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Nanyang Business School (NBS) won the top prize for developing the best mobile widget (mini applications for mobile phones) beating some 23 other teams from six local tertiary institutes in the inaugural Yahoo! Mobile Developer Contest. Teams were assigned one of four corporate brands to design their mobile widgets. The four corporate brands were DBS Bank, Kellogg Asia, Malaysia Airlines, and UEEEU.com.

“The widget interface is simple to use and makes it easy for consumers to access and request information from their mobile phone. The creation of mobile widgets fits perfectly with DBS' strategy of providing convenient access to our customers across a multi-channel distribution platform,” said Jowena Liang, SVP & Head of Consumer Marketing & Internet Banking, Consumer Banking Group, DBS Bank on NBS team's submission.

In a world where complexity governs, being simple offers some respite to life complications – in fact, it was exactly the thing that differentiated NBS team from the rest of the teams. NBS Team, aptly named ‘Simple', comprised of first year Business and Computing Double Degree Programme students Lim Jing-Yi, James Gwee Xue Qian, and Tan Zhong Xing.

James and Jing-Yi concentrated on the programming aspects and Zhong Xing added the professional touch of using captivating graphics. The three of them then packaged together an integrated solution and marketed it to the judges despite the short development timeframe they had, a new development platform to learn, and an endless schedule of academic commitments.

At the awards ceremony held at Zouk on 23 October 2008, NBS Team Simple walked away with a cash prize of $1000 for each team member and the title – Best in Show mobile widget. The team unanimously agreed that as students of NBS' Business and Computing Double Degree Programme, they are well exposed to a high quality curriculum that gave them the winning edge in this prestigious competition.

Jing-Yi professed, “As first year students pursuing a Double Degree in Business and Computing and having the privilege of experiences in both School of Computer Engineering (SCE) and NBS, we learnt the power of cutting edge technology in computer programming, as well as the importance of packing, presenting, and marketing a product or service.”

Prof Ang Soon who helms the Nanyang Business School Center for Cultural Intelligence (CCI) was recently awarded the prestigious title of "Outstanding Decision Science Journal Associate Editor" for the high quality of her developmental reviews and the academic leadership she has shown in advancing the decision sciences, in particular her high impact contribution to the special topic forum on sourcing. The Decision Sciences Journal is a top-tier premier journal which publishes scholarly research about decision making within the boundaries of an organization, as well as decisions involving inter-firm coordination. The journal promotes research advancing decision making at the interfaces of business functions and organizational boundaries.

Prof Ang's cutting edge research on leadership and cultural intelligence has benefitted Nanyang Business School students and organizations she is consulting with. Her research provides fresh, valuable insights into the workings of organizations in the modern economy where changes are fast evolving and with businesses going global. Her Decision Science manuscript on Cultural intelligence and offshore outsourcing success: A framework of firm-level intercultural capability, represents the first in the world that models cultural intelligence at the organizational level.

In addition to this award by the Decision Sciences Institute, Prof Ang has also received three other distinguished research awards this year, 2008 - Best Interactive Paper Award, Academy of Management Meetings, Anaheim, CA; Top Paper Poster Award, Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, San Francisco, CA; and the NTU Research and Innovation Award, Nanyang Technological University (highest research award accorded by NTU).

For more about the Decision Science Journal visit: 
- The Decision Sciences Journal official website

Over three hundred undergraduate students from the three top local universities vied for the coveted “Top Trader” award at the Oxyor Singapore Traders Trophy 2008 – a prestigious competition that puts participants in a dealing room environment where they trade against one another and other market players who adopt fictive identities. The event was jointly organized by the investments clubs of the respective universities.

Ten individuals were selected from each university during the preliminary rounds. The final round took place on November 7 at SMU's Lee Ka Shing Library where all three universities competed. In total, thirty participants traded and did market making based on streaming simulated price data. Quick thinking, strategizing and analyzing technical price trends were some key features of the competition.

Participants were judged on profitability, market awareness, client servicing, and risk management. NBS undergraduates, Yeo Shao Wei (Business, Yr 1) and Lee Swee Meng (Banking & Finance, Yr 3) did very well amidst strong competition from the other two institutions. Shao Wei won the overall second prize of a thousand dollars in cash and Swee Meng took home the second prize for Best Risk Management.

Excited over his success, Shao Wei found the competition very challenging as he monitored the different stocks and interacted with his ‘clients'. While the whole exercise was ‘fast-paced, chaotic, and stressful', he enjoyed the adrenaline that came with it. “It was an exciting process as I got to learn the different styles of trading and I got to experience the life of a trader,” said Shao Wei, who added, “NBS provided me with some background on the financial market and its workings. It got me interested in this field…The IIC also taught me about some investing knowledge and trading skills which were very useful for this competition.”

