Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1997

institutions were each given a week to submit a 3,000-word proposal. After this was assessed by a panel comprising teaching staff from local universities and business professionals, four teams were short-listed for the final round wherein they had to present their proposal orally in English and answer questions from the floor. The members of the CUHK team were Norris M. N. Lam, Katie K. K. Kong, Franky C. S. Chung, and David M. Ku, all final-year BBA students. They opted for their own marketing strategy, which was to open a branch of their company in Mexico and target the more well- to-do consumers. This was more realistic than the other strategies because the latter failed to take into consideration the fact that imported chocolates would be way beyond the means of the average Mexican. But while the students' decision might have eventually earned them the honour of producing the Business Paper of the Year 1996, it also meant extra research, more brainstormin g sessions, and a few all-nighters along the way. And in the final round, it meant exercising all their persuasive skills to convince the judges within the allotted time of 15 minutes that their strategy was STRATEGY indeed the best. The team impressed the adjudicators with their thorough analysis, excellent response to questions, and convincing presentation. Miss Sophie Courtemanche, the team's coach, attributes the victory to the hard work, initiative and enterprise of the students, as well as their ability to draw upon all the resources available to them, including seeking the advice of faculty staff on how to improve their presentation and utilizing the Internet. She was all praise for the team: They presented a very professional image. The slide presentation, the concept, in fact the whole package, was excellent. I knew they would have a very good shot at winning.' Miss Courtemanche is on a fellowship from Wellesley College to Chung Chi College, and has conducted workshops for BBA students on job-hunting and what to expect from an overseas study exchange. Team leader Norris Lam believes that diversity was what did the trick. With members specializing in international business, finance, and marketing, they were able to analyse issues from differen t but complementary perspectives. The four participants received a championship cup, a certificate, and prize money worth HK$7,000. They however consider the mind-broadening experience, the team spirit, as well as the chance to put knowledge into practice to be their real gain. A Cut Above the Others 17