The final round of the first-ever Tsinghua CSR Strategy Competition organized by Tsinghua Net Impact and Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management MBA with sponsorship from CJ Corporation China, China Talent Group and Taliworks Group was held in Shunde Auditorium, School of Economic and Management (SEM), Tsinghua University on 6th December 2012.

The professional judging panel comprised Professor Duan Zhirong of Tsinghua SEM, Representatives from sponsor companies, professional consultants from Syntao, BSR China and Ruder Finn Asia. After an exciting display of presentations from the teams, the top 3 teams emerged from 6 finalists as the final winners of the competition. The winners were from Tsinghua University. The first prize was awarded to a team of exchange students from ESADE Business School, Louvain School of Management, Prague University of Economics and National University of Singapore for their case presentation of China Talent group. The second prize went to another exchange student team from Vienna University of Economics and Business, Aalto University School of Business, University of Cologne and Yale University for their exceptional case strategy for Taliworks Group. The third prize was awarded to Year 2012 Tsinghua International MBA for their impressive presentation on the case for CJ Corporation.  

The three cases that were assigned to teams included CJ Corporation’s case on addressing the conditions of migrant communities, China Talent Group’s case on improving disability employment and Taliwork’s case on improving the environmental infrastructure and sustainability of the local community in Yinchuan. The three cases prepared for the companies addressed real-life challenges and proposed how these challenges could be addressed through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and in business strategy. The competition provided genuine opportunities for students to understand how CSR could be used as a strategic business tool and benefit society at the same time. The finalists analyzed the companies’ CSR challenges, status quo in depth and recommended solutions that maximized financial performance and social or environmental benefits.

The competition attracted 36 teams from well known universities in Beijing with approximately 140 student participants; the participants included Tsinghua exchange students from top business schools from America, Europe and Singapore. The participants were provided training about CSR methodologies at the start of the competition and teams submitted their proposal reports with innovative CSR solutions. The competition provided real opportunities for business school students to work on CSR practice as well as a platform to bridge inter-university communication amongst the participants.

“The CSR competition plays an important role in raising students’ awareness about CSR”, said Ms Pearl Mao, Executive Director of Tsinghua MBA Programs in her opening speech, “as well as prepares students well for working and contributing in sustainable development in their future career”. Indeed many participants came up to the organizers and shared that they have gained a deeper understanding about CSR through the competition and were inspired to use the power of business to make positive changes.

About Net Impact:

Tsinghua Net Impact is a representative chapter of Net Impact (www.netimpact.org), the world’s leading international non-profit organization focused on improving the world through the development of a network of leaders with the power of business to improve the world. Tsinghua Net Impact is the first representative chapter of Net Impact established in China and other leading business schools such as Harvard, Wharton and Insead also have Net Impact chapters.