UP/KPMG Boardroom Challenge

Posted on November 21, 2019

First-year BCom (Accounting Sciences) students at the University of Pretoria (UP) recently took part in the UP/KPMG Boardroom Challenge. The Boardroom Challenge is an exciting board game that focuses on the development of critical thinking and verbal communication skills. It is a fun and exciting approach to engage students in real-life scenarios to facilitate collaborative learning.

The event was hosted in the Rautenbach Hall on the UP Hatfield Campus. About 530 first-year students, 60 employees from KPMG and 40 employees from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences attended the event.

Students were divided into teams of six to play the game and each group had a facilitator, who was either a UP or a KPMG employee. This provided students with the opportunity to engage with people from academia and practice in an informal setting. The objective of the game is to answer questions based on real-life risk and opportunity scenarios relating to six different industries, in order to earn ‘KPMG-bucks’ and move up the corporate ladder from accounting trainee to Chief Financial Officer. The game also contributed towards the students’ year mark.

During and after the event, the students were entertained by professional MC and 947 radio presenter, Melody Miya, as well as a dance crew. Based on their respective progress in the game, the top ten students were selected at the end of the game to play a sudden-death round. The winner of the Boardroom Challenge was Unathi Qweba. She received a cash prize sponsored by KPMG. Each of the top ten students also received cash prizes and a small gift from the Department of Accounting.

The event was a valuable learning experience for the students. The skills they have obtained and people to which they have been exposed to is sure to play a pivotal role in ensuring that they build the graduate attributes of a UP student. “We were proud of the engagement and professional behaviour of the students, clearly demonstrating to the KPMG employees how things are done the UP WAY,” said the UP lecturers at the end of the Boardroom Challenge.