Bachelor of Commerce students Lance Malone, Tayla Albert, Maya Blackman, Chaahat Kadian, and Jonathane Ngodara travelled to Singapore in October 2023 to compete in Singapore Management University’s Business Family Institute Case Jam Competition.
In recent years, the University of Melbourne has looked to further entice students into participating in case competitions, both domestically and abroad, to help them gain experience and develop employability skills. Particularly, the University is looking to provide opportunities to students who may not have had access to this type of experience before.
The six of us were invited by the Faculty of Business and Economics to participate given our involvement in the Access Melbourne program. Together, we brought our diverse backgrounds and accepted the challenge to participate in Singapore Management University’s BFI Case Jam Competition.
The BFI Case Jam format was a new and exciting competition structure that focused on providing solutions for real-world business problems faced by family businesses and we were privileged to be one of the international universities invited to participate. Most of us had not participated in a case competition before, but we were lucky to have one team member with past experience, Chahaat, who helped everyone through every stage.
Stepping off the plane, we were greeted with unbelievable humidity and a beautiful city that provided the most incredible few days for us. Demi Wang, our academic team lead, was our biggest support and joined in on all the fun.
Unlike most competitions where universities compete as teams, this format was different - we were arbitrarily assigned teams each morning and worked on producing visual slides and a video of solutions to the judging panel. Following the panel deliberation, the top three teams were chosen to present to everyone attending including a Q&A. At the conclusion of the event, we walked away with a few awards. Our team was honoured to take home the Second-Best Performing Guest University prize for our work across both days of the competition. Both Lance and Chaahat’s teams were further awarded Day 1 First Place and Day 1 Second Place and Day 2 First Place team awards respectively. Additionally, Chaahat deservingly took home the Best Contributor overall prize.
While our days were busy, we still took every opportunity to explore Singapore’s many sights. Highlights included our visit to Gardens by the Bay, the Cloud Forest, Haji Lane, and the famous attractions at Changi Airport. A feature was the incredible food we got to try from hawker centres, markets, and restaurants alike, immersing us in the wonderful local culture.
Participating in an international case competition is one of the best ways to enhance our university student experience, exposing us to travel, culture, and an incredibly diverse group of people from across the world. We encourage all students to take advantage of these amazing programs that the university offers, not only for academic interests, but for personal development.
See how you can get involved in case competitions and other opportunities in the Faculty: BCom students | MBS students