Universitas Gadjah Mada
Faculty of Economics and Business

Students from the Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Gadjah Mada (FEB UGM) have won the top three positions in an international business competition organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). The FEB UGM team also won another award as the Most Agile Team in the ICAEW Mainland China & South-East Asia Business Challenge 2024 competition held in Jakarta on May 11, 2024. The FEB UGM team also won another award as the Most Agile Team in the ICAEW Mainland China & South-East Asia Business Challenge 2024 competition held in Jakarta on May 11, 2024.

The winning team, a testament to the diversity and inclusivity of FEB UGM, was composed of Airyn Nabiel Karaputri (IUP Economics 2022), Ancilla Patsy Martani (IUP Management 2021), Dinda Redinata Fadilah (Accounting 2021), Elizabeth Christy Go (IUP Management 2021), Grace Zefanya Octovella Situmorang (Economics 2021), and Yovania Maria Angelita (Accounting 2021). They were guided by supervisors Prof. Ainun Naim, Ph.D., M.B.A., and Fu'ad Rakhman, S.E., M.Sc., Ph.D., CA, and mentor Dr. Okkie Putriani. In addition to winning third place and being awarded the Most Agile Team, one of its members, Elizabeth Christy Go, won Best Presenter.

In the prestigious competition, the FEB UGM team named Six Sigma had to compete with ten teams from universities in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia. With Singapore Management University (SMU) and VinUniversity, Vietnam, in the top three, the FEB UGM team won the 3rd place. "We are very grateful and did not expect to win the championship among such competitive international teams. We had a lot of pressure from the beginning, considering Indonesia is the host, but fortunately, we can still make Indonesia and UGM proud. This is the first time UGM has won ICAEW at the national and even international level. Hopefully, it can be maintained and improved in the future," said Six Sigma team leader Yovania when contacted on Monday (13/5).

Yovania said they won third place internationally after completing a business case related to a London-based gaming company industry. Each team was given 90 minutes to read, analyze, perform financial calculations, create strategies and a deck, and collect the analysis results. In the competition, the team was asked to act as a business consultant to answer the problems of their company related to the internal and external conditions of the company, the risks faced, and make an analysis of whether it is necessary to develop a project that is predicted to meet market demand and support company growth. "We are also asked to decide whether to enter into a joint venture, which concerns the company. The cases are numerous and complex, more than 20 pages of questions," she explained.

The Sigma Six team's path to third place at the international level was challenging. First, they had to compete at the regional level at the ICAEW Indonesia Business Challenge 2024. This regional competition involved 28 teams from 18 universities in Indonesia, where each team was challenged to solve problems, offer innovations and solutions within 48 hours, and demonstrate practical communication skills as chartered accountants. The first place was won by the team from Padjajaran University, and the second place was won by the team from FEB UGM. At the regional grand final, the top two teams will be able to represent Indonesia globally at the ICAEW Mainland China & South-East Asia Business Challenge 2024.

Yovania said the achievement was the result not only of the team's hard work but also of the support and facilitation provided by FEB UGM through the Career and Student Development Unit (CSDU), which provides support and coaching, such as the provision of accompanying lecturers and mentoring incentives, room facilitation, and scheduled training. "The existence of supervisors and CSDU is truly a support system, personally and professionally," she said.

Head of Career and Student Development Unit (CSDU) FEB UGM, Arizona Mustikarini, Ph.D., said that FEB UGM, through CSDU, supports its students who compete in national, regional, and international competitions. The support is provided in various forms, from talent selection, mentoring by experts in their fields from national to international selection, presentation and public speaking training, and funding and sending FEB UGM delegates. These various programs are a form of FEB UGM's commitment to developing future leaders in economics and business to develop aspects of sustainability.

Arizona said that FEB UGM is strongly committed to supporting all students participating in competitions. The CSDU and the mentors coordinate and communicate to guide the delegation of FEB UGM students in achieving their best performance.

"At the previous national level, the FEB UGM team got second place but was eligible to enter the international round. Then, for the international round, we pursued maximum preparation to enter the top three, along with SMU and VinUniversity. This is a proud achievement for FEB UGM," she explained.

The ICAEW Mainland China & South-East Asia Business Challenge is a competition for South-East Asian and China tertiary students. The competition is a platform for students to showcase their talents and innovative thinking in the financial sector to prepare future leaders to face the global challenges of the business world.

Reportage: Kurnia Ekaptiningrum 

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