Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) Business School continues to help its students to be independent in entrepreneurship in creative business. Through routine events from Management Business School students, UPH Business Week carries a big theme this year, that is “Unlocking Potentials” on March 18 – 23, 2019.

In addition to providing an in-depth understanding of business to be applied in real-life applications, this year’s Business Week also aims to invite each party to be involved in maximizing their potential to meet the opportunities that exist.

“As It’s known, Indonesia is a country that is very rich in resources. Unfortunately, this has not been used optimally so that there are still quite a lot of people living under the poverty line. Therefore, UPH Business Week adapts also to the vision of ASEAN 2020, namely, to improve the quality of life by utilizing every potential that exists,” said Fidelia Utari, the chair of the 2019 Business Week Event.

Business Week consists of three sub-events which are business competitions for the university level (Pelita Harapan Business Challenge – PHBC), high school students (Creativity and Uniqueness Based on Business Idea Competition – CUBIC), and Business Talk Show (BTS) that presents young and successful speakers to share business knowledge and experience.

PHBC 2019’s theme is “Empower the Digital Workspace” which means that technology will develop rapidly and have an impact on all aspects of life in the following years. Therefore, participants are directed to think innovatively in solving the challenges through a given business case. The total PHBC participants were 18 teams from eight universities in Indonesia, including Institut Teknologi Bandung, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Atma Jaya, STIE Perbanas Surabaya, Universitas Bina Nusantara, Universitas Diponegoro, Universitas Prasetiya Mulya, and Universitas Telkom.

Whereas for CUBIC, with the theme “Empower the Overlooked Treasure”, it focuses on Indonesia’s natural resources which are currently not maximally utilized. Participants are directed to build a business that is engaged in natural resources and process it, with the aim of establishing a sustainable business. This year CUBIC participants are 25 teams, coming from 17 schools such as SMAN 71 Jakarta, SMA Dian Kasih, SMA Kesatuan Bogor, SMAK Penabur, SMA Pahoa, IPEKA, SMAN 1 Lamongan, and so on.

After that, the Business Talk Show (BTS) held on March 23, 2019, at 13.00-20.00 in the World Harvest Center DOME Karawaci, was divided into three sessions with different themes and speakers. The first session, “Seed of Opportunities“, reviewed the economic conditions and the development of the business world in Indonesia. The second session, “Raise the Bar“, reviews about comparing Indonesia’s position in the global economy and introducing a digital economic era that can advance the Indonesian economy. Then in the last session, through “Multiply the Chances“, it is expected to inspire participants to contribute actively in developing a sustainable digital economy in Indonesia.

Being a routine activity held every year, it does not make the Business Week committee lose creativity in putting ideas. The idea is depicted from the promoted theme so that it is able to be in line with existing issues or trends, that both competition and talk shows are always relevant. Not only that, this creativity is also shown through the selection of the event mascot. This year Business Week uses the form of a wolf under the name ‘Beowulf’. Surely, the committee doesn’t randomly choose the mascot. The reason behind the selection of this mascot is also a clear proof of creative thinking from the committee team.

“We choose wolf because wolf has characteristics that should be owned by a businessman. One of them is that they are known to be patient and do not show panic even when hunting is not successful. In doing business, we must always have perseverance and be aware of the fact that there is nothing of precious thing that will be easily achieved,” Fidelia concluded. (pl)

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Testimonials

Gabriella Wijaya, 11th grade, SMA IPEKA Pluit: “Besides knowing from the teacher and because I wanted to take a Business major in college later, I was interested in participating in the Business Week event. Besides participating in the competition, I also get insights about public speaking and business knowledge from judges who are already professionals in the business field.”

Alexander Brian, 11th grade, SMA Pahoa: “By hearing the judges’ assessment, our team is getting benefits and advices on how our products can be better in terms of quality and also in order that our products are environmentally friendly. The criticism given is also very constructive so we know what must be revised.”