From 29th September to 1st October 2017, JATI UKM (stands for Jalinan Antara Universiti dan Industri) had organised a three days and two nights activity named Business Model Challenge Competition (BMC) at the campus of UKM Bangi. This activity was aimed to develop participants’ strategies and business skills which were most useful for participants to start their own business in the future. This activity involved 33 UKM students coming from various faculties.
On the first day of event, the participants were divided into different groups respectively. The event then kicked start with a welcoming speech from Dr. Nor Syafinaz Yaakob, the president of JATI-BMC. She explained about the background of establishment of JATI and then talked about the aims of BMC competition. Next, the representative from Chemical Company of Malaysia (CCM), being the collaborative partner of JATI-BMC introduced the products from the company. These products would also be utilized by the participants for their coming sales competition after this event. It was definitely an honor too, to have Dr Akmal Sabarudin, from UKM CESMED to deliver his talk about the concept of business and marketing strategy. Experienced facilitators from UKM CESMED were also assigned to guide the participants from each group in understanding the knowledge better in group discussion for their pitching competition on the last day of event.
On the second day, the participants were brought to a seminar which was most practical to their BMC competition. The seminar comprised of interesting topics such as “Introduction of Healthcare Products” which was delivered by Mr. Leonard Ariff Abdul Shatar, the CEO of CCM. He explained about the current trend in the market of healthcare products and also the evolution of the pharmaceutical industry. Associate Professor Dr Jamia Azdina Jamal,the Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy UKM who was proficient in the field of pharmaceutical analysis and quality control of pharmaceutical products also talked on “Development of Herbal Product in a Scientific View”. Topics such as “Ethics in Marketing of Healthcare Products”, “Legal Registration of Healthcare Products”, “Halal Concept in Healthcare Products” and “Efficient Online Marketing Strategy” had been discussed in the seminar and these brought benefits to all participants and also the public who attended this seminar. They learned a lot about the aspects that were required to take notes when selling any healthcare products. Mr Nazril Idrus, the CEO of Percession Capital Berhad was also invited to deliver an inspiring speech on his journey to become a successful businessman. This had definitely inspired the participants to become a successful businessman and not to be afraid of facing challenges in life.
On the final day of event, the participants were required to participate in a pitching competition. They pitched about their business idea using the knowledge taught by Dr Akmal Sabarudin and the speakers of the seminar. The participants did a great job in delivering their business idea to convince the judges that their business idea fitted the current demand in the market. The event came to an end when the emcee announced the champion of this pitching competition. After that, the department of inventory of JATI UKM explained about the rules and regulations in conducting their real sales competition after this event to all participants. The sales competition will be carried on for 3 consecutive months and they will have to update their progress by black and white to JATI’s Executive of Inventory in order to determine the champion of the sales competition.
This event was indeed a meaningful one as it had developed skills of business and entrepreneurship in students so that students can broaden their view to venture in different fields in the future instead of only focusing in their own profession now.
Written by: Kua Li Ming
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