ACCA Business Challenge presented by AIESEC in University of Colombo

The end of January of 2021 was one that many would remember as the ​“ACCA Business Challenge - The Grand Finale” presented by ​AIESEC in University of Colombo which

 was held on the 30th of January. Partnering with ACCA Sri Lanka, Hayleys Advantis, Softlogic Information Technologies , NDB Investment Bank, Olis and ShoutOUT Labs as main monetary partners, contributed in being able to really give the event the flair that it deserved. The thanking gifts to the judges and moderator were sponsored by Thuru, Blossoms, Culture Colombo and La chocolata. The event was exclusively covered by our media partners for the event, Lankadeepa Online, Tamil Mirror Online, Daily FT Online and Daily Mirror Online.

The ACCA Business Challenge is the first-ever corporate competition organized by AIESEC in University of Colombo to enhance skills of young undergraduates as a leadership-oriented organization. This case study competition was geared towards undergraduates who are from UGC recognized Universities in Sri Lanka.

The main aim of this event was to make undergraduates practice and be familiar with the Top 10 skills for 2025 by the World Economic Forum. Those summarized skills are,

1. Analytical thinking
2. Active learning
3. Creativity
4. Technology design
5. Critical thinking
6. Leadership
7. Social influence
8. Emotional intelligence
9. Reasoning
10. System analysis

ACCA Business Challenge secured a delegation of 217 participants of 59 teams from almost all the government universities in Sri Lanka and a considerable number of registrations from private universities as well.

During the course of the competition, Participants went through 2 rounds in addition to the grand finale. An introductory session was also held with the intention of teaching the participants on how to do a case study to better prepare them for the coming trials.

1. Simulation MCQ round

The simulation round was held on the 15​ of January on an online platform. All 217 participants competed in this online test, from which a great many teams were unable to make it into the top ten teams. The top ten teams who made it to the submission round are Achievers, Team OutOfScope, Igniters, Team Avatar, Cryptonite, CYRAYS, Team Enigma, Team HasAsolution, Hotshots and Team Frontline. The pass rate was calculated by the online test site itself and the best ten teams were chosen based on their final mark rankings.

2. Submission round

After announcing the top ten teams, the case study prompt was sent to them with a period of 6 days given to research, analyze, make, and send in their case study presentation. The presentations were submitted bythe 22​ of January. The submissions were evaluated by our honourable judge panel for the semifinal round, Mr Shehan Fernando, CEO of Alpha business school and Dilshad Jiffry, Managing Director of

ICON Business School representing ACCA member network panel of ACCA, Sri Lanka

3.Grand finale
The grand finale was held on the 30​ of January from 10.30 AM to 1.00 PM on the AIESEC Sri Lanka FB page. The session was moderated by Sharon Mascarenhas and joined by the honourable judges, Ms Rathnakala Gurunathan and Mr Nandika Budhdhipala who represented the ACCA member network panel, Sri Lanka. The teams that made it to the grand finale were Team OutOfScope, Igniters, CYRAYS, Cryptonite and Team HasAsolution. The event kicked off with great fanfare and the teams presented their case studies to the judges. After all the presentations were over, the judges nominated their top 3 picks for the audience vote. They are,

1. Summayya Ziyad from Team OutOfSCope

2. Sivamayouri Premnath from CYRAYS

3.Sevindu Ranasinghe from Igniters

Viewers voted for their favourite and the polls closed after 15 minutes. The last moments of the Grand Finale were upon us. The Grand Prize worth 50 000 LKR was won by Team OutOfScope consisting of Saroj De Seram, Summayya Ziyad, G.L.P. Wijesinghe. The Honorable Mention Award worth 15 000 LKR was awarded to Team Frontline consisting of Avishka Hettiarachchi, Maneth Wijethunga, Venodi Widanagamage and Hiruni Dahanayake. The Best Pitcher Award worth 10 000 LKR which was given based on viewer votes, went to Sivamayouri Premnath.

Thus, came the end of ACCA Business Challenge presented by AIESEC in University of Colombo. With the guidance and leadership of the executive board of AIESEC in University of Colombo and the organizing committee president, Arunodani Bandara; this brand-new venture has come to fruition in a spectacular grand finale. As such, it is our hope as the Organizing committee that this event was one that taught everyone who was a part of this, something new and something to improve on. AIESEC in University of Colombo will continue to inspire and develop the future leaders of the society, by delivering more and more leadership experiences.