Thursday 2 November 2006
Alexander Jan
Four UQ business students recently ranked 22nd in the global Innovation Challenge competition hosted by the Darden Graduate School of Business in the US.
The Innovation Challenge is touted as the world's largest MBA innovation competition and requires teams to solve real-world business challenges for top-tier global brands. A record 440 teams from 88 universities in 15 countries took part this year.
The three entries from Australia included a UQ Business School team comprising Master of International Business student Alexander Jan, MBA student Dhruv Khanna, and Master of Business students Yen Chua and Cindi Choi.
Dhruv Khanna of Toowong said they had to work to a very demanding timeline, alongside several other major projects.
He said, "Alex and I were also involved in the $100,000 Enterprize business plan competition run by UQ Business School and the new PROFIT$ competition which we developed and launched in conjunction with Wilson HTM and the Business Students Postgraduate Association this year."
"An additional challenge was working with Cindi who is based in Beijing."
The UQ Business School team missed out on its top 10 goal but beat many high profile business schools including Harvard and MIT in the US, the Indian School of Business, and the Judge School of Business at Cambridge in the UK to be ranked 22nd in its category.
Alexander Jan of Chapel Hill said their challenge was to come up with a strategy that would make (global whitegoods manufacturer) Whirlpool a household name in water products.
One of the judges said, "This is a bold and refreshing idea. The presentation is well-thought out and the risks as well as the solutions to overcome them are clearly spelt out. This is one of the few that shows some element of innovation."
Another commented, "This is a very big and compelling idea. The basic idea and the thoughts about partnering are very good and would result in true breakthroughs."
Jan said, "All the judges' comments were really positive so although we didn't make the top 10 we're really happy with the result."
"I believe taking up challenges like this competition is a positive for students and the business schools they represent.
"It's a way to get noticed internationally and even if you fail, you always learn something."
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