In line with CIMA’s vision to develop future business leaders and to change lives around the world, the CIMA Global Business Challenge (GBC) 2011 has been developed and organised in partnership with Barclays. The CIMA GBC is designed to bring out the best in future business leaders and to give them the opportunity to experience real business scenarios and to gain global exposure. Being our global headline partner, Barclays shares a similar vision of developing young talents around the world.

The GBC 2011 had attracted over 8,500 registrations from 17 regions around the world. The participating regions included Australia, Bangladesh, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, the Middle East, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, the UK and Vietnam.

The 2011 global final was held on 23 - 24 July 2011 in China, one of CIMA’s established markets.

ShanghaiThe GBC 2011 global final trip started with a visit to Shanghai where the participants were officially hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Government. They stayed in the heart of Lujiazui Financial Zone from where they visited the headquarters of the Bank of Communications (BOCOM) and the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The participants also attended a forum themed ‘Dialogue between Shanghai Financier and Future Global Business Elites’, where ten leaders in the financial service sector gave insight into their respective industries. CIMA China director, Vicky Li, highlighted the importance of having both finance and business skills in shaping a successful financial centre. This makes CIMA people prime candidates across industries and sectors.

The enchanting Huangpu river cruise in the evening was a nice ending to the Shanghai part of

the trip.

The competition: The GBC finalists were then flown to Chengdu, where they battled out for the glory of the global champion title.

All the participants were given the chance to rehearse in the venue to help them visualise and plan for their performance.

Global final - round oneOn day one of the competition the 17 teams were divided into three groups and took to the stage simultaneously to present their findings to a panel of prestigious judges, which included:

Harold Baird FCMA, President, CIMA

Kuan Li Li, Director and Head of Tax, Asia Pacific, Barclays Capital

Aidan Goddard, CFO Asia Pacific, L’Occitane en Provence

Jon Watkins, Group Editor, CIMA publications

T S.N Chow, Finance and Accounting Manager, Maersk

Andrew Harding, Managing Director, CIMA

Clare Williams, Head of Corporate Communications Asia Pacific, Barclays

Eric Wildschut, Planning and Appraisal Manager for Global Functions, Shell

Ng Seow Kong, Group CFO, Top Education Group

‘The CIMA GBC is a ‘Catalyst’ that has enabled us to experience success and driven us to become who we are today.’

The Quad Core, Middle East Team

Michael Luo, Executive Director, APJ Global Financial Services, Dell

Deepesh Lad FCMA, COO Asia Pacific Finance, Barclays Capital

James Loke, CEO, Tangs Department Store (Trading) Sdn Bhd

Renee Wang, Finance Director Asia Pacific, TRW Asia Pacific Co. Ltd

Dale Xiang, Finance Director Asia Pacific, Wabco

Andy Tyler, Partner, Client Training Academy Assurance, PWC

The standard of the presentations was extraordinary and the judges had their work cut out deliberating which top six teams would go through to round two. Andrew Harding, Managing Director, CIMA, said ‘It has been exceptionally difficult to judge at times as the level of business skill in evidence has been striking.’

Global final - round twoDay two began with the announcement of the six teams who had made it through to round two of the competition. The excitement in the room

was electrifying as Andrew Harding read out the names of the shortlisted teams.

The shortlisted teams were from Ireland, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, the Philippines and Australia. Both proud and nervous, the round two finalists set off to prepare themselves while the other candidates had a feedback session with the judges.

The venueTianfu International Financial Centre was the chosen venue for the two-day competition. Situated in the heart of Chengdu’s financial district, the Tianfu International Financial Centre is the investment gateway for foreign businesses and financial institutions. It was an extremely fitting venue for a high profile international business competition such as the CIMA GBC. Over the two days, the competition attracted around 700 audiences.

Video competitionThe ‘Best team video’ competition was also part of the build up to the main event. Members

‘The standard of the entries in this year’s competition has been incredibly high and with such fine minds coming into the business

arena, we can be sure that the future is in good hands.’

