Indonesian teams sweep L'Oreal e-Start 8 in Paris

Kunang Helmi ,  Contributor ,  Paris, France   |  Sun, 04/27/2008 12:48 PM  |  Discover

Two Indonesian teams from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) have brought home a total of four prizes from thee-Strat Challenge 2008, an international online simulation competition for undergraduate and graduate business students.

Team PowerUp of ITB competed in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) category while Team Malaikat competed in the Undergraduate category in the International Finals, held on April 16 in Paris.

The e-Strat Challenge has just completed its eighth edition following its establishment in 2000. The online simulation involves key partners AASCD and BusinessWeek, with Google joining this year, and is accredited by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) as a Challenge as a Technology-Enhanced Learning Program (CEL).

The virtual game began its eighth run, themed "Diversity and Equity", with team registration in September 2007. The competing teams of three students each were required to act as a general manager of a brand portfolio, and proceeded through a total of six rounds to reach the International Finals.

The finals involve only 16 teams that represent eight geographical zones around the world. Indonesia falls under Zone 8, along with other Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, Pacific Island nations and a few Middle Eastern nations.

To date, the game has seen the participation of 177,000 students representing 2,200 schools in 128 countries.

The e-Strat Challenge is one of three business games organized annually by the France-based cosmetics and skin care giant.

L'Or*al Ingenius, which was launched in China in 2001 and became international in 2001, is open to engineering students in 12 countries and requires participating teams to explore and assess aplant over three days. This year's Ingenius focused on "Energy Efficiency" as a component of sustainable development.

L'Or*al Brandstorm, which was launched in 1993, is open to marketing students and requires teams to tackle several challenges, including revamping an existing L'Or*al brand and developing a long-term marketing strategy. The 16th Brandstorm edition takes a health education approach on a sun care product for youth and young adults, and focuses on sun care product /technology leader Vichy Capital Soleil.

The Ingenius finals were held in March 2008 while the Brandstorm finals are scheduled for June 12, both in Paris. These games do not include Indonesia as a participating country.

The L'Or*al business games serve not only as unique recruitment tools for the company, but also as edu-cational tools for students and professors in higher education around the world.

Fran*ois de Wazi*res, L'Or*al International Recruitment Director, commented: "L'Or*al e-Strat Challenge has proven a remarkable tool to reach the best business talents from around the world."

Meanwhile, Georges Krombach, a former e-Strat player in the e-Strat Challenge 4 and who is now Product Manager of Helena Rubinstein in L'Or*al's Luxury Products Division, stressed the advantages he gained through the game.

"Participating in L'Or*al e-Strat Challenge allowed me to transform a winning business strategy into a strategic career decision," he said.

In order to expand its real-life challenges in developing quality human resources and innovation, sustainability and environmental responsibility, L'Or*al plans to launch two more games in the fields of Research & Development and Sales.

For more information, visit www.e-strat.loreal.com, www.ingenius.loreal.com and www.brandstorm.loreal.com.

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