Agung Yoga Sembada, Mia Virnalisi and Prama Imran Chusnun, Students of the Bandung Institute of Technology
Despite Indonesia's recent financial and economical troubles, the hope for a better future remains within many Indonesians.
This hope can now be strengthened thanks to the recent success of three postgraduate students from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in the internationally recognized e-Strat Challenge 6 business competition sponsored by French cosmetics giant, L'Oreal.
The e-Strat Challenge, held since 2000, has steadily gained popularity among Indonesian students. The challenge is held online which puts students from all around the world in the role of CEO of a struggling virtual cosmetics company.
Their objective is to make a profit against a simulated set of virtual opponents.
The participants of the challenge are divided into eight zones worldwide, and the top teams from each zone that managed to substantially increase the Share Price Index (SPI) of their virtual companies are invited for an all-expenses paid trip to the finals in Paris, France to present their business plan and ""pitch"" their companies in front of a board of judges consisting of L'Oreal and other respected top European business executives on April 12, 2006.
This configuration allows students from countries all over the world to pit their skills against one another to earn one of the eight tickets and battle it out in the finals as the representatives of their country. Out of the more than 11,000 teams worldwide that competed in this year's challenge, Team Paradiso from MBA ITB earned the honor of representing zone 8 (Asia) against teams from the other seven zones in the world.
ITB has been long perceived to be among the best institutes for higher education in Indonesia. After the decision by the government to reduce the subsidy for state universities, ITB founded a business faculty, the School of Business and Management (SBM-ITB), at the end of 2003 in an effort to further enhance the business skills of the young generation.
Subsequently, ITB's postgraduate management program (MBA-ITB), which was founded in 1990, is now under the auspices of the SBM-ITB administration, and has widened its focus from operations management to include other disciplines such as marketing management and entrepreneurship.
This year's participation in the L'Oreal e-Strat Challenge was a first for MBA ITB, and the success of Team Paradiso in representing zone 8 (Asia) out of the seven MBA ITB teams competing this year is a matter of tremendous pride for ITB, said Wawan Dhewanto, a lecturer in MBA ITB and their chief de mission for the finals in Paris.
Team Paradiso earned the right to compete in Paris after ranking first in Asia above top universities like Thammasat University of Thailand, INSEAD Singapore, and the Indian Institute of Management in Indore, India and second in the world rankings, only one place under Instituto Technologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM).
In the finals, they locked horns with teams from prestigious business schools from all over the world such as the London Business School, Publitalia 80, Indiana University (Kelley School of Business, USA) and Athens University of Economics & Business.
Although the ITB team did not manage to win first place, this world-class achievement in business competition still holds great value for ITB which has long been associated with excellence in technological fields such as engineering and applied science. ITB has supported team Paradiso graciously not only academically with special out-of-class tutorials but also morally with an allowance for an extra 10-day stay in Paris.