– Harold Baird FCMA, President, CIMA

‘Without the CIMA GBC there is little opportunity for us to reach the real business world. The challenge gives us the opportunity to think as management accountants’

5 Wings, China Team

of the public were invited to vote for their favourite video hosted on the CIMA GBC video competition site. The global finalist teams were asked to produce a three-minute video clip to introduce themselves and promote the benefits of the CIMA qualification. Team Sri Lanka had the most votes, making them the winners, followed closely by Team India.

Gala dinner and awards ceremonyThe event concluded with a spectacular gala dinner and awards ceremony. The gala dinner was held in a traditional Chinese tea house called ‘Sun Sin’. The tea house offered a sense of culture to top off the celebratory atmosphere; making it an unusual experience for all that attended the event.

This dinner was also attended by local academics, high profile business representatives and all those involved with the organisation of the event. It was a celebration of success and collaboration of culture which reflected the potential future of young business talents in an ever evolving business world with no international boundaries.

Global championScions, University of the Philippines Visayas College of Management

First runner upCase Crackers, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Second runners upEva Consulting, The University of New South Wales, Australia

Future business leaderMinh Pham, Fingerprints, Foreign Trade University, Vietnam

Video competition winnersApex, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

The other round two finalistsApexUniversity of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Compass ConsultingUniversity College Cork, Ireland

The Business PeopleThe University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Other global finalists5 WingsHuazhong University of Science and Technology, China

Abertay 1University of Abertay Dundee, United Kingdom

AGILISUniversiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

DreamsThe University of Hong Kong

FingerprintsForeign Trade University, Vietnam

L’hirondelleThe Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration

Palapa Universitas Indonesia

TatvaBirla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India

The Code BreakersInstitute of Business Management, Pakistan

Quad CoreUniversity of Wollongong in Dubai

‘We feel honoured to represent our country in the ‘Olympics of the Business World’ Tatva, India Team

The results of the competition

Trip to Barclays Hong KongThe GBC global headline partner Barclays hosted a trip for all global finalists to visit their Barclays Capital site in Hong Kong. Participants were given the privilege to tour Barclays’ trading floors and to network with interns and executives of Barclays. Not only did the participants get to know Barclays’ portfolio, they learnt a great deal about the investment banking industry. Barclays also organised group activities and a CV writing session as part of the experience.

Towards the end of the trip, the participants were given a surprise treat – tickets to an international football match between Chelsea and the local Kitchee football club. This was definitely an experience of a life time.

Andrew Harding, Managing Director, CIMA added, ‘I would like to commend team Scions on their outstanding performance and on becoming this year’s CIMA GBC champions. The GBC is the most important event in CIMA’s calendar as it gives the world an opportunity to discover the business leaders of tomorrow and to highlight the critical importance of developing business talent in an increasingly competitive global market.’ He added ‘The competition has been a phenomenal success and I applaud each of the finalists on making it through to the global final.’

Tour of ChengduAfter an intense two days of sheer hard work, the participants were finally able to relax and enjoy the wonderful city of Chengdu. They were taken on a visit to the Jinsha museum to further explore the Chinese culture through relics and archeological findings.

The highlight of the trip has to be the tour around the Chengdu Research Base of Panda Breeding, where participants had the chance to see real life giant pandas and meet ‘Cima’, the giant panda sponsored by CIMA.

‘This is unbelievable – we had faced a gruelling six months to get to this stage. It has been such a thrill to compete at the GBC and we are honoured to represent our country and win!’

Team Scions, the Philippine Team, global champion 2011

What’s next?

Are you an undergraduate interested in a challenge? Do you want to experience this fascinating journey?

The CIMA GBC may be your opportunity to meet and impress multinational employers and sky-rocket your future career.

Find out more by visiting www.cimaglobal.com/gbc or contact your local CIMA office.

Check out video clips on the GBC 2011 global final and interview with the finalists at www.cimaglobal.com/GBCexperience

Sign up for an opportunity of a lifetime today!

If you are interested in sponsoring the CIMA Global Business Challenge, please contact gbc@cimaglobal.com or your local CIMA office.

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

26 Chapter Street London SW1P 4NP United Kingdom

T. +44 (0)20 8849 2251F. +44 (0)20 8849 2250E. gbc@cimaglobal.comwww.cimaglobal.com/gbc