SYSU Team Wins Champion in the National Final of the 14th KPMG Corporate Culture Case Analysis Competi-tion
On the afternoon of April 22, 2017, the national final of the 14th KPMG Corporate Culture Case Analysis Competition was held in Southern Software Park, Zhuhai. The competition was co-hosted by Lingnan (University) College of Sun Yat-sen University, SYSU Youth Association, and Zhuhai Enterprise Culture Association, and was organized by the Student Union of Lingnan (University) College on Zhuhai Campus.
The panel of judges consisted of Ms. Luo Jianying, a partner of the Tax Department of KPMG; Professor Wang Fenggui from the Department of Business Administration at the College of Economics and Management in South China Agricultural University; Ms. Wang Qing, Senior Engineer from the Department of Organization Management at the Antai College of Economics and Management in Shanghai Jiaotong University; Associate Professor Zou Wenchi from the School of Business at Macao University of Science and Technology; Professor Xia Nanxin from the Department of Economics in Lingnan (University) College, Sun Yat-sen University; Associate Professor Zhang Xuezhi from the International School of Business and Finance at Sun Yat-sen University and Mr. He Xiong, the Senior Executive of Zhuhai Agricultural Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd.
Among the attendees were Mr. Liang Jianqi the Manager of the Human Resources Department at KPMG; Ms. Hu Jiali, the Assistant of Human Resources Department at KMPG; Mr. Chen Tian'en, the Assistant Director of Student Services Center at Lingnan University, Hong Kong; Ms. Wang Shujing, the Operation General Manager of the Orange Sky Entertainment Group (International) Holding Co., Ltd.; Ms. Yao Anyi, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Schools and Youth of Communist Youth League of Zhuhai Municipal Committee; Ms. Ye Xiaowen, Deputy Secretary of the Communist Youth League of the School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China; Mr. Yan Xiaohui, Deputy Secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee of Sun Yat-sen University; Ms. Liu Wenhui, a professor from the School of Tourism at Sun Yat-sen University; Ms Huang Tao, Deputy Party Secretary from Lingnan (University), Sun Yat-sen University and Ms. Yuan Jiazhen, the Secretary of Communist Youth League of Lingnan (University) College.
At the beginning of the competition, KPMG Tax Partner Luo Jianying gave the opening speech on behalf of the sponsors. As an alumnus of Lingnan (University) College, Sun Yat-sen University, she expressed her excitement to watch the rapid development of Sun Yat-sen University and the outstanding performances of the students. She expressed how happy she was about the expansion of the influence of the Corporate Culture Case Analysis Competition. Mr. Yan Xiaohui, the Deputy Secretary of Communist Youth League of Sun Yat-sen University, also gave a speech, speaking highly of the theme of this competition, “Fission”, and giving a warm welcome to both participants and judges. Later, Mr. Yan Xiaohui announced the opening of the national final.
Opposing Questionings
The theme of this year’s competition is “Fission”, which focuses on discussing how corporations can challenge conventional ways of thinking to achieve change and development. 13 universities took part in the national final, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Jinan University, the University of Science and Technology of China, South China University of Technology, Lingnan University (Hong Kong), South China Agricultural University, Renmin University of China, Macau University of Science and Technology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Sun Yat-sen University. These teams competed against each other and displayed to the audience an amazing academic contest.
The national final consisted of three parts: English presentations, opposing questionings, and situation simulation. By analyzing corporate culture from various perspectives, the participants were able to interpret the different ways of fission within various corporations. Each team’s presentations demonstrated strong quantitative and analytical skills as well as logical and deductive reasoning.
During the English presentations, all of the teams demonstrated their findings through diverse and engaging presentations. From video clips to background music, from conventional presentations to a surprising talk show, from the analysis of the rapid development of corporations to the conflicts caused by merger and acquisition, the unique topics and ingenious presentations were by far the best interpretation of the theme “Fission”.
Audiences listened carefully to students' presentations
In the opposing questioning part of the competition, each promotional team analyzed their opponent’s presentation in detail in order to discover potential mistakes and eventually raised reasonable doubts through data analysis. Facing more and more difficult questions raised by the opponents, candidates acted calmly and quickly answered the questions relating to their research. After questioning by the opponent teams, the arguments of each team were strengthened and the four teams with the greatest rebuttals made it to the next stage.
In final situation stimulation section, candidates had to analyze questions based on real conflicts and problems in the corporate world and search for theoretical answers. They discussed the business model of bike sharing, analyzed the case of Cao Dewang establishing factories in America, and reviewed of Duan Yongping’s experience of inventing GE. All the delegations were able to convincingly challenge conventional corporate “thinking” and put forward new and innovative ideas.
After a fierce competition lasting five hours, the PHOENIX team from Sun Yat-sen University won the championship. The Visionary team from Macau University of Science and Technology was the runner-up, and The Unicool team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong was the second runner-up. Li Xiaojun, a member of the Visionary team from Macau University of Science and Technology won the honor of being the “Best Contestant”.
Group Photo
As a popular activity of SYSU, the Corporate Culture Case Analysis Competition has expanded its scale and influence over the past few years and gained a favorable reputation among college students and university administration alike. The competition has been held 14 sections, and has attracted attention from a multitude of universities in China. Since the beginning, the Corporate Culture Case Analysis Competition has been implementing the idea of Lingnan (University) College, “Education for Service”, providing opportunities for students to present their leadership skills and building a platform for different universities to communicate and cooperate with each other.
