NBS Dean Prof Jitendra Singh was invited to share his views on empowering marketing on JakTV, one of Jakarta's leading television channels.

Please click below to view recording:
- Empowering Marketing - JAK TV (Part 01)
- Empowering Marketing - JAK TV (Part 02)
- Empowering Marketing - JAK TV (Part 03)

In an article submitted to the Business Times recently, Assoc Prof Hooi Den Huan, together with Mr Hermawan Kartajaya and Mr Bembi Dwi Indrio M of MarkPlus Inc gave an insight into marketing strategies and the benefits of branding in the third of a four-part SME series sponsored by CPA Australia.

To read more, please click here


BT SME Series
- Part 1:  Strategising with Substance,
The Business Times, 3 June

- Part 2:  Cashflow management is critical,
The Business Times, 10 June

Assoc Prof Wan Chew Yoong shared that cashflow management plays a critical role in the development of a good business model.

- The Business Times, 10 June 2008, Pg 13

Competition for direct entry into the industry is tough but other avenues are open.

To read more, please click here

Assoc Prof Wan Chew Yoong shared on the three levels of strategies that make a business plan work and highlighted that planning a strategy is far from the end of it. In this interview, Prof Wan also shared a framework for implementing strategies developed by McKinsey in the 1970s.

- The Business Times, 3 June 2008, Pg 11

Three final-year students and Dr Kong Yoon Kee from the finance and banking division of Nanyang Business School did a survey and found that 76% of tertiary students do not invest. They provided insights into the various financial planning options that are affordable and easily manageable.

To read more, please click here

Read more on:
- The Business Times, 27 May 2008
- TODAY, 27 May 2008
- Lianhe Zaobao, Pg 7
- MyPaper Pg B4
- Channel NewsAsia (online), 26 May 2008
- 938LIVE (online), 26 May 2008


More news coverage on NTU Graduate Employment Survey (GES):
- The Straits Times, Pg H7
- The New Paper, Pg 6

Read more on:
- NBS Chinese EMBA Programme
- NBS Chinese EMBA Top Overseas Joint EMBA Programme in China

Hosted by Nanyang Business School, the 11th International Conference on Work Values and Behaviour will be held from 22 to 25 June 2008.

The conference will consist of a scientific programme and a social programme. Participants can expect very stimulating forums, powerful presentations on a wide range of topics, an exciting cultural tour about Singapore, and a grand gala dinner.

For more information, please visit ISSWOV website

Click here to view Conference flyer
Click here to view Best Practices in Diversity Management:
An International Research-Practice Forum flyer

Click here to watch NBS Team 'Winsome'

Click here to listen to recording

Dean Jitendra Singh was invited by Channel News Asia to be one of the panelists on the HSBC Business Forum for the episode "The Leadership Challenge".

The episode was aired on 30 April, at 9.30pm on Channel News Asia.

Please click below to view recording:
- HSBC Business Forum (Part 1)
- HSBC Business Forum (Part 2)
- HSBC Business Forum (Part 3)

Strong competition from as far as Mongolia did not douse the fiery enthusiasm that the NBS team showed at the recently concluded Pan Asian Retailing Simulation Competition 2008 (PARSC).

The competition aimed to promote a greater understanding of the Asian retailing industry. Participating students from Asian countries gained invaluable hands-on experience through exposure to real life business dynamics and a chance to network with like-minded individuals.

Held in the Management School of National Central University in Taiwan from 29 Mar to 1 Apr 2008, the inaugural competition saw a total of seven countries participating – Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Japan and China.

There were 3 levels to the competition – preliminary, semi-finals and finals. During the finals, teams had to compete against each other in the online segment as well as the presentation segment. In the online segment, teams were given only 30 minutes to make decisions for each round in a total of 4 rounds. The finalists presented before a panel of judges which consisted of professors from participating universities.

"It was extremely exciting to be working in an intensely competitive environment, striving to win the other teams from different cultures and attitudes," said team leader, Chua Soo Hou (Accounting, Yr 3). As Chief Strategist, Soo Hou worked closely with teammates Teo Kai Loon (Accounting, Yr 3) and Raymond Wijaya (Accounting, Yr 3) who took on the important role of advisors.

Mr Ching Kwock Wing, a tutor in NBS (Division of Strategy, Management and Organisation) was the mentor to these students. He said, “The NBS team is an excellent team. All three team members are very bright. The results were very close, neck-to-neck, in fact.”

Indeed, the NBS team did very well by coming in first runner-up and taking home a trophy and the prize money of USD3,000. The team has since donated the trophy to the school and pledged part of their prize money to the 2008 Graduation Class Gift.

“We would like to thank Mr Ching for being our mentor and the various speakers from other Asian universities for showing us the retailing dynamics of their countries. It was great interacting with them and I believe we have much more to learn from one another. We are also very grateful to NBS for providing us the quality education and the exposure to many competitions and presentations. It was quite an experience to be competing at both the university level and regional level,” said Soo Hou, expressing his gratitude on behalf of his team before he, Kai Loon and Raymond graduate in a few months to face real-world retailing competition.

For more information, please click here

Prof Jitendra Singh reveals his plans for Nanyang Business School (NBS). They include making NBS among the top 25 business schools in the world, rethinking the undergraduate programme and coming up with new innovations. The Dean of NBS also hopes to bring entrepreneurs and business leaders to the school as speakers so that students can learn about leadership in action, beyond text books and case studies.

To read more, please click here

NBS student, Alicia Sokhourng (Business, Yr 2) was invited by Channel News Asia to share her experience as an international student in Singapore. For someone who left her homeland Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 12 years ago to pursue her education in Singapore, Alicia's account is frank, heartwarming and inspirational.

