Conestoga Takes Top Spots in Global Business Strategy Competition!
Simulated companies run by two teams of third-year Business Administration students at Conestoga have achieved first-place global rankings in an international competition that includes more than 5000 teams from 313 colleges and universities around the world.
The Business Strategy Game(BSG) is an online exercise where class members are divided into teams and assigned the task of running an athletic footwear company in head-to-head competition against companies managed by other class members from their institution and others around the world. Company operations parallel those of actual athletic footwear companies. Just as in the real world, companies compete in a global market, selling branded and private-label athletic footwear in four geographic regions: Europe-Africa, North America, Asia-Pacific and Latin America using both internet and conventional retail distribution channels.
Third-year students in Conestoga’s Business Administration programs in Marketing, Management and