Organised by Golden Education, the GCE Famous Companies Challenge is an enlightening business competition aimed at developing business awareness and professional skills for university students, helping them plan their university studies and time wisely, and gaining practical experience and career skills for the future workplace. The competition is based on economics, business and technology, and participants are required to answer questions in the form of written reports, PowerPoint presentations and presentations.

The competition process was divided into four competitions based on regions: online preliminary round, online replay, city replay and regional final. Our four freshmen students (Zhang Jian, Chen Zhong, Cai Wantong from Business School and Wang Jiajun from College of New Materials and New Energies) formed the Golden Business Competition team and competed with students from various universities in the Greater Bay Area, including The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) and Shenzhen University, and finally qualified for the City Final and won the fourth place in the Greater Bay Area. The following are testimonials from the participating members on what they gained from this competition.

Team member: Zhang Jian (Financial Management Class 1, 2022 cohort, Business School, SZTU)

We participated in a commercial competition for the first time and chose the Challenge of Famous Enterprises as our starting point. From the end of 2022 to the end of February 2023, we successfully advanced to the city finals and ultimately stopped at the top four in the Greater Bay Area. Although we fell just short of entering the finals, looking back on this experience, we gained a lot.Firstly, the biggest gain was the improvement of our independent thinking ability. We learned how to analyze cases, break down problems, analyze the logic behind them, and write persuasive business reports based on these analyses. This was thanks to the guidance of Prof Chloe. With her help, we learned how to write clear, standardized, and persuasive business reports, rather than simply piling up content and models.Secondly, the competition trained our critical thinking skills. We began to question the reasons behind the data and discussed relevant solutions.Finally, the competition greatly helped to improve our team's cohesion. We held countless group meetings, brainstormed numerous times, and often stayed up late together to modify our proposals before deadlines, which further strengthened our team's collaboration.

Although we did not enter the finals, this competition experience was very valuable for us. It enabled us to improve important skills such as independent thinking, critical thinking, and teamwork, which will be beneficial for our future careers.

Team member: Chen Zihong (Marketing Class 1, 2022 cohort, Business School, SZTU)

As part of a team of four first-year students, this was the first large-scale and official business competition we had participated in. The journey from the preliminary rounds, to the final rounds and then to the final four in the Greater Bay Area was very rewarding, but we also felt sorry that we were only one step away from making it to the finals.

Looking back on the whole process, which took more than two months, the biggest reward is that I learnt from scratch what a business competition is and how to play it.

It is a competition that requires a lot of time, unlike other types of competitions, it has a long duration, generally 3 to 4 months, so it is important to grasp the time, so our team planned the time for each part of the competition at the beginning, but also because of the lack of experience, we were busy until 5am when we handed in a draft.

Secondly, for someone who has not been exposed to business competitions before, the preliminary round is what I consider to be the more difficult part compared to the later rounds, as this period requires you to learn about business in a big way from outside the books and understand the whole industry, as well as learning how to write a business report, how to collate and analyse business data and provide substantive advice to the business based on this. The knowledge is overwhelming and the learning is occasionally exhausting, but more than that, it is enriching.

Finally, a special thank you to Ms Chen Hao of the Business School for her patient guidance along the way!

Team member: Cai Wantong (International Business Class 1, 2022 cohort, Business School, SZTU)

Recommendation:

1. Teamwork is important, pay attention to the reasonable division of labor and timely communication

Finding members with complementary personalities and skills is recommended when forming a team. For example, if I am more impatient, they will be more moderate and will pull me along a bit when doing something, so that the whole team can be more stable; but occasionally, when everyone wants to be a ‘couch potato’, I will jump out and pull everyone forward.

