James McGuire Business Plan Competition

HIEU has, since 2010, actively participated in the Laureate Global James McGuire Business Plan Competition, a Laureate International Universities contest designed to encourage student entrepreneurship through the creation of business plans. Held at a local level throughout the HIEU campus, it has drawn great attention from national media and has had a positive impact on HIEU students and faculty. The winning team would receive not only awards from HIEU but also an opportunity to present their business plans in an interview with James McGuire and other entrepreneurs at the Laureate Leadership Summit held in the US annually.

In the 2012 competition, the judging panel, consisting of Laureate China management as well as HIEU deans and professors, selected 7 out of more than 20 draft business plans submitted by participating teams to compete in the global competition. Through vivid presentations and a live Q&A session, the teams made great effort to illustrate and present their plans while the honored judges gave each team insightful comments and feedback so as to encourage the execution of their business plans in the future.

The top finalist was the “Creative Box” team, which presented a creative online platform selling and sharing students' original ideas, knowledge, capabilities and techniques. They were awarded a cash prize of 5,000 RMB and a study tour of Shanghai together with the second- and third-placed teams. The students visited Laureate China headquarters as well as business organizations and localities in Shanghai to broaden their vision and experience.

The Global James McGuire Business Plan Competition will continue to be promoted at HIEU in the coming years, to offer more students and faculty the opportunity to be among the best globally.