UNITEN Heading Off to Nationals! ICAEW Malaysia Region Business Challenge 2018

KAJANG, 1^st May 2018 – Two teams representing Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) have emerged victorious in the Malaysia Qualifying Rounds of ICAEW Malaysia Regional Business Challenge 2018. The two teams, Team Outliers and Team Preeminence, have earned themselves a cheque of RM1200, a plaque, fast-track tickets to Maybank GO Ahead Challenge 2018 Campus Level as well as a spot in the National Finals to fight for the right of representing Malaysia in the Southeast Asian finals in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Nurkhaireen Syamim Alizan, the sole female member of Team Preeminence was determined to win after her team\’s success in the Qualifying Rounds. “I’m not satisfied yet. Winning means we have a bigger responsibility to win once more and become the best.”

Team Preeminence, which comprises of three students from UNITEN Muadzam Shah and three students from UNITEN Putrajaya, championed the Central Region after an intense clash with nineteen other teams in Multimedia University, Cyberjaya. Meanwhile, Team Outliers from UNITEN Muadzam Shah were crowned winners in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) over their performance in the Southern Region.

The competition involved three regions in total (Northern, Central and Southern) with the participation of twenty teams per region. It required students to put on their thinking caps as a business issue was presented unto them in the form of a thirty-eight paged case study.

In one hour, teams were not only expected to finish their reading but to also have discussed the problems, the solutions, the SWOT analysis as well as to design all the points into an aesthetic, concise PowerPoint slide. Given six minutes to present, teams found it difficult to express their ideas and thoughts in such a constricting period of time in front of an experienced panel of adjudicators.

“I know how to work under pressure,” said Nur Aiman of Team Preeminence regarding the harsh time constraints, “But this was an entirely different pressure altogether. Still, we braved through it all until the very last second.”

Separated into four divisions of five teams each, only the best team out of each division would have had a chance to compete in the second and last round before the Malaysia Finals. These teams were then shown a short video, from which they had to deduce their stance and form an action plan in seven minutes, before immediately presenting to the adjudicators in the span of five minutes.

Despite everything, their hard work paid off in the end as both teams managed to snatch a spot as one of the two winners of their own respective regions. When asked about what they learned from this experience, Mustafa Arief answered happily, “I learned a lot about industry-based knowledge, which I’m sure will be extremely vital for my future.”

Both Team Preeminence and Team Outliers will be facing off in the Malaysian finals with four other teams on the 3^rd May 2018 (Thursday). Despite some students being involved in part-time jobs and internships, the teams’ efforts are strong, sacrificing weekends and public holidays to squeeze in time for any practices.

The teams also implore and invite other students in both UNITEN Putrajaya and UNITEN Muadzam Shah to participate in future ICAEW Business Challenges in the future. Farah Aini Shazlin binti Salleh, team leader of Team Outliers, shared some of her tips. “To future participants, my only advice is to be well-versed in case studies and look at different angles in dissecting the issues. Go for crazy ideas but at the same time, look at its feasibility. A good strategy is the one which produces significant results.”

Meanwhile, Ahmad Haziq bin Ahmad Rozalan, who is the team leader of Team Preeminence also expressed his thoughts, “I would say that hard work definitely pays off. In whatever you plan to enter, make sure you have the passion and that you meet with the right people and inspire them to actually reach the same objective that you are looking for. Train. Work hard. Dedicate yourself to achieving the same objective, as one team. Win.”

NADi UNITEN would like to applaud Team Preeminence and Team Outliers in championing the Qualifying Rounds and wish both teams all the best in conquering the Malaysian Finals. We send you our prayers and congratulate all of you for all your hard work and effort in making UNITEN proud.

Written by: Rayden Sia.

Edited by: Ahmad Danial \’Irfan bin Husain.