Business Case Competition. The team members were Wong Chun Weng, Shia Siaw Hui, Sandra Ooi Ping Nyee and Eric Ling Kaiyue.    

They represented Malaysia at the HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition 2017 in Hong Kong.

The team emphasised trust and team work most of all. They also said adequate preparation as well as recording themselves during their presentation also helped in identifying weak points.

Although the workshop was challenging, there was something that each participant could take away from the experience. On a general level, it shed light on how to improve one’s presentation and analytical skills while promoting team work as well as broadening one’s knowledge in key business strategies.

This year, Team UCSI consists of four members: Tiew Kin Pong, Yap Kah Seng, Daphne Lim and Chan Wan Teng.

They are reading Financial Economics, Finance and Investment, Logistics Management and Accounting and Finance respectively.

With regards to the preparation for the workshop, according to Daphne, “We were quite prepared for the workshop as our training was intense where we had analysed over 20 case studies.”

For Pong, “The mind-mapping was helpful in organising thoughts and enhancing critical thinking in our daily lives.”

More than 20 universities participated in the workshop. So far, Team UCSI has qualified to the semi-finals held on April 25, 2018. They stand a good chance of winning the competition and it is hoped that they will succeed in this endeavour.