A case for financially-viable event promotion

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Headshots of each student

4 minute read

The Australian National University (ANU) College of Business and Economics’ (CBE) Business Case Study Competition, offered by the Research School of Accounting (RSA), has completed its fifth year.

The virtual competition brings together teams of Year 11 and 12 students to showcase their analytical, problem-solving and communication skills. It provides high school students an opportunity to challenge their understanding of analysing and presenting financial information, corporate governance and effective decision making in a business setting.

Cadence Goveas, Darshan Gohil, Devieka Mayadev and Riha Jain from JBCN International School, Borivali in Mumbai, India are the members of the winning team.

They, and their competitors, were required to come up with original solutions to a hypothetical case study, put forward by RSA.

This year’s case study asked students to propose a financially-viable venture for organising and promoting musical and other live arts events, on and around the ANU campus. Each competing team had to adopt the role of a group of young entrepreneurial ANU students who, after witnessing the excitement around the University’s Orientation Week, became inspired to increase the number of events on campus post COVID-19 lockdowns in Canberra.

The format of the competition included a selection round and the final round. In the selection round, students submitted a written report and the top teams progressed to the final round. In the final round, students submitted a video presentation of their case study analysis.

A judging panel comprised of RSA academics Professor Juliana Ng, Professor Greg Shailer and Dr Rebecca Tan evaluated all submissions to select the winning team.

Team “The Case Connoisseur” won the competition with their proposed venture, MyFo, a recurring music and arts festival held on ANU campus on the first Friday and Saturday of each month.

Their submission showed a thorough understanding of the case study requirements, addressed relevant market issues based on individual research, and demonstrated an appropriate level of understanding of relevant financial and management accounting issues.

The judging panel congratulates the students on their achievement.

“We continue to be impressed and entertained by many of the submissions in this annual competition. While judging submissions that often show different strengths can be challenging, this year’s winning team demonstrated originality and good research, reasoning and communication in their proposal. The collective skills they exhibited suggest they will be very successful if they choose careers in accounting or business,” says Professor Greg Shailer.

The winning team enjoyed their experience and share below their personal highlights and what they gained from the competition.


Cadence Goveas

In what ways do you think the competition prepared you for the business world?

I have had a keen interest in studying management for a few years now, particularly within the music and entertainment industry. The research that we carried out on the financial and practical implications of organising live events, as well as the hands-on task of creating a revenue and expenditure schedule, definitely helped me gain a better understanding of how the industry works in the real world.

Darshan Gohil

What are the most valuable skills and lessons you learned? 

I learned how to work as a team, and make full use of the different knowledge, strengths and skills each of us could offer to the competition. With the help of our teachers, I also learned how to communicate my points effectively, particularly during the shooting of our video.

Devieka Mayadev

What did you find most challenging and rewarding about the competition?

The most challenging part of the competition was probably working out how to best make a plan for our venture, which would be both possible and successful. The most rewarding part was the long hours spent with my teammates discussing ideas and doing research.

Riha Jain

Why did you decide to participate in this competition?

I chose to participate in this event as I felt that this competition was the perfect opportunity for me to hone my analytical skills, as well as attempt to work better when in a team. This experience was also an exceptional way to apply the concepts I learned in Business Studies over the past few months.

 

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