Shidler business students place 3rd in Asia-Pacific business competition

Shidler team competes virtually at the HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition.
Shidler team competes virtually at the HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition.

A team of undergraduate students from the UH Shidler College of Business impressed judges with an exceptional presentation that earned them third place during the HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, this year’s competition normally held in Hong Kong University was held virtually from June 6-9, 2020.

Twenty teams representing 12 countries were given six hours to analyze their case study, prepare slides, record a video and submit their presentation by the deadline—all while collaborating virtually. This year’s case topics were on blockchain, sustainability and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The winners are:

Champion – Peking University, China
1st runner up – Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
2nd runner up – University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa – Shidler College of Business, USA
3rd runner up – Sunway University, Malaysia

Shidler College team member Kelly Zheng ’20 said, “The HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition allowed us to bridge our academic knowledge with real business practices. It was truly a unique learning experience and equipped us with the knowledge and skills to tackle business problems facing our world today. Our team is extremely grateful for the opportunity to represent our college, state and country.”

Other team members included Amber Kim ’20, Jordan Abanto ’20 and Alex Tyau ’21.

“I truly admire our students for working through these unprecedented times, training virtually while completing courses and working through internships,” explains Constancio Paranal, Shidler faculty and team advisor. “It was challenging competing long-distance. Our students woke up at 5 a.m. to work on the case and had the least time to prepare for the Q&A portion of the competition, but our students persevered.”

Participating universities included The University of Sydney, The University of Hong Kong, The University of Colombo, Tohoku University, Macao Polytechnic Institute, Sun Yat-sen University, Foreign Trade University, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, The Chinese University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen, The University of Auckland, University of Belgrade, Nankai University, University of Alberta, Tsinghua University, University of British Columbia, and Hong Kong Baptist University.

About The HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition

The competition enhances the traditional strengths of the case method of teaching by moving the business case from the classroom into a global competition format. The competition enhances students’ business skills and global perspectives, nurture future business leaders, broaden students’ career opportunities and enhance international diversity, inclusion and connectivity.