University of South Australia Collaborates with Wisdom Business Academy
The University of South Australia, in partnership with Wisdom Business Academy announce an annual transnational Social Enterprise Competition, designed to hone the management skills of budding leaders of tomorrow.
The Social Enterprise Case Competition, organized by University of South Australia is the brainchild of Prof. Carol Tilt, Professor of Accounting in the School of Commerce and Co-Director of the University of South Australia (UniSA) Yunus Social Business Centre and Dr. Sanjaya Kuruppu, Lecturer in Accounting, UniSA Business School.
The Competition: Wisdom-CIMA Students Representing Sri Lanka
The Social Enterprise Case Competition is a cross-cultural competition where UniSA students are to work in teams together with students from partner universities in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. This competition includes the participation of Sri Lanka, represented by CIMA students from Wisdom Business Academy participating on par with university students from Australia, India and Bangladesh from academic backgrounds.
Competition Outline
Guidelines of Scenario
Students will explore an area of disadvantage and propose either a business case for an appropriate social enterprise where the idea can be designed to work as a start-up or else, one that is in conjunction with an existing Not-for-Profit organization, or else, a business case for an innovative idea, product or service with social benefit, that could be pitched to an existing enterprise. The business idea, product or service should meet the needs of less fortunate members of society while also operating as a viable business:
- The social enterprise may be for profit or not for profit (but must be viable);
- The product may be ‘fictitious’ but must be reasonable and sensible;
- The social benefit must be included. This can be for beneficiaries and addressing societal and economic issues such as, homelessness, sickness, poverty, education, the environment (reduce carbon emissions, pollution, plastic) as well as animal welfare and conservation.
Competition Mechanism Qualifying Rounds
Content mechanics detail that the partner universities take responsibility in the initial selection round, to arrive at a choice of 6 students to progress forth in the main competition. Next, 2 UniSA students will be placed in a group with 3 students from a partner university. A total of 6 such teams are to qualify for the final round. A series of workshops are to be live streamed and conducted by university professors as well as industry experts.
Selection Rounds
The workshop and one-on-one consultations for selection round were structured, as follows:
Presentations, (which were conducted on the 10 and 11 September 2019), included 6 students from Operational level, 21 students from Management level and 5 students from Strategic level participating in the selection round. Students were placed in teams of two to compete in the Selection Round where they presented a Business Plan, inclusive of financial, marketing and sales strategies for an innovative social enterprise idea with a societal benefit.
Finale
The final 3 teams (6 students) were chosen, followed by an awards ceremony held on 16 September 2019 at the CIMA Auditorium with the participation of Dr. Sanjaya Kuruppu, Partnership Manager for Wisdom Business Academy at the University of South Australia. All students who participated in the initial round received certificates, co-branded by the University of South Australia, CIMA and Wisdom Business Academy. Wisdom presented plaques and scholarships to the 6 students who qualified for the final round of the competition.
Also in attendance at the event was Ms. Zahara Ansary, Country Manager – CIMA Sri Lanka, Mr. Chinthaka Wijayaratne, Group General Manager of Wisdom Business Academy, Ms. Shashini Nanayakkara, Manager-Academic Programmes, Wisdom Business Academy, Mr. Vithushan Sivasubramaniam, Manager Markets, CIMA and Mr. Tharindu Wijewardana, Manager New Business Development of CIMA Sri Lanka.
Final 6 students:
- Zeenath Thowfeek
- Anishka Gunasekera
- Pulukkutti Ralalage Udesh Irantha Gunarathne
- Gamage Alias Gonawalage Akila Uthsara Shantha
- Agalawatta Ranasinhaghe Thilini Wasana Agalawatta
- Wijesinghege Dona Rashmi Vidyani Wijesinghe
The students are to develop a business case and then progress to prepare a presentation, which will be conducted and delivered to a panel of industry experts.
Final round to be held on 31st October 2019
The Winning Team
The winning team will receive a trip to visit each other’s home countries: for instance, if one of the UniSA-Wisdom teams win, Wisdom students will gain the opportunity to visit Adelaide to spend time with their partners and travel around the city and the university. Likewise, the UniSA students too, will also receive the chance of a trip to visit to Sri Lanka, with all expenses paid for by the university.
Country Prize & Certification from the University of South Australia
The rest of the two finalist countries will be awarded Country Prizes in the form of cash prizes. Furthermore, all winners and students selected to participate in the Final Rounds will also receive certificates from the University of South Australia.
Wisdom Business Academy
Wisdom Business Academy is Sri Lanka’s largest CIMA business school and is the only Sri Lankan one amongst the top 10 largest CIMA tutor colleges in the World.