In addition, there will be arguments during the preparation process, and during that time we need to communicate timely and make it clear that the purpose of disagreement between members is to make the entry delivered by the whole team higher quality. Excellent entry requires countless times of idea collision and polishing between team members, so we must pay attention to the discussion (of course, we should pay attention to our attitude in the discussion)

2. Plan your time well in advance and execute it carefully

The rounds of the competition were very tightly scheduled. The second round clashed with the final revision week, and the third round clashed with military training. To prepare better for the process, before the start of each round we integrated everyone's schedule to make a good overall preparation schedule, arranging the overall progress bar and the general things to be done each day to make the preparation process more smooth, reduce unnecessary time conflicts and improve efficiency. How to execute after planning is also a big issue. Thanks to my group members and myself, we all can execute and remind each other even if we occasionally want to slack off.

3. Cultivate the ability to learn actively and ask the instructor about complex issues timely

The Business Competition examined many knowledge points that had not been learned in class, so I needed to search for relevant experience-sharing and textbook tutorials to learn.

When you encounter a difficult knowledge point, you must ask your instructor in time, as they have a wealth of knowledge and can often point out the problems in your entry at once, which can save you a lot of time wondering. I would like to thank Prof. Chloe for her patience and guidance, she taught us a lot!

Harvest:

1. Communication skills

The final presentation session, the report writing, and the preparation process all required communication with the judges and teammates. How to present complex content, briefly, and logically was the biggest harvest I made during the competition.

2. Applying classroom knowledge to practice and deepening knowledge

In freshman year, we hadn't learned anything deeper than the basic framework and a few models in the class. So in the first draft of the competition, we piled up the models we had learned (don't learn!). We are very grateful to Prof.Chloe for his patience. We are very grateful to Prof.Chloe for his patience in helping us to clarify the use of different models and their logical relationships. In the next two reports, we also used the models and methods in this way, deepening our knowledge of the books and producing two excellent works. In my professional studies this semester, I have also been consciously reviewing what I have learned in class and thinking about applying it in the context of the problems I encountered during the competition.

3. Forced to learn new knowledge and new skills

As a freshman, my knowledge of my major, basic office software, and how to search for effective information is very limited. For example, the topic of the final competition was the cost analysis of a company, which was completely new to us, but we still found relevant books and instructional videos to study and finally delivered a high-scoring entry. Although the process was tiring, gaining a lot of new knowledge was very fulfilling.

Team member: Wang Jiajun (Microelectronics Class 1, 2022 cohort, College of New Materials and New Energies, SZTU)

The Golden Business Competition was our team's first formal business competition, with a relatively long competition period of two months. Unfortunately, the final competition conflicted with our school's military training schedule, so we could only squeeze in time to prepare for the competition after training every night. Although we eventually stopped at the top four in the Greater Bay Area, it was still a valuable experience for us.

Looking back on this competition experience, we gained a lot. Firstly, my ability to summarize and communicate improved. I am not a business major, but our team is full of talented individuals. Whenever we brainstormed, various sharp ideas and new vocabulary collided with each other, which required me to internalize and efficiently express ideas in the constant collision of thoughts. As a result, my ability to summarize and express myself has been improved.

Secondly, my time management skills have improved. Our preparation time was short, so it was essential to discuss sharp and logically complete ideas in a limited amount of time. From starting with submitting the draft at 5 am to discussing the paper's structure and main points within two hours, this competition has greatly improved our time management and ability to grasp the main points.

Lastly, our execution ability improved. Although the preparation time was short, there was a lot of content to prepare. The short time and high demands constantly honed our execution ability, allowing us to go through a transformation.

Although this competition was not directly related to my major, I still gained a lot and broadened my horizons. I believe this experience will be deeply imprinted in my memory. Finally, I would like to express my special gratitude to Teacher Chen Hao, who has been helping us all the way. I am truly grateful for her patient guidance and assistance.

Picture 1-4. Team members' competition certificate

Picture 5. Team's presentation

Picture 6. Group photo (from left to right: Wang Jiajun, Chen Zihong, Cai Wantong, Zhang Jian)

Picture/Text: Wang Jiajun, Chen Zihong, Cai Wantong, Zhang Jian

Proof: Hao CHEN