What business idea would you pitch to Richard Branson if you bumped into him in a lift? Year 12 high school students were put to the test as part of the Australian School of Business (ASB) Global Business Leaders Challenge.
"The Global Business Leaders Challenge was developed to offer a stimulating day for year 12 high-school students where they could participate in similar activities and challenges as those they would experience as a student at the Australian School of Business,” said Rebecca Harcourt, ASB program coordinator.
As part of UNSW Network Schools program, students were inspired and challenged by leading ASB academicsand undergraduate students through a series of workshops, discussions and simulations.
The ASB Global Business Challenge tested and developed students’ creativity, aptitude and ability to work as a team in a global business context.
“The participants rose to the series of challenges including the tension between delivering and developing marketable business propositions within diverse global markets, where social responsibility, ethical and environmental factors are equally important as profit and growth," said Rebecca Harcourt.
The simulations helped the students develop their skills in negotiation, presentation and communication, networking and entrepreneurship.
The day culminated in the teams creating and pitching their global business idea in front of a panel of ASB experts.
Navith, a participating year 12 student said: “I thought there were some great ideas that came out of the final challenge especially given the time constraints we were under. We only had 20 minutes to bring together our research and formulate our ideas before pitching to the panel of judges. The things we learnt in that short amount of time and the quality of each team’s business case was impressive.”