Representing NBS as an invited guest, Assoc Prof Lee Hon Sing was highly impressed with the competition and the excellent performance of our student participants. He enthused, “This is a very beneficial competition giving our students a glimpse of what a trader's work is like.”

Prof Christina Soh and Assoc Prof Sia Siew Kien have been awarded the Stafford Beer Medal for 2007 for their paper on the assessment of package-organisation misalignment (published in EJIS in October 2007). The Stafford Beer Medal is awarded for the best paper published in the European Journal of Information Systems (EJIS) and Knowledge Management Research & Practice (KMRP), two of the Operational Research (OR) Society's journals. The Society provides training, conferences, publications and information on operational research to members and the general public across the globe.

Read more on
- An Assessment of Package-Organisation Misalignment: Institutional and Ontological Structures (Sia & Soh, 2007)

In his latest book, Prof Wee Chow Hou explores with co-author Fred Combe the various challenges that companies, leaders, and individuals face while doing business in Asia.

McGraw-Hill Education (Asia) hosted a book launching ceremony on 28 November 2008 in conjunction with the publication of the book. The two prolific writers were also on hand to share their thoughts and insights.

The book has made it to the Top 10 bestseller list in Singapore within one week of its launch.

Read more on
- The Straits Times, 28 November 2008
- The Straits Times, 1 December 2008
- Lianhe Zaobao, 3 December 2008

For some 60 undergraduate students who participated in the recently concluded Public Policy Challenge 2008, the adrenaline of analyzing complex case studies and brainstorming for effective solutions were perhaps some reasons why they took part in the inaugural competition. But more importantly, each harbors a deepseated belief that their opinions could make a difference. 

There were 3 levels to the competition – preliminary, semi-finals and finals.  15 teams were shortlisted from the preliminary round to proceed into the semi-finals. Teams had the opportunity to stay at the ultra chic Changi Village Hotel for a two and a half day residential programme. During the stay, they were given a case to analyze and had to prepare their recommendations all within the short time frame of 24 hours. After which, the 15 teams were grouped into three clusters of which the best team from each cluster made it into the finals.

NBS Team QuintEssential comprised of team members Mr Issac Chua Cheng Wang (Accountancy, Yr 3), Ms Cherrie Ng Hui Jing (Banking & Finance, Yr 3), Ms Sok Hourng (Human Resource, Yr 3), and Ms Catherine Ng Shu Han (Accountancy, Yr 3). Their wit and determination won them the first runner-up title, a trophy and the prize money of USD3, 000.

Read more on
- The Straits Times, 27 October 2008

- NBS Team QuintEssential

What many would think as an unattractive career option, three seasoned professionals in the competitive retail & consumer products industries joined forces in dispelling the stereotypical viewpoint at the recently held NBS Careers Forum that saw an overwhelming response of over a hundred NBS undergraduates.

Aptly titled Careers and Internships in Retail & Consumer Products Industries Talk, the event was jointly organized by NBS Undergraduate Career Services & Spring Singapore to prepare students in making well-informed career decisions when they graduate and enter into the workforce.

Ms Sheryl Khong, who worked her way up from the rank of a Retail Supervisor to that of a Human Resource Manager in ESPRIT over a course of 16 years, is testimony that there are good career prospects in the world of retail. Emanating an effervescent charm that made her click immediately with the audience, the invited speaker recounted her humble climb as something necessary in order to understand what her colleagues at the ground undergoes each day. She said emphatically, “The good thing about the retail trade is that you learn things that no other industry can teach you. I learnt the most about people, organizational behavior and psychology in the store, and no other job I have ever been into has ever thought me something like that.”

Joining Ms Khong in the sharing session was Mr Charles Wong, Managing Director of Charles and Keith, the highly popular shoe brand that is fast expanding into the accessory business such as, belts, bags, and sunglasses. What started off as a humble concept store in Amara Shopping Center has now grown to a business empire that boasts of some 1280 staff members in 130 stores in 20 countries spanning across South-East Asia, Australia, Asia and the Middle East, as well as manufacturing plants in Malaysia and China.

Mr Wong believes in people development and sends his staff on courses, some of whom get to travel overseas chalking up invaluable experiences. He professed that while working hard is important working smart is especially crucial and remains an essential component to hard work. The self-made entrepreneur also emphasized the importance of quick thinking as ‘speed is the essence in business' and called on ‘good thinkers' to join his company. “We are very focused in measuring people's KPI (key performance indicators) and setting targets, goals, and challenges for them to achieve,” said Mr Wong who added, “We are not afraid to fail; we are willing to try.”

