PROTON BUSINESS CASE STUDY CHALLENGE 2024 DRAWS 300 UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
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Top winners are offered conditional offer to join Proton Young Talent programme 2025
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The champion team from Grand Final in November to take home RM5,000 cash prize
Subang Jaya, 26 September 2024 – National car manufacturer PROTON’s freshly-incepted Business Case Study Challenge has drawn close to 300 students from six selected public and private universities in Malaysia, with the aim of continuously expanding its pool employees through the Proton Young Talent (PYT) programme.
The Business Case Study Challenge is a competition that requires participants to formulate and present the best solution to a business case study within an allocated time frame by utilising data analysis, business judgement and innovation. It is open to all university students from the first to final semester with a minimum of four to six team members per group.
To kickstart the three-month long challenge that began in September, Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer, PROTON led a talk on the “The Journey of Proton’s Revival” on September 18, attended by 150 students at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), which is one of the six universities that participates this round.
Top three winners from UTP were given conditional offer for PYT programme 2025
In the latest session at UTP, a total of 17 groups participated in the challenge, with five teams shortlisted for the final presentations. After careful evaluation by panels consisting of senior leaders from PROTON and UTP, the top three winners were announced and three students received conditional offer to join the PYT program in 2025.
“This competition has been an excellent platform for our students to explore and present innovative solutions to real-world business challenges in the automotive sector. The growth of companies like PROTON, with their focus on digital transformation and electric vehicles, has created exciting opportunities for our graduates to apply their skills in this dynamic field,” said YBhg Professor Dato’ Ir Ts. Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Mutalib, Vice Chancellor, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS.
Notably, eight students from UTP have completed internships at PROTON, with four graduates currently employed there. Future events include a career fair and an assessment centre scheduled at UTP in October, aimed at advancing the PYT programme and evaluating potential candidates.
“The Proton Business Case Study Challenge not only foster creativity and analytical thinking, but also equips students with a comprehensive understanding of diverse business strategies. It prepares them to tackle real-world challenge and sets the foundation for their future careers,” said Amran Bin Mohd Tomin, Vice President of Human Capital & Admin, PROTON.
Six universities with strong background in engineering-related courses were picked
All six universities, comprising a total of 60 groups of students-- including DRB-HICOM University of Automotive Malaysia at Pahang and Universiti Malaya at Kuala Lumpur -- were selected based on their strong background in engineering-related courses and their potential contributions to the future of the automotive industry. The judging process will be conducted in phases until November this year, with division heads from PROTON to give talks at some of the universities.
The business challenge is evaluated based on seven scoring criteria, which are issue identification, depth of analysis, feasibility and rationale, innovative & creative thinking, application of academic knowledge and theories, team organisation and stage presence with different weightings. The first-place winner at the university level will receive a cash prize of RM2,000, while champion at the grand final will take home RM5,000 cash prize. First place winners from all participating universities will then compete in the grand final, which will be held at Klang Valley in November.
“Our commitment to collaborate with different universities and with student associations reflect our dedication to fostering young talents in the country. By expanding our initiatives to reach more states next year, we aim to empower the next generation of automotive professionals, offering them opportunities through our PYT programme and internships. Together with them, we are driving innovation forward,” said Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer, PROTON.