Bazaar hones skills of business students

The three-day Bazaar 2007 was opened by Juhaina Al Fardan, regional director of Diversity at HSBC on Tuesday and was attended by Dr Howard Reed, senior director of the Higher Colleges of Technologies (HCT) and director of DWC, members of the local business community, and DWC staff members, students and graduates.

The annual event, which ends today, is an integral part of the DWC curriculum, integrated across all programmes, providing students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills learned in the classroom, in practical ways and working with real life businesses.

As part of this activity, groups of students create an original business concept to be implemented at the event.

Students begin by presenting a mini-business plan to a panel of teachers to obtain their “trading licence”.

Upon approval, students prepare a detailed plan of tasks to be done within a timeline. During the event, students take responsibility for all aspects of their businesses, including purchasing, production, setting-up, pricing, promotion, and customer service.

After the event, students write a reflective final report and presentation analysing what they learned during the project.

M.N, a student who has put up a stall to sell antique jewellery, said, “This is the first time I am participating in the Bazaar and I hope to sharpen my business management skills through this way. I think it’s an important way to get in touch with the real methods of business as we learn to fix the prices for our commodities to attract customers.”