Please click below to view recording:
- HOMEWARD JOURNEYS - CAMBODIA (PART 1)
- HOMEWARD JOURNEYS - CAMBODIA (PART 2)
- HOMEWARD JOURNEYS - CAMBODIA (PART 3)

The recent 8th ABC Asia Pacific Conference was held at the Nanyang Executive Centre, in the beautiful Yunnan Garden campus of Nanyang Technological University. After 10 years, Nanyang Business School once again played host.

Conference Theme:
Global Business Communication: Balances, Shifts and the Asian Difference

Venue:
Nanyang Executive Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Dates:
27—28 March 2008

For more information, please click here

In recognition of outstanding NBS teachers and researchers, this ceremony was held to honour faculty who have exhibited excellent teaching and research practice.

The awards that were given out include:

- Teachers of the Year:
Accountancy ~ Assoc Prof Tan How Teck
Business ~ Assoc Prof Ng Kok Yee

- Teachers of the Division:
Accounting ~ Asst Prof Low Kin Yew
Banking & Finance ~ Assoc Prof Low Buen Sin
Business Law ~ Asst Prof Poh Eng Hin
Information Technology & Operations Management ~ Asst Prof Damien Joseph
Marketing & International Business ~ Asst Prof Cindy Chung Mann Yien
Strategy & Management Organisation ~ Asst Prof Wong Sze Sze

- Researchers of the Division:
Accounting ~ Asst Prof Lim Chee Yeow
Banking & Finance ~ Assoc Prof Luo Jiang
Business Law ~ Asst Prof Lee Suet Lin Joyce
Information Technology & Operations Management ~ Asst Prof Wu Shin-Yi
Marketing & International Business ~ Asst Prof Ng Sok Ling Sharon
Strategy, Management & Organisation ~ Assoc Prof Ng Kok Yee

- Accountancy & Business Club Awards:
Best Dressed Teacher (Male) ~ Assoc Prof Hooi Den Huan
Best Dressed Teacher (Female) ~ Assoc Prof Valerie Low
Most Approachable Teacher ~ Assoc Prof Tan Kai Guan, Clement
Most Motivational Teacher ~ Asst Prof Lee Hon Sing

In addition to these awards, a special commendation was made to the following faculty members who had received their awards at NTU’s Nanyang Awards ceremony held last Wednesday, 19 March:

- Assoc Prof Ian McGovern and Asst Prof Tan Seet Koh for receiving the Nanyang Award for Excellence in Teaching

- Prof Ang Soon for receiving the Nanyang Award for Excellence in Research & Innovation.

Prof Ang Soon stands as the very first faculty outside the engineering field to be awarded this honour.

Prof Jitendra V. Singh, Dean of NBS, who opened the ceremony with his address, said, "Brilliance is in plentiful supply all across the world, and the gating constraint is not the lack of brilliance, but, in my way of thinking, is the lack of imagination." He urged everyone to challenge weak assumptions and be imaginative no matter what field they may be in. Taking the opportunity to congratulate all award recipients and thanking all those present, he said in closing, "Keep doing your wonderful work!"

Congratulations to all award winners!

For photographs of the event, please click here

Prof Wee Chow Hou was invited by Channel 8’s Good Morning, Singapore! to comment on the tremendous job opportunities that await Nanyang Business School graduates as well as the new double degree programme - Bachelor of Accountancy & Bachelor of Business.

Please click here to view recording

The Best HR Young Gun Award was given out at the annual HRM Awards organised by Key Media, on 5 March 2008, at The Ritz Carlton Millenia. This award is in its 4th year running and this year's winner is Ms Debbie Tham, (BBus, Class of 2006) Debbie who majored in Human Resource Consulting is currently the assistant HR manager with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS). In 2006, NBS alumna Ms Kimmy Lim was also awarded this honour.

The stringent judging criteria meant that only the very best stood to be nominated. Companies first nominated their outstanding HR employees who joined their company with less than 3 years' service and these nominations were sent to Key Media based on: the nominees' contribution towards achieving organisational goals, knowledge of HR practices and business issues, initiative demonstrated in rolling out specific plans and strategies, and grasp of aligning business interests of the organisation. The nominations were further shortlisted and 10 judges independently reviewed the information compiled by Key Media, which then made the decision based on the judges' inputs and announced the winner on the day of the award itself.

Debbie, a true-blue NBS alumna, attributed her win to the firm grounding she received during her undergraduate days. She said, “There were many opportunities for us to better understand the industry, such as through first-hand experiences during the professional attachment where we were required to exhibit practical applications of our knowledge, and the numerous networking events that helped connect us to the industry.”

Sharing the same sentiments is fellow NBS alumnus and Best HR Young Gun Award nominee, Yan Renyi, who also majored in HRC. Renyi believes that the HRC curriculum continues to be relevant for him even in the course of his work at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The co-founder of cHRysalis, a NBS HR society that he started as an undergraduate, said, “A majority of modules had a significant industry component. I found this particularly valuable, as it provided project teams with opportunities to actively interact with organisations and understand their best practices. In a way, the curriculum brought the reality of HR into the classroom.”

Assoc Prof Chan Teng Heng (Division of Strategy, Management & Organisation), who was one of the judges but abstained from voting for this category as he knew the participants (decisions were made by the other judges), was not at all surprised that 3 out of the 4 nominees graduated from NBS. He said emphatically, “As the only university now offering a specialised HRC course, and as employers realise the value our graduates can bring, we can see a trend when our graduates will eventually dominate the HR leadership in Singapore. Our Career Services Office, together with the curriculum planned by SMO and other divisions, and the great support given by the Dean, especially in the grooming of our undergraduates, make a great difference to our undergraduates.”

