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BBA Thammasat - The Winner of UOB - NUS Case Competition 2016


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Written by Wichayut Woodtikarn and Supicha Chotejarataporn, BBA#23
 
The 2016 UOB-NUS Case Competition was held during August 29 - September 2, 2016. The competition was organized by the NUS Business School and NUS Case Consulting Group with United Overseas Bank as its Principal Partner. Thammasat University is one of the 16 elite international schools invited to participate in this competition. The team representative consists of Siwawong Wongsophanakul (BBA#22), Pitikarn Suriyamongkol (BBA#22), Wichayut Woodtikarn (BBA#23) and Supicha Chotejarataporn (BBA#23) with invaluable supports from Ajarn Supawat Likittanawong and all case team advisors.
 
We began our first days in Singapore by exploring the city and observing the local lifestyles. The committees were very welcoming as they have arranged a pack of fun activities to let participants get to know each other better.  Amazing Race throughout Singapore is just one of the highlights.
 
For the serious note, as we all know, what makes NUS Case Competition unique is the twist in format with its changing every year which truly offers great challenges for all the participating teams. With that said, we tried to practice as many formats as we could before flying over. However, Professor Lau is always ahead of the curve. The format came as a surprise as we have to manage to solve 2 cases under 31 hours and present the first case right after with judges interruption. The second case presentation came after the next morning with questions being asked by both the judges and other presenting team. Scores were equally distributed and the 4 teams who ranked the highest would present the second case to another panel of judges in the final round.

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The first case company this year is Zouk, the iconic Singaporean nightclub facing the risk of losing its brand identity as it is forced to move to the new location and is being acquired by leading hotel casino group. The second case company is United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB), a leading bank in Singapore, seeking to enhance its mobile banking application as well as growing its user base amidst intensifying competitive landscape.
 
With sleepless night of debates and constructive arguments, 31 hours flew by pretty quickly. Though we were confident with our solutions, we were kept on the edge of our seats as the finalist team was announced one by one by random order. After the first 3 finalists presentations ended, Thammasat was finally announced as the last presenting team. With brimmed confidence and belief, we were able to deliver our best performance to the honorable judges in the final round. And the rest was history.  
 
With hindsight on the result, we think that success, at the very core, derives from teamwork and trust. Regardless of how desperate we were on coming up with logical recommendation at 1 am in the morning, the can-do mentality is what kept us going. As a result, we stood through as overall winner across 3 rounds of presentation with highest cumulative ranking. The greatest takeaway from the competition is we stayed true to our belief. Rather than telling what the management wished to hear, we told them what we believed they should know. And that is our recipe for success.
 
Posted on September 20, 2016
 

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