Dairy Farm International, a member of the Jardine Matheson Group, was represented by Ms Jocelyn Chan, Human Resource Manager. The NBS alumna works in an organization that operates some 4000 over outlets such as, supermarkets, hypermarkets, health and beauty stores, convenience stores, home furnishings stores, and restaurants. Sharing the same sentiments as Mr Wong, Ms Chan believes that in order to survive in the retail & consumer products industries, one has to have three things: passion, hard work and innovation.

Echoing many soon-to-graduate students' concerns was a question posed during the Q&A segment which queried if job rotation within the organization was possible in order to find out which job area would best suit a fresh graduate entering the organization. To that, Ms Khong offered, “One of the best ways for you to find out which area you should move into is really to talk to people who are in key positions that you are interested in, and find out as much as you can how real the particular job is and how that best fits you.”

A student who found the session extremely beneficial was Ms Huang Shi Qi (Marketing, Yr3), who felt better informed of what she would like to do after she graduates next year. “I would say the event is very good as a lot of people have a biased view of the retail & consumer products industries such as having to work long hours and they being low-end, and the session has pointed out that this is not necessarily so as there are concrete career paths awaiting those who enter the industries. This is definitely a good place for us to learn more about the different companies,” she enthused.

Following its successful debut in 2007 is the recently concluded Asian Business Case Competition @ Nanyang 2008, which took place at the Nanyang Executive Centre (NEC) Auditorium from 13 Oct to 16 Oct.

Organized by Business Solutions, a NBS students-driven initiative, 16 teams from prestigious business schools around the world competed in a 5-day programme of social activity and rigorous competition.

Read more on
- Dean's Speech
- Asian Business Case Competition @ Nanyang Official Website
- The Business Times, 20 October 2008
- Gaia Discovery, October 2008
- News Blaze, 24 October 2008

Media reports in 2007
- The Business Times, 10 Oct 2007
- The Business Times, 29 Oct 2007
- 938 LIVE, 2:30pm, 9 Oct 2007  

Asst Prof Wong Sze Sze's paper entitled "Task Knowledge Overlap and Knowledge Variety: The role of Advice Network Structures and impact on Group Effectiveness" was recently published in the Journal of Organization Behaviour (2008;29(5):591-614)

According to the researchers, groups involved in knowledge-intensive work typically have to acquire and leverage a wide range of task knowledge.  Hence, a question of both theoretical and practical interest is how such groups can foster both knowledge overlap and knowledge variety in the group.  This research offers a social capital perspective as one way of examining how these two knowledge dimensions can both be fostered in groups. 

Using data collected from student groups and work groups from three organizations, the findings of this research demonstrate that more internal advice ties are associated with greater knowledge overlap, and more external advice ties and a less centralized internal advice network are associated with greater knowledge variety.  The associations of different advice network structures with knowledge overlap and knowledge variety suggest that different social forces are likely to affect group members' propensity to share knowledge and create knowledge.

In addition, despite implicit understanding that advice networks aid group performance through enhancing knowledge outcomes, only the number of external advice ties is positively associated with group effectiveness through its effect on knowledge variety.  The strong positive relationships of external advice ties and knowledge variety with group effectiveness highlight to managers the importance of promoting knowledge breadth through creating social ties with external groups.  As the need to recognize, interpret and adapt to multiple cues in the external environment is likely to be accentuated in knowledge-intensive work, managers need to ensure that their groups have a wide range of task knowledge available to meet the demands of their environment.

For more information, please contact Asst Prof Wong Sze Sze, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Business School, Strategy Management & Organization Division, S3-B2B-47, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Organizational Behavior is: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., the Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester PO19 8SQ, W Sussex, England.

Read comments from the Dean of Nanyang Business School, Prof Jitendra Singh in West Bengal's Nano Impasse: A Roadblock for Tata - and for Investment. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4318

The Marketing Science Institute (MSI) has selected Asst Prof Sharon Ng from the Division of Marketing and International Business to be one of the 20-plus marketing doctoral graduates for its coveted MSI Young Scholars Programme.

Since 2001 and once every two years, MSI brings together the world's most promising marketing academics who would have obtained their doctorate between 3 to 6 years. As "potential leaders of the next generation", those shortlisted would be invited to explore research opportunities and future research collaborations in a meeting which MSI would play host.

MSI focuses on research that merges marketing science theory with business practice. Its partners include executives from sponsoring corporations and renown researchers from leading universities worldwide.

"I am of course very happy to be selected as one of the young scholars as this is recognition for the work I have done. I am also very honoured to be considered as a potential leader of the next generation of marketing academics," enthused Asst Prof Ng.

MSI's Young Scholars Programme will be held next year from 5 to 8 March in Park City, Utah.

