On Friday 26 February, three teams of Business students from the University of Westminster took part in the semi-finals of the IBM University Business Challenge 2021.
Team leaders were Shaheer Ahmed studying on the Business Economics BSc Honours course, Jean Carrasco Mallma from the Business Management (Digital Business) BSc Honours course and Seyed Mansouri from the Business Management BA Honours course. The students were mentored by Karen Kufuor, Principal Lecturer from the School of Organisations, Economy, and Society, and saw off competition from some 200 University teams across the country over a five-month period to take part in this year’s semi-finals.
The Universities Business Challenge Worldwide is the world’s longest running simulation-based online competition which was established in 1998. The competition involves three challenging rounds, competing with over 250 teams in the nationwide undergraduate business competition, which is trusted and supported by leading universities and graduate employers. The competition develops all the skills necessary to start and develop a new business, including creativity, presentation and pitching skills, business strategy, investment and marketing decisions.
Talking about the competition, team mentor and Principal Lecturer Karen Kufuor said: “I am delighted that three Westminster teams made it to the semi-finals this year. Our success winning the the competition last year fuelled a surge in interest and over 20 teams applied for the chance to represent our University in this prestigious competition.”
Talking about the experience, Westminster’s Team Leader Shaheer Ahmed, said: “the first round was challenging, and it really tested our limits as everything was so new to us as first year students, but as we worked together we got through.”
Michele Anastasio added: “participating in the University Business Challenge has been a great opportunity and it has helped me improve several skills such as team-working, time management and the planning associated with running a business.”
Shaheer’s team successfully made it to the final round of the IBM University Business Challenge, which will take place on March 12.
Talking about the team’s success, team member Karthik Ramesh said: “The challenge of taking part online was hard – as first year students we had never met in person- but we had to make our dreams bigger than our fears and now we are in the finals!”
Another team mate Armash Ramzeen added: “If you want to walk far, walk together; teamwork and dedication is what brought us success in the semi-finals.”
Learn more about Finance and Accounting courses at the University of Westminster.
Find out more about Business and Management courses at the University of Westminster.
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