Students applying to NBS this year will have a new programme to choose from – the Double Direct Honours Degree in Accountancy and Business.

This intensive programme is targeted at the top 10% of the present incoming Bachelors of Accountancy and Business cohorts and would take a minimal time frame of about 3.5 years to complete. Students will also have a wide range of electives in the areas of Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Science, Technology and Society, to choose from.

This double-degree programme offers graduates more career flexibility and opportunities. “A dual set of specialized skills ensures higher marketability and wider career options upon graduation. We anticipate that many of our graduates will seek career paths in investment banking, global consulting and advisory positions,” said Assoc Prof Choo Teck Min, Associate Dean (Accountancy) at the press conference. Indeed, students who graduate from this programme will stand in good stead even as the business environment becomes increasingly complex.

For more information, please visit:
- NBS Double Honours Degree in Accountancy and Business Programme

Read more on
- The Straits Times, H8
- Lianhe Zaobao, Pg 8
- The Business Times, Pg 11
- My Paper, Pg A2
- Channel NewsAsia (online), 20 February 2008

- News Release
- Fact Sheet

New Workforce, New Workplace: Who will form the new workforce? What is the new workplace? What are the new challenges and how do we cope with and manage these changes and the challenges that will arise?

These were the questions Nanyang Business School team, HRAce and five other competing teams had to tackle at the Singapore HR Challenge 2008, organized by the Singapore Human Resource Institute (SHRI). This Challenge is an initiative to engage future leaders, people managers, critical thinkers, and contributors of the new workforce.

The other five finalist teams were from Hartford University, SMU (3 teams) and NUS. Teams were required to conduct a case study on people management practices and suggest alternatives and new ideas to enhance existing practices relating to the theme New Workforce, New Workplace.

With only ten minutes to persuade the judges about what they had to offer as their recommendation to the new workplace, new workforce challenges, HRAce put forward their HR model, also known as the Organisational Responsiveness Framework.

This framework is the team's brainchild. With the right emphasis on customizing HR practices to ensure organisational responsiveness to the changing demands of the environment and not purely prescribing actions, the team aced the competition with their sophisticated, well-paced and well-structured delivery, all within the time limit of ten minutes.

The content of their presentation so impressed the panel of 12 judges that one of judges, Mrs Molly Yeo, Executive Director and Head of Human Resources of ABN AMRO Bank N.V had this to say to the team: “WDA (Workforce Development Agency) and SHRI is designing a competency framework, maybe you can propose your organization readiness framework to them and work with them on this project.”

To this champion team, the competition was not only a good platform to challenge their strategic thinking but also where they could learn from the practitioners' comments and experience, and from other teams' presentations. It had also taught them to strategize, think out-of-the-box, and challenge themselves beyond the school curriculum.

The theme on New Workforce, New Workplace pushed them to do in-depth research on the uprising trends and analyze its impact on the businesses and HR. It also highlighted the importance of practicality in their recommendations from the applications of their findings to their client's organization. More importantly they learned that no solution is perfect in this highly complex and volatile climate.

HRAce believes what HR needs is a workforce and management that understands HR and knows exactly how HR can affect the bottom line and how HR investments can lead to better business responsiveness.

Tan Min Dan (BUS, HRC & Marketing, Yr 3), spokesperson for the group, attributed the win to the learning experiences gained in NBS. “The team was able to put the consultancy skills learned in the curriculum to good use and the support and advice from faculty also spurred us on to achieve our best and do NTU proud.”

For the top prize, HR Ace walked away with S$1000 cash, a Cerebos hamper and an interview feature in humanCapital, Asia Pacific's foremost HR magazine and other special privileges that came with the prize of a one-year SHRI membership.

Team HRAce is made up of the following HRC students:
Miss Chen Xiao Ping Jane, Business (HRC), Year 3
Miss Choo Chen Ling, Business (HRC), Year 3
Mr Phang Riyang, Class of 2007, Business (HRC)
Ms Seah Ang Ngee Wendy, Business (HRC & Marketing) Year 3
Miss Tan Min Dan, Business (HRC & Marketing) Year 3

Read more on
- Channel NewsAsia (online)
- 938LIVE (online)

- News Release

The First Time a Singapore Business School’s MBA Programme Makes it to the World’s Top 50

Nanyang Business School’s MBA has made it to the top 50 in the Financial Times’ (FT) World Top 100 MBA 2008. The Nanyang MBA achieved a significant jump in ranking to 46th position up from 67th a year ago. This is the highest a Singapore Business School has ever been ranked ahead of several world-renowned universities. The latest ranking by FT re-affirms the Nanyang MBA as the best programme in Singapore.

“FT’s latest rankings confirm that the Nanyang MBA has gained worldwide recognition as a programme that provides world-class training for business leaders for Asia and beyond,” said Prof Jitendra Singh, Dean of NBS. “80% of our students come from over 20 countries and this provides a rich setting for cross cultural learning of business practices. We will continue to excel in rigorous, relevant and innovative teaching and extend our corporate networks. I am confident that our global standing will improve further.”

The Nanyang MBA scored well in terms of international mobility, student diversity, international exposure and value for money.

FT’s global MBA ranking is compiled based on two sets of surveys – one completed by alumni who graduated from the MBA programme three years ago, and the other by the business school.

In October 2007, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has also placed the Nanyang MBA as the best in Singapore and top three in Asia.

