A student team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong emerged as champions in the World Asian Case Competition (WACC) 2020 by presenting a thorough investigation and technical analysis to the business brand posed during the competition. Team members Su Zie Lee, Han Na Do, Hyo Eun Kim, and Jeyeong Lee (all Integrated BBA year 1 students) dominated the competition and earned the Grand Award, the AAB World Cup Trophy, and financial scholarship support of US $2,000. Prof. Tingting Fan, the team’s advisor, also received the Best Advisor Award for her outstanding guidance to the team.

WACC is an annual case competition organised by the Academy of Asian Business (AAB), which invites students from top institutions around the world to demonstrate their ability to think strategically about complex business issues. This year, the competition theme “How Asian Brands Soar” challenged students to investigate Asian Brands that achieved significant success and became globally powerful brands.

The team worked on a case that demonstrated how a global-minded company, Bibigo under CJ Foodville, on successfully rising as an international brand by expanding its business in global HMR key markets. The team analysed the company’s strategically tough decisions toward closing down under-performing restaurants chains, and implementing clear positioning strategies of remaking a ‘mandu’ anchor brand with successful globalisation.

As the competition champions, the team’s case will be published in the organiser’s book series “How Asian Business Soar”, which would be available in the world’s top universities and Amazon.

Su Zie Lee: The 2020 World Asian Business Case Competition was very meaningful to us. There were many unexpected courses of events and variables, which threw us off throughout the competition. However, we tried our best and found ways to break through the difficulties we faced. Through this competition, we had a taste of how the business concepts we have learned apply to the real business world. We look forward to learning more in the future and expand our intellectual horizons and insights on business practices.

Han Na Do: It was an honour to attend this case competition and being announced Champions. We were able to widen our insights and look into the real business world through our case study.

Hyo Eun Kim: We learned a lot from the case competition, especially on teamwork. Whenever we had conflicts in opinions, we made time for discussion and ensured everyone reached a mutual understanding. Winning first place in the competition was great fulfilment and excitement that made us grow further. By comparing the results and presentations of other teams, we identified areas that we should improve on, and were eagerly looking forward to utilising the experience when competing in future case competitions.

Jeyeong Lee: My passion for business began when I first engaged in a business case competition in high school. The experience of analysing and developing strategies gained in the competition had led me to the business world. In the WACC Case Study competition, I cooperated with my teammates, enriched my knowledge on innovative marketing strategies, and improved skills of critical writing and presentation.