Four students from the Faculty of Business (FB) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) brought home the Silver Prize at the 5th Business Plan Competition, which was held in Jinan, Shandong province, on the mainland in mid-October.

The prize underlines CityU students’ ability to apply professional

knowledge and marketing skills to creating business plans that cater to the needs of the market.

The aim of the competition, which attracted student teams from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, was to challenge the ability of young people to devise innovative and feasible business plans.

CityU’s award-winning contribution was System Analysis of Lion Hill IT Consulting Firm, which targets poor service quality and low work efficiency in two- to three-star hotels on the mainland. It was devised by Cyril Chen Yun-kai and Jay Qiu Jie, Year 2 students in the Departments of Accountancy and Information Systems respectively, and Vincent Lau Tsz-hin and Mike Tang Kwok-ho, Year 3 students in the Department of Marketing.

Each student in the team specialized in a different area of expertise. Jay had first-hand information about the hotel industry on the mainland because his family runs a business in this field; Cyril, majoring in accountancy, took care of financial planning and budgeting; and Mike and Vincent, both marketing majors, conducted market analysis and suggested marketing strategies. That the team could apply its experience and knowledge ensured that the plan was highly feasible.

The students spent one month working on the proposal and preparing for a presentation, which was made in front of 1,000 people. They said the experience was an invaluable opportunity to apply marketing concepts and strategies, adding that it was an eye-opening experience because they were exposed to outstanding creativity in the proposals put forward by other teams.

Professor Lilian Vrijmoed Kwan Lee-ping

, Dean of Student Learning, said she was pleased the CityU students involved had seen the Competition as an opportunity to challenge themselves. “This is a great experience to learn to be first-rate team players and learn from other participants. I hope our students can continue to set high standards for themselves and achieve excellence in the workplace,” Professor Vrijmoed said.

Dr Michael Ho Moon-tong, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Information Systems and an advisor to the students on their proposal, said the business plan was highly feasible and could be implemented in a network of hotels. Mr Alex Tham Koy-siong, an instructor in the Department of Marketing and another advisor on the project, said exposure to similar activities including the Department’s Business Leader Forum and the Active Learning Award Scheme amplified the students’ ability to grasp marketing opportunities.

The 5th Business Plan Competition is a nation-wide competition which is held every two years. It is organized by the Ministry of Education, Communist Youth League of China, China Association for Science and Technology, and All-China Students' Federation. It is co-organized by Shandong University and the Jinan municipal government.