EACH YEAR, hundreds of Atenean students apply for a spot at the John Gokongwei Student Enterprise Center (JSEC). Recently, over 115 groups submitted applications for a slot in the student-run mall next school year.

However, unlike previous years wherein the 12 are directly chosen from a pool of applicants, the 2011 version of the JSEC selection featured the JSEC Wildcard Round, spearheaded by the School of Management (SOM) and the Ateneo Management Association (AMA). The round included 24 participants from the 115-strong applicant pool.

Nine of the 12 stalls will come from the traditional JSEC elimination process, while the remaining three will be picked from the wild-card round.

Traditional process

The selection process includes submitting proposals and scheduling interviews with School of Management (SOM) administrators. With the implementation of the JSEC Challenge Wildcard Round this year, all the 115 participants, whether shortlisted or not, have a second chance to participate in the challenge. The wildcard round culminated in a week-long bazaar held from February 14-18 at the SEC Field.

“There are students whose proposals are not well made but that doesn’t mean they cannot execute their product proposals well,” SOM Dean Rudy Ang said.

Seven of the stalls came from the 22 shortlisted proposals, while the 18 other businesses went through another reapplication process separate from the initial elimination round. All stalls were given a chance to sell three of their top products.

Despite being a SOM and AMA project, Project Head Sam Garcia clarified that the project was open to all Ateneans, regardless of course. “The prize for this is that the top three stalls from the bazaar would have the privilege of being part of the 12 stalls in JSEC for the coming year.”

Business laboratory

Garcia said that this challenge was originally intended to be implemented next school year. However, Ang and Coordinator for Student Entrepreneurial Initiatives William Mallari liked the idea and had it implemented this year.

“Dean Ang and Mr. Mallari thought this was a more challenging process, and they thought this is a good way to actually see what the students can offer to the community,” said Garcia.

Ang agreed and said, “JSEC is actually a laboratory for business ventures of the students.”

Junior Erwin Paolo Miranda, a participant, said that as management students, they are taught theories and ideas. However, “in this challenge, we are presented with an opportunity to harness these concepts in facing business realities,” he said.

The criteria

According to Garcia, the challenge followed a ‘first come, first serve’ system. She also added that the stalls in the challenge had been judged in those five days based on 10 criteria, some of which include product concept, market value, and the sales and profit generated.

Ang also added that another criterion is the quality of service of the participating stalls which includes whether the stalls open and close on time, as well as if they serve their food on time.

Apart from this, Mallari added that they also take sanitation into consideration, which is gauged by whether participants ensure the cleanliness of their food and their stalls.

Participants of the said challenge also need to pass a student and faculty panel in order to gain one of the three slots in JSEC. As of press time, the people who will comprise the panel have not yet been determined.

Experimenting

Mallari said that implementing such a competition for the first time was not without a challenge. He said they wanted the location to be big enough to accommodate the stalls, and sufficient space for dining.

“We [also] had to make sure as well that students comply with the sanitation requirements. Issues of the Bring Your Own Baunan [policy], the deposit system as well as areas for waste management and washing of dishes were considered,” said Mallari.

For this year’s competition, Mallari said they ensured that the students’ selling price in the bazaar would be similar to prices in JSEC stalls.

As of press time, the deliberations for the 22 short-listed participants have been completed and their interviews were held last February 3-5.