Ardent followers of publications by the Asian Business Case Centre (ABCC) will be pleased to know that a new book entitled, 'Exploring Best Practices in the Hospitality Industry in Asia' has hit the shelves.

Written by Assoc Prof Wee Beng Geok and Prof Judy Siguaw , the book forms part of a research project that marks the first collaborative effort between Asian Business Case Centre and Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management. The case book offers an exploratory journey into some of the best practices in the Asian hospitality industry.

Read more on
- Exploring Best Practices in the Hospitality Industry in Asia (Siguaw & Wee, 2008)
- India Post, 20 October 2008

Hundreds of fresh-faced first-year students gathered at the entrance of Lee Kong Chian lecture theatre with great anticipation as they await the commencement of the NBS Welcome Day programme. This marked the beginning of a new and exciting phase of their lives. These students survived one of the toughest selection criteria to gain admittance to a top ranking world-class business school in Singapore.

As students streamed into the lecture theatre, they were directed to their respective orientation groups which are also their tutorial groups. Mr Perry Yeo, President of the Accountancy & Business Club (ABC) in his opening speech advised freshmen to get actively involved in the various student activities available in NTU to hone their leadership skills and to learn to balance studies with activities.  

Assoc Prof Choo Teck Min, Assoc Dean (Accountancy) also urged freshmen to “go and get involved in CCAs, take part in competitions that (they) will be given opportunities to take part in, and exercise (their) leadership capabilities” for the next three or four years. He also introduced Assoc Prof Poh Eng Hin, Asst Dean (Accountancy) whom students could also turn to for counseling or help. Assoc Prof Valerie Du Toit-Low, Assoc Dean (Business) gave the students a hearty welcome and assured students that they could consult any of the faculty, including Assoc Prof Pelly Periasamy, Asst Dean (Business), should they have any concerns.

The last speaker to address the students was Mr Sarjit Singh, President of NBS Alumni Association who welcomed the freshmen into the NBS family and emphasized the importance of networking.  Mr Singh also introduced the Distinguished Leaders Forum, where top industry leaders are invited to share their work and life experiences as leaders to NBS alumni. He extended a warm invitation to the freshmen to attend the first of this Forum on 14 August when Mr Richard Stanley, CEO of DBS Group Holdings and DBS Bank will speak on “A CEO's Perspective: My Vision of Banking in the 21st Century”.

The Welcome Day programme for the afternoon was on tackling challenging and fun tasks with the objectives of helping students to bond and get acquainted with one another. There were games such as Tag Mixer, Snakes and Ladders and Around the World in 80 Seconds.

Lunch was scrumptious pizzas from Canadian Pizza before setting off for The Amazing Tour conducted at various parts of the NTU campus such as the north spine, south spine and sports recreation centre. It was a great opportunity for students to familiarize themselves with the university compounds.

The Welcome Day ended with the distribution of goodie bags as welcome gifts and a closing speech by Assoc Prof Choo Teck Min.  Many stayed behind to take pictures and exchange contacts with each other.

The NBS Welcome Day was a collaborative effort between student-run ABC and NBS Undergraduate Programmes Office.

60 young women leaders from Nanyang Business School were specially invited to the launch of the Young Women's Leadership Connection (YWLC) on 31 July 2008.  This is a new initiative to help young women realize their full potential through mentorship, enrichment, community and networking sessions with senior women leaders across industries.  These students were identified for their exceptional leadership skills, participation in extra-curricular activities and excellence in academic performance.

The initiative is a brainchild of Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, who mooted this idea two years ago when she noticed a dearth of networking and mentoring opportunities for working women in Singapore.  She hopes this will allow young women to form common interest groups and for them to learn from successful female leaders.

Mrs Lim launched the YWLC in conjunction with UBS, one of the world's leading financial firms. The event was also attended by industry leaders such as Ascott CEO Jennie Chua, entrepreneur Nanz Chong and UBS wealth management managing director Christine Ong, as well as several politicians including MP Indranee Rajah and MP Penny Low.

Read more on
- The Business Times, Pg 11
- Lianhe Zaobao, Pg 7
- Berita Harian, Pg 1
- The Straits Times, Pg H2, 21 July 2008
- TODAY, Pgs 1 & 2
- The Straits Times, Pgs H1 & H2
- The Business Times, Pg 3

- News Release
- Fact Sheet
- Speech by Dr Su Guaning, President, NTU
- Valedictory Speech by Mr Bernard Chua(BAcc Group 1)
- Valedictory Speech by Mr Eric Goh Hong Leong(BBus)
- Valedictory Speech by Mr Lazarus Goh(BAcc Group 2)
- Valedictory Speech by Ms Leung Wai Ling(Nanyang Fellows)

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