Conquering Conquest 2007

First thing that came to my mind when I learned that we were in the finals for Conquest 2007 in BITS, Pilani was that I’m getting the chance to go to India! The more exciting part is getting another stamp on my passport. The chance to fulfill my goal to see at least one new place every year is too exciting. And India sounds quite exotic to me!

The process of how we came to be selected was pretty rigorous. We submitted two business plans, out of which one was selected. The competition saw more than a hundred entries from universities all over. After the cut-down to 40 entries, we were relieved that our business plan, Transtrack, was among the 5 finalists.

Everything flew by so fast. My team also included Prashant Pundrik, Srikanth Sridharan, and Nilesh Borana. However, it was only me and Prashant who went to the finals presentation. With the busy NUS life, we quickly arranged for our tickets and the final copy of our business plan. We also got in touch with our mentor from San Francisco via Skype. Technology is really wonderful. Who knew back then that we can be in contact with someone from another part of the world without incurring huge long distance costs!

As soon as the plane touched down in Delhi, everything feels like a blur, a surreal feeling which may also be attributed to lack of sleep. After spending a few hours in Delhi, we traveled to BITS, Pilani. The next two days were spent doing last minute preparations for the slides, video pitch, and the elevator pitch. We were slated to be the last team to present. It was a closed presentation with only the judges and a few faculty members inside the room. The first part is the elevator pitch which basically involves selling the whole plan in just 90 seconds. After this, the presentation of the whole plan takes around 45 minutes. We were feeling pretty nervous but knowing that we’re presenting to just a few people somehow decreased our stress level. Everything went smoothly. The results came out in the evening of the last competition day. All the hard work paid off when they announced the results: We got 2nd place.

The whole trip happened in a span of just four days which includes also experiencing the hospitality of the wonderful people I met there. The experience was exciting and different… in three words – different, interesting and surreal. It was a short trip, but one that is definitely worth making.

Tan Iris Go, MBA - Class of 2008

THE CSR AWARENESS MONTH – MARCH 2007

The CSR Awareness Month, an annual event started in 2006, was co-hosted by the NUS MBA Corporate Ethics Focus Group (CEFG) along with the NUS CSR Student Group this year. As a part of this event, there were Movie Screenings, CSR Exhibition and Speaker Series spread over the entire month of March 2007. The CSR Exhibition happened from March 12th to March 16th in the Business School Foyer. This was intended to spread awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility amongst the Business School student community. The speaker series was spread over three weeks and the details about the series are as follows:

March 16th 2007
This event kicked off the CSR Awareness Month Speaker Series for the 2007 edition. Students from all disciplines at NUS gathered to discuss CSR issues facing the Asian region along with a panel of experts from the industry. The distinguished guest for this event was Mr. Thomas Thomas from the Singapore Compact for CSR. The evening also included guest speakers Mr. Ryan Ang from World Bank and Ms. Laura Crow from CSR Asia.

Prof. Nitin Pangarkar, Academic Director of the MBA program, kicked off the evening with a short speech stressing the importance of understanding CSR. Mr. Thomas followed with a discussion on the basics of CSR and the role of businesses in Singapore and the rest of Asia. His talked highlighted the challenges faced and future direction of CSR practices in the region. Next up was Mr. Ang who gave a World Bank perspective on CSR. He talked about World Bank’s lending policies and how these loans had helped developing countries. Ms. Laura Crow focused in on how organizations can find the training and resources necessary to start up CSR programs in the region. All three speakers then got together on stage to join a panel discussion.

March 23rd 2007
The theme for this series was "Managing Human Assets" and the speakers were Ms. Cheryl Liew, Director from Employer Alliance, Ms. Tan Joo Hymn, President, Association of Women for Action and Research and Ms. Charlotte Thng, Head of Human Resources, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking. Ms. Cheryl spoke about the importance of work life balance and about her organization’s contribution in this area. Ms. Tan Joo Hymn focused on various issues faced by women in their working place. She also stressed upon the importance of removing these challenges which would help in bringing in more women into the workforce. One of the responsibilities of Ms. Charlotte Thng as Head of Human Resources is to help the employees of the Corporate and Investment banking division to maintain a healthy work life balance. She spoke about the various policies that are being implemented at Citibank in order to achieve the same.

