KUCHING – A team of students from the School of Business of Swinburne Sarawak had great success at the Accounting Competency Challenge (ACC) 2021 recently organised by the Beta Gamma Sigma Club of Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM).
The ACC is an annual accounting competition which aims to challenge the competency of individuals regarding their proficiency in various aspects such as knowledge, interpersonal skill, leadership skill, and other soft skills.
Among 20 ASEAN universities, Beankeepers, comprised of Swinburne students Ngeoh Ming Ming, Davina Heng Chu Hui, Jasmine Yong How Wei, and Too Ying Ying took home the special award for the CSR Mini Case Study and title Most Resourceful Team. The team which was mentored by Swinburne lecturer from School of Business Dr Yii Kwang Jing received a cash prize worth RM100.
During the competition, the four accounting and finance undergraduates were tested with challenges specifically designed to resemble real-world situations that arise daily in the accounting profession, as well as analyse environmental changes to the accounting field.
In the CSR Mini Case Study round, participants were challenged to provide accounting pro bono services to propose a feasible business plan and strategy to a pandemic-affected micro business in order to sustain its operations. Beankeepers took home the special award with their proposed solution of their business model canvas, a strategic management template taught in the Innovation Business Practice subject unit for all Swinburne business students.
For both Ngeoh and Yong, the competition was a healthy challenge to apply knowledge learnt towards the case studies reflecting real-life business scenarios while stimulating revision on topics taught in Swinburne’s course curriculum.
“In addition to utilising knowledge learnt from our studies over the past few semesters, I am glad to have had the opportunity to participate with a great team to explore and better gauge accounting practices for the future,” Heng added.
Meanwhile, Too reflected that the tasks they faced were mentally challenging as they were required to work under intense time pressure, but also credited Swinburne’s industry-integrated learning opportunities for keeping them ahead of the game.
“I believe one of the reasons the team could successfully tackle the challenges was due to our exposure to various case study-based assessments in our subjects that sharpened our critical thinking skills,” she said.
Swinburne provides real workplace learning through its programmes which are carefully monitored for their academic quality, career relevance, and compliance with Malaysian and Australian qualifications standards. The AACSB-accredited business programmes are also recognised by professional bodies such as ACCA, CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). At the business school, students can expect to develop and sharpen their entrepreneurial skills through the school’s authentic learning curriculums and capstone units.
For more information about Swinburne, visit its website www.swinburne.edu.my, Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).