Read more on
- The Straits Times, Pg 3
- 938Live (online), 28 January 2008
- Channel NewsAsia (online), 28 January 2008
- Lianhe Wanbao, Pg 3, 28 January 2008
- Lianhe Zaobao, Pg 3
- Tamil Murasu, Pg 2
- The New Paper, Pg 6
- Today, Pg 6
- News Release
- Business Times, Pg 3, 29 January 2008

Watch more on
- Channel 5, 9:30pm, 28 January 2008
- Channel News Asia, 10:00pm, 28 January 2008
- Channel 8, 6:30pm, 28 January 2008
- Channel U, 9:00pm, 28 January 2008
- 938LIVE (online), 28 January 2008

25 January 2008, Shangri-La Hotel

The NBS Annual Dinner 2008 was graced by the Chairman of NTU’s Board of Trustees, Mr Koh Boon Hwee, Professor Haresh Shah, member of NTU’s Board of Trustees, President Su Guaning and Provost Bertil Andersson.

The event saw an attendance of over 200 staff and guests, including NBS’ new dean, Professor Jitendra Vir Singh and his family. It was Prof Singh’s first official school event.

Staff and guests mingled over cocktails until it was time to take their seats. At about quarter to eight, the VIPs were ushered into the ballroom by NTU’s Lion Dance Troupe, and were each presented with a beautifully calligraphed scroll containing well-wishes for the new year.

The VIPs and the dean were each invited to give a short speech. It was very encouraging and heartening to hear the leadership speak so highly about NBS and the confidence they have to take NBS to greater heights in the near future.

With the lunar new year just two weeks away, the dinner began with the tossing of yu-sheng (raw fish) for good health and good fortune. This year, the long service awards were given to staff who have served in NTU for a period of ten, 15 and 20 years. Among them were both administrative staff and faculty members. The lucky draw for ten attractive prizes and table draws for $20 shopping vouchers were also conducted during the dinner to add to the festive mood.

The evening ended before 11pm with Professor Gillian Yeo’s vote of thanks to the VIPs, guests, the organising committee and everyone present. It had truly been an evening of fun, good food and great company!

To view the VIPs receiving their scrolls, click here.

To view VIP speeches click on the following:
- Mr Koh Boon Hwee, Chairman, NTU Board of Trustees
- Professor Haresh Shah, Member, NTU Board of Trustees
- Dr Su Guaning, President, NTU
- Prof Bertil Andersson, Provost
- Prof Jitendra Vir Singh, Dean, NBS

For the tossing of Yu-sheng click here

Held 23rd through 27th January 2008 at Concordia University's John Molson School of Business located in Montreal, Quebec, the UNCC (Undergraduate National Case Competition) had 17 schools participating from across Canada, The United States, Singapore and the rest of the world. Notably strong case competition schools like University of South Carolina and Babson College, University of Washington and University of Southern California were also present at this competition.

NBS team was well-represented by four undergraduates from three different nationalities: Daryl Neo from Singapore (Banking & Finance, Yr 2); Quek Hong Soon from Singapore (Banking & Finance, Yr 2); Zhang Peifei from People's Republic of China (Business & Computing, Yr 2); and Pham Phuong Dung from Vietnam (Banking & Finance, Yr 3). Dr Arthur Lee Gilbert, from ITOM (Information Technology & Operations Management) Division, played an instrumental role as an advisor to these students who performed consistently well throughout the competition.

The competition was held over three days and comprised of a group stage on the first two days, followed by the grand finals on the third. In the final round, all group winners had to present to an extended judging panel exclusively from the business world, while at the same time manage challenging questions posed to them on the spot. Preparation time for each school for all three-competition days was up to a maximum of only three hours.

Team NBS took 1st position in the group it was allocated for the first two days. On the third and final day, they had to compete against University of Alberta, University of McMaster, University of Corvinus and University of South Carolina. NBS proved its mettle once again when it emerged the overall champion in the competition. Among other things, the judges as well as the competing teams were impressed by the team's unique presentation style.

To quote team leader, Daryl Neo, “Our win in Montreal shows us that NBS students can go out and stand on our own two feet against the North American schools and do well. I am glad that the support we received from the school in terms of training and funding has also been vindicated through this win!”

Indeed, NBS can. This is not the only international competition NBS had won. In October last year, a team of three undergraduates competed against Ivy League universities and top Indian institutions at an International Business Strategy Challenge at IIT Bombay's AVENUES.07 and won; even though the competition was meant for MBA students.

Read more on
- Channel NewsAsia (online)
- 938LIVE (online)
- The Business Times, 28 May 2008

- News Release

Initiated by NTU-IIC (Interactive Investment Club) and Fundsupermart.com, NTU-SMIF is Singapore's first virtual student-managed charity investment fund. Student fund managers will be working together to manage a $1M virtual portfolio with a pre-specified asset allocation of 50% in unit trusts and 50% in local equities. 10% of the net virtual profits at the end of the programme's first year (subject to a cap of $10k) will be commuted to real cash and donated to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.

The President of the NTU-SMIF Committee, Jason Low, pointed out at the launch event, “It has always been our objective to promote corporate social responsibility among our fellow NTU undergraduates, and I am glad that we will be able to do so via the NTU-SMIF.”

The programme offers opportunities to NTU undergraduates with real world hands-on experience in security analysis and fund management, as well as inculcates a sense of corporate social responsibility in young fund managers-to-be while at the same time doing their bit for charity.

Mr Andrew Liew, advisor to the Securities Investors Association Singapore (SIAS), who was the guest of honour, said, “It is indeed very heartening to note that the organizers of NTU-SMIF have meticulously incorporated a charity component to not only give the entire initiative a touch of realism, but also remind the young go-getters involved in the fund's management that contributing to society should be a priority in life too, aside from personal success.”

The event also witnessed the inaugural winners of the The Next Fund Managers Competition, jointly organised by Fundsupermart.com and NTU-IIC, and supported by SGX. It was a presentation-based team competition where students in teams of 3 were given $10k virtual money to invest.

All top 3 teams comprised of undergraduate students from NBS. The winning team walked away with a grand cash prize of $1,000 as well as the opportunity to become part of the NTU-SMIF team.

Congratulations to all winners!

1st Team:
Ho Degan - Banking and Finance Year 2
Yeo Wei Ye - Double Specialisation in Banking & Finance and Accountancy, Year 2
Cedric Mui Cheok Mun - Accountancy, Year 2


2nd Team:
Zhuang Sheng Hao Eugene – Accountancy, Year 1
Chan Yi Ling - Accountancy, Year 3
Huen Hui Yan Rachel - Accountancy, Year 3


3rd Team:
Koh Woon Teng - Double Specialisation in Banking & Finance and Accountancy, Year 3
Chan Gui Qing - Accountancy, Year 3
Angeline Yeo Ling Ling – Accountancy, Year 2

Read more on
- The Business Times, 21 Jan 2008
- The Straits Times (Web Edition), 21 Jan 2008

Last Friday’s roundtable event hosted by Nanyang Business School (NBS) was very well attended by close to 30 faculty and students from INSEAD, NBS, NUS Business School and Singapore Management University (SMU).

This marketing research roundtable is an annual conference initiated by the four universities to encourage greater interaction and collaboration among the marketing researchers in Singapore. The inaugural conference was hosted by SMU in 2005.

“I’m really happy to see such a good turn-out. This is a good opportunity for universities to get together to share and collaborate on research to improve our universities’ global standing”, said Prof Gillian Yeo, the Executive Dean of NBS who was there at the opening session to welcome the participants.

There were altogether six presentations at this one-day event - three by NBS and one each by the business schools represented. There was a lively exchange of ideas and research pointers during the presentations. Besides being an excellent platform for researchers to present works- in-progress and obtain valuable and immediate feedback from their peers, this event also provided valuable opportunities for marketing faculty and students from the different schools to interact, network and to know one another better.

The conference came to a close on a very friendly note with participants staying back for Happy Hours!

The NBSAA was first established in 1994 with the objectives of reinforcing valuable bonds and forging strong ties between NBS graduates and the business school. NBS has educated thousands of accountancy and business graduates since 1956. At present, NBSAA has over 24,000 alumni in more than 40 countries.

The NBSAA is run by an executive committee on a two-year term. Last Thursday’s AGM saw the new committee being elected for 2007-2009. Mr Sarjit Singh (Class of ’91), who was recently awarded the Public Service Medal, is the president of the committee for the second term running.

"The past year was a rewarding one for the association. Many activities were organized to engage the alumni community and also to provide networking opportunities for our alumni members”, said Mr Singh. Indeed, the past year saw the gathering of many alumni for events such as Chill Out @ Harry’s, Hi-Tea Buffet @ Marriott, Lobster and Firefly Trip in Johor Bahru and ‘Succeed in Your Career’ seminar. On top of these, the NBSAA also supported and actively participated in events like the Convocation Ball 2007 and the Welcome Day Party 2007 where 1,600 freshmen were warmly welcomed into the NBS family and the alumni association. The Alumni-Undergraduate Dinner Series where final-year undergraduates receive advice from guest alumni on career planning, industry trends and other work-related issues was also organized to provide practical help and support to our final-year students. The dinners were organized according to the subject specializations of the alumni and undergraduates to make the gatherings more relevant and fruitful.

Mr Singh attributes the success of the 2005-2007 term to his committee members who gave of their time, energy and resources, and to the support of all the alumni who took part in the various activities organized.

According to Mr Singh, the new committee is well represented by alumni from different graduating years and professions. “We are all very passionate about serving in the NBSAA. We want to see NBS and its alumni grow in every possible way!” Mr Singh enthused.

In addition to the regular events, coming up in 2008, is the inaugural NBS Alumni Signature Speakers Series featuring talks by prominent business and policy leaders. Stay tuned!

The NBS Alumni Association Executive Committee 2007-2009

President	: Mr Sarjit Singh
First Vice President	: Mr Uantchern Loh
Second Vice President	: Mr Derrick Lum
Honorary Secretary	: Mr Andrew Tan
Honorary Treasurer	: Mr Ryan Fong
Members	: Mr Eugene Yeo   Ms Adeline Chen   Ms Anna Chen   Mr Ray Zhang   Mr Tan Ee Sin
NBS Representative	: Ms Adeline Tan

Team Seguro Technologies comprising of Anubhav Gupta (EEE), Joeku Joseph Tom (EEE) and Chan Hui Wen (NBS) and supervised by Assoc Prof Goh Wang Ling, School of EEE, represented NTU and Singapore at the finals of the recently held SATU Summit on Business Plan Competition.

The term SATU stands for Presidents’ Forum of Southeast Asia and Taiwan Universities, a higher education forum consisting of 123 top universities from ASEAN and Taiwan. Its aim is to tackle the economic, societal and the political challenges that this region faces through a free exchange of ideas and enhanced cooperation among the various countries. The Business Plan Competition was a step in that direction to nurture close relationships among budding entrepreneurs in the region.

The competition was conducted in two phases. The first phase saw teams submitting executive summaries for their business ideas, out of which the best 21 were short listed. Team Seguro Technologies was one of the two teams selected from Singapore, the other was a MBA team from National University of Singapore (NUS).

The second phase, which was held in Bangkok, saw these 21 teams competing for the top prize. Team Seguro Technologies performed admirably and reached the Grand Finals, finishing at 6th position. It was the only Singapore team to make it to the finals. The team received a special prize of USD 500 for its performance.

The team’s business plan revolves around an unique drowsiness detection and alerting device used in cars and trucks. Drowsiness has been established to be the number one cause of road accidents and Seguro Technologies’ invention aims at alerting drivers as soon as they feel drowsy and thereby enhancing road safety. Seguro means safety in Spanish.

The team members have received a great boost from taking part in this competition. Their eventual objective is to start their own business and take it to great heights. Chan Hui Wen, an undergraduate from NBS had this to say about her experience: “It was an amazing time for me. This was my first international competition, and I learned a lot from interacting with representatives from our neighbouring countries. We had a lot of fun competing and networking. I’m grateful to NBS for funding the air tickets so I could represent NTU and Singapore at this event.”

The Chartered Institute of Marketing Singapore (CIMS) International Marketing Competition is a prestigious annual competition that has attracted many tertiary students with sharp business acumen since its inception. This year, it opened its doors to international tertiary institutions and the response was overwhelming. The finals were held on 27 Oct 2007 at Fuji Xerox Building.

"We hope this competition will continue to gain recognition and importance and be regarded as a benchmark for quality marketing work in the future," said Richard Lim, Honorary Treasurer for CIMS and the competition’s Chairman of the Organising Committee.

NBS was represented by Quvo, a team of three undergraduates led by Kelvin Quee Yew Hao (Accountancy, Yr 3). He and his team members Cheng Xiu Juan (Accountancy, Yr 3) and Neo Wee Wu (Economics, HSS, Yr 4) took 4 solid months to develop their marketing plan. The team beat several other tertiary institutions including, Republic Polytechnic which was the overall champion last year to clinch second position.

Using a real company in their business model, Quvo developed a marketing plan for Soundbuzz Pte Ltd – Asia Pacific’s largest online music retailer. It explored avenues where Soundbuzz could attract and retain customers and the plan hinges upon participation and empowerment of the end user. It also leverages on social networks. For example, one recommendation by the team was that Soundbuzz could allow site visitors to post song reviews on its website. Each song is subjected to votes by other visitors. Once the review is assessed, the reviewer is awarded a number of ‘Buzz’ credits which could be subsequently exchanged for free songs. The team also proposed an internet radio station called ‘Resonance’ that could feature the most reviewed songs allowing Soundbuzz to reach out to users’ social network as it can be easily integrated to any website.

The panel of judges felt that they had a “solid business model” and were highly impressed by their creative yet realistic propositions. In fact, the judges were not the only ones who held NBS in high regard for its reputed pedagogy. Team member Neo Wee Wu, an economics major undergraduate from the School of Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS) felt the same. He enthused, “Having taken a marketing module in NBS earlier, the skills and knowledge gained from the course have helped me greatly in analysing and formulating the business model for this project. As an economics student in HSS, I am honoured to be involved with the elite NBS students in executing this project.”

This first collaboration between Nanyang Business School and Cerebos Pacific Ltd saw an enthusiastic response of 32 submissions to develop a new product concept idea for a new liquid health product that BRAND’S® has developed.

Only three teams made it to the finals held on Friday, 2 November at Cerebos’ boardroom. These top three teams (Cahoots, Caprio & T.A.G.) were given less than two weeks to prepare for the finals. To add to the challenge, these undergraduates were just three weeks away from their examinations!

The competing teams had to select from a list of seven functional benefits to develop a new concept idea for BRAND’S® that included such items as the product’s name, target customers, advertising proposition, and ideas for marketing the product. “The overall quality of the submissions is pretty good, including some of those that did not make it to the finals”, said Dr Benjamin Kartono, Assistant Professor, Marketing & International Business Division. Dr Kartono was the NBS faculty in charge of this competition.

The panel of judges consisted of Ms Isabella Tan, Vice President, Regional Marketing, Mr Keith Fujishima, Senior Regional Business Manager, Group Health Supplements Division and Dr Sim Beng Joo, Manager – Regional R&D Planning / Regional Scientific Knowledge Communication. The teams were judged on their product idea (60%) and presentation (40%).

Team Cahoots’ members – Serena Lim (Banking & Finance, Yr 2), Tricia Teo (Human Resource Consulting, Yr 2) and Derrick Tan (Marketing, Yr 2) developed a new product called Re’Vita-Life to boost cardio health. One of their wacky ideas was to package the drink in an environmentally-friendly bottle shaped like an egg. Their reason for developing this new product is because heart-disease is one of Singapore’s top killer-diseases.

Team Caprio’s members – Tan Shi Cong, Jasmine Ong and Erienne Wong, all Year 3 Marketing students developed LactoFAM, a drink for lactating mothers. What’s new about this product is their approach in marketing it. Although this drink is meant for nursing mothers, Team Caprio’s target customers are not the nursing mothers but their husbands. They hope to get fathers more involved in the caring and nurturing of their babies by purchasing LactoFam to support and nourish their nursing wives. This team took the extra step to produce a home-made TV advertisement to communicate their idea.

Team T.A.G.’s members – Tracey Leong, Grace Wai Wai Thaw Maung and Avril Lee, all Year 3 Marketing students, saw the need in the market for an energy drink that not only relieves fatigue after sports but also nourishes the body at the same time. They named the drink Re’gized. T.A.G’s presentation was thought to be the most comprehensive, and their approach very focused. They were also very creative in trying to communicate why their product, currently not available in the market, would be successful. Their home-made TV ad also drew much laughter from the audience.

In spite of the fact that exams were just one week away, the teams came well-prepared and took on the judges’ questions gamely. “I’m really impressed by the students’ presentations!” commented Associate Professor Hooi Den Huan, who is also the Associate Dean for Corporate Services at Nanyang Business School. In her closing speech after the competition, Ms Isabella Tan remarked that the three presentations were of an impressive standard given that the students had only 10 days to prepare. The judges also appreciated the efforts taken by the teams to produce the advertisements and product mock-ups.