March 30th 2007
The theme for this speaker series was ‘Green Money’. As environmentally conscious corporate citizens, it’s the responsibility of every company to gauge the impact of their actions on the environment. The speakers were Mr. Howard Shaw, Singapore Environment Council and Ms. Jasmine Teo, ST Microelectronics. Mr. Shaw was well placed in the nexus between corporate action and environmental impact. He had contributed towards shaping Singapore’s environmental policies, strategies as well as action plans. On the other hand Ms. Teo was to give a corporate perspective to this issue of environmental awareness. ST Microelectronics has been deploying CSR values and commitments in its daily activities, and integrating a culture of responsibility and accountability in its decision making process. Environmental resources conservation initiatives at STM have resulted in huge savings for the company and it has become a role model for other Singaporean companies to look up to.

This event marked the conclusion of a wonderful interactive learning experience for the entire NUS Student Community – the CSR Awareness Month 2007. We, the CEFG from NUS Business School, are delighted to have played a constructive role in this event. We thank the NUS Business School, the NUS CSR Group and the elite speaker community for having supported us in conducting such an important and large-scale event.

Cerebration: A testimony!

As I settled into my seat on the plane back to France, I had to pinch myself to believe it was true. Four days earlier I had arrived in Singapore with very few preconceptions of what to expect of Cerebration 2007. Perhaps the only thing I was sure of was that we were not going to win. I was even wrong about that – to the astonishment of my teammates and I, we won the final, edging out the team from NUS. My thoughts turned to the future and what I would say if the next generation of INSEAD students asked me about the competition and what to expect?

Firstly I would tell them to expect a fabulously well-organized event from start to finish. Cerebration is a far cry from the haphazard “it’ll-be-alright-on-the-night” style of events commonly seen at business schools. This is a serious competition, carefully planned and executed by a team of students who have clearly invested much time and thought in making sure that the event is a success.

Secondly they can expect a tremendously warm and welcoming group of hosts not just in terms of the event organizers but also in terms of the wider NUS community. They can rest assured that they will quickly be made to feel at home and get the chance throughout the four days to meet and engage with a remarkably diverse and stimulating group of fellow students.

Thirdly, they can look forward to a rigorous competition in which they will be put in the spot and challenged by entrepreneurs and case sponsors alike. They will gain real insights into the priorities of successful small or medium-sized enterprises as well as to find out about the exciting different ways other groups tacked the same sorts of business problem.

In summary I would say that the event is a credit to NUS, its students and to the organization team and hopefully an institution that will grow from strength to strength in the future.

Tim Hill

Team Insead Entrepreneurs (Winners Cerebration 2007)

Insead Business School

Cerebration 2007 – Un succès magnifique

After months of countless hours of hard work, perspiration and a frenzy of activity, the sun finally dawned on the day of the Grand finals of Cerebration 2007. The venue aptly chosen for the finalé was the Grand Copthorne Waterfront hotel on the banks of the Singapore river. Historically, Singapore grew around the river so that the river became a centre of trade, commerce and finance. Cerebration 2007, with participation from 560+ universities from all continents (barring Antarctica), cannot be any less historic.


Cerebration, hosted by the National University of Singapore's Business School, is one of the premier business plan competitions in the world. The case sponsors for this year's event were ThaiExpress, Ron Kaufman's Up Your Service! College and OSIM. The semi-finalists were the teams from Texas A&M University, Rotterdam School of Management, INSEAD, NUS Business School, Rice University and MIT Sloan. After the semi-finals, all but the teams from MIT Sloan and Texas A&M University managed to secure a place in the ultimate round of the competition.


The finals were keenly contested with all four teams displaying their prowess in ground research and presentation skills. However, that was not all. The teams then had to field a barrage of questions from one of the toughest panels of judges. The judges came from companies like HSBC, Sabre Capital and Financial Times to name a few and included the case sponsors as well as other dignitaries who have achieved high ground in their chosen professions.


After the presentations and Q & A sessions, the team from INSEAD was declared as the winner. This team presented the ThaiExpress case. The runner up was the home team from NUS Business School who presented the Ron Kaufman case. It was champagne time then for the teams from INSEAD and NUS Business School. After the competition was formally concluded, everyone could be seen enjoying the cocktails and the dinner. All in all, it was an afternoon to remember. Kudos to all the people who organized such a brilliant event.


Parag Kulkarni
MBA Class of 2008