In the end, it was T.A.G. who took home the first prize of S$3,000 cash. The first runner-up prize of S$1,500 cash went to Team Cahoots while Team Caprio went home with S$800 cash. All three teams were also presented with a BRAND’S® hamper each. The event came to a close with a toast to BRAND’S® with a bottle of Brand’s Essence of Chicken, of course!

A team of three NBS undergraduates beat seven top Indian MBA teams to emerge champions at the International Business Strategy Challenge held at AVENUES.07, an annual international business festival organized by Shailesh J Mehta School of Management at IIT Bombay from Oct 28-29.

At this International Business Strategy Challenge, the best brains from around the world competed in formulating the growth strategies and expansion plans for a real-life organization and adapting to sudden changes in external business environment. To be eligible to compete in India, teams from around the world had to send in their business plans which were then judged on the basis of feasibility, innovativeness, analysis and presentation.

The NBS team got selected from 120 teams worldwide based on the business plan they wrote for a start-up company, WILCOM Technologies - a company in existence. Upon arrival in India, Team leader, Malcolm Wong (ACC & Business Law, Yr 2) and members, Amanda Tay (Banking & Finance, Yr 2) and Aqilah Hakim (Banking & Finance, Marketing, Yr 3) were shocked to discover that this was a MBA competition. Their shock gave way to disbelief when they learned that they had beaten teams from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, HKUST and other Ivy League MBA teams to clinch a spot in this competition.

The teams competed in a highly challenging environment in multiple rounds of intensive competition where their business acumen, analytical skills, teamwork and negotiation skills were tested.Team NBS was pitted against teams from seven other top business schools in India such as IIM (Indian Institute of Management) and IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), all MBA teams.

Day One of the challenge saw the teams presenting their business plans to the owners, the venture capitalist teams (MBA students competing in the Venture Capitalist Challenge), and the venture capitalists who are considering investing in WILCOM Technologies.

The teams had to tackle real-life boardroom issues such as financing, management control, exit strategies, market positioning and negotiate a deal with a venture capitalist team – all these while the panel of six judges including two professors, a CEO and three directors of Venture Capital firms observed. The teams were evaluated based on their business pitch, clarity of thought and negotiation skills.

At the end of Day One, the teams were tested on their ability to respond and reformulate their business strategy in the face of a major change in the external business environment. The teams had to modify their business plan overnight and re-present their business plan to the judges and the Venture Capitalist teams the next day.

Team NBS made such an impression at this competition that WILCOM Technologies’ owner Prof Girdish Kumaar and his partners made the team an offer to spearhead and take charge of their new Singapore operations in 2008.

The biggest takeaway for Team NBS, apart from the US$1,500 prize is the tremendous learning opportunities presented at this two-day event. Besides the mental challenges, there were physical challenges as well. The threesome had to adapt to local living conditions, working non-stop under a slow-moving fan and alongside the cattle that roamed the campus grounds where the business festival took place.

For Malcolm, Amanda and Aquila, the win has boosted more confidence in them as they, despite being undergraduates, were able to take on the best MBA students and walk away champions.

Congratulations Team, and well done indeed!

The Case:
Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M)

The Question:
What are the strategies that would allow the group to exploit current business opportunities and keep competitors at bay, while managing the long term growth prospects in the industry?

The Finalists:
- Moore School of Business, University of Southern Carolina, USA
- Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University, the Netherlands
- Warrington College of Business Administration, University of Florida, USA

The Judges:
- Ms Ng Wee Wei, Partner, Public Service Operating Group, Accenture
- Mr Wong Ann Chai, Managing Director, DBS Bank Limited
- Mr Thomas Pang, General Manager (Corporate Development) Keppel Offshore & Marine
- Mr Fernando Esquivel, Human Resources Director, Microsoft Asia Pacific
- Mr Shailesh Jejurikar, General Manager, Procter & Gamble
- Mr Loh Meng See, Senior Vice President (Human Resources), Singapore Airlines Limited

After an intense 40-hour preparation, 12 teams competed at the semi-finals last Friday morning. Four teams made it to the finals that same afternoon. The finals started at 1pm at NEC Auditorium, with live webcast and telecast on campus. Each team had 15 minutes to present and 15 minutes to take questions from the panel of six judges. The case background was shared with the audience by Associate Professor Wee Beng Geok, director of Asian Business Case Centre (Asiacase.com), from which the case originated.

It took about three hours for all four teams to present their analysis and recommendations for Keppel (O&M). It was an impressive performance put up by all the finalists given the short amount of time for their research and preparation. The results of the competition were released at 10pm that night at the event’s gala dinner held at the Asian Civilization Museum.

True to expectation, the team that took home the winners’ trophy for the inaugural international business case competition in Singapore is from the Warrington College of Business Administration, University of Florida, USA. Team members Seth Mollitt, Montana Massa, Shae Ferguson and Caroline Etter impressed the judges with their calm and matured handling of their presentation. Theirs was also the case that was the most clearly and succinctly presented. Mr Thomas Pang, general manager (corporate development) of Keppel (O&M) commended the team for taking Keppel’s vision into consideration in their analysis and recommendations. The team also handled the Q&A session very well, answering the judges’ questions to the point, reflecting excellent preparation work.

When asked how they prepared for the competition, Seth Mollitt, the team leader said they did it the “divide and conquer” way, each one taking charge of a part of the case and then putting it all together. It was a truly challenging yet enjoyable experience for the team who also found time to visit the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo.

Despite the tight deadline, there was no evidence of a lack of sleep as they still managed to average a six-hour sleep every night and a decent lunch together outside their rooms. Shae Ferguson was grateful for the learning experience as she had come with zero knowledge about the marine and offshore industry and in less than 40 hours of case analysis, she now feels she can hold an intelligent conversation about it.

The organizing committee at Business Solutions, together with their faculty advisors put in many weeks of preparation and hard work to make this event a great success. This competition saw many friendships made across continents and it also gave the organizing committee and the volunteers many invaluable lessons that could only be learned outside the classroom.

Although the home team (Malcolm Wong, Krystle Liew, You Yewei and Huang Jinwei) didn’t win, they did put up an excellent case that made us proud. As Daryl Choong, the emcee at the gala dinner put it to the teams, “You are all winners one way or another”.

ABCC@Nanyang 2007 would not have been possible without the financial support of our corporate sponsor:



And private sponsors:

Mr & Mrs Anthony Huray, and Mrs Susan Huray’s parents - Mr & Mrs Yanni Haryanto

We have got a BRAND NEW NBS e-bulletin up our sleeves, and we want you to name it! Let’s put our minds together to find the perfect name for our new e-bulletin. This contest is open to all NBS staff and students and is now on till 7 Dec 2007.

Contest is closed. * Winners will be notified shortly.

Three weeks of fundraising from 6 to 26 Aug by 16 members of the NBS-SCS (Singapore Computer Society) Student Chapter reeled in $3,625 for charity . The beneficiaries include: Concern & Care Society, Handicapped Welfare Association, Metta Welfare Association, Methodist Children and Youth Centre, Tampines Family Service Centre, TOUCH Community Services and Tan Tock Seng Hospital Community Charity Fund.

NBS-SCS Student Chapter provides a channel for students to network with IT professionals and engage in numerous activities that would help them relate theory to business practice. Many students felt that it was not easy selling the adoption tickets and souvenir ducks. However, true to spirit, they persisted and promoted their wares throughout the campus (including knocking on office doors!) and even went all the way to Orchard Road and Raffles Place in the name of charity.

Congratulations to the team on the excellent effort!

Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) Nanyang Business School (NBS) has moved up in the ranking of the world’s top 100 MBA programmes, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

EIU’s annual ranking of full-time MBA programmes, which has just been released, listed NTU in 72nd position, up from 77th last year. The latest ranking also reinforced NTU’s position as the university offering the best MBA programme in Singapore and the top three in Asia.

The 2007 ranking of full-time MBA programmes by EIU takes into account four main categories – Open new career opportunities (35%), personal development/educational experience (35%), increase salary (20%) and potential to network (10%). It was based on a set of online questionnaire for business schools and another set for some 20,000 students and recent graduates.

NBS scored well for its diversity of recruiters (a sub category under open new career opportunities) as well as personal development and educational experience.

NTU launched its MBA programme in 1991. It has close alliance with Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. Currently, more than 20% of the cohort is from outside of Asia and Australasia, offering tremendous cultural and international diversity.

NBS is also well connected with both local and international industry and business, according to EIS in its comments on NBS. “There are lots of opportunities to meet business leaders, professionals and entrepreneurs via a good guest-speaker list.”

From 8-12 October, 12 business schools from around the world will be competing at Singapore’s first international business case competition held at the Nanyang Technological University. Named Asian Business Case Competition @ Nanyang (ABCC @ Nanyang), this is only one of three such competitions in Asia. It is organized by the Business Solutions Club, a student club in Nanyang Business School.

This competition will test the analytical and presentation skills of the teams. Teams have to crack the business case assigned to them in 48 hours and present their solutions to a panel of judges. Senior executives from the industry form the panel that will decide on the team’s performance. Only 4 teams will make it to the final round to present the same case to a different panel of judges comprising of prominent senior industry players. Results will be announced at the Gala Dinner on the last day of the event.

The teams represented are from the following universities:

AUT University Business School, New Zealand
Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, USA
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, School of Business and Management
Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, USA
Nanyang Business School, National Technological University, Singapore
RSM Erasmus University, the Netherlands
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada
Thammasat University, Thailand
University of Otago, New Zealand
University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
University of Washington Business School, USA
Warrington College of Business Administration, University of Florida, USA
The Guest-of-Honour for this event is Nanyang Business School’s new dean, Professor Jitendra V. Singh. The keynote speaker for the opening is Professor Lim Chong Yah. He will be speaking on the topic Ten years after the meltdown in Asia: Are our economies more vulnerable or robust?

Details for the finals of the competition are as follows:

Date:Friday, 12 Oct 2007
Time: 1300-1630 hrs
Web Cast : http://www.ced.ntu.edu.sg/channelntu/index.html
Live telecast: Conference Room 1 (S3-B4a-02)

For more information, please visit www.abcc2007.org or email at 2007abcc@gmail.com

Read more on
- The Business Times on ABCC@ Nanyang, 10 October 2007
- FM93.8 Live on ABCC@Nanyang

Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes Competition is a community initiative jointly organised by Citibank and YMCA . Youths are provided with seed funds and resources needed to execute their creative ideas to benefit a charity of their choice. Rays of Hope, which comprises a group of final-year NBS Business students Chan Li Shan, Denise Lee Mei Zhen, Eileen Lim Yi Suan and Ng Siew Ping chose the Handicapped Welfare Association (HWA) to help them raise funds and public awareness. The events organised include, the ’Amazing Race on Wheels’ at the Esplanade, which saw an impressive turnout of several hundreds of participants, a carnival cum charity bazaar of food and games, and the sale of bookmarks which all in all raised $6, 000 for HWA . The team felt they "gained a lot of experience and learned many valuable skills" from this competition. Well done, Rays of Hope!

Click here for the news article on Chronicle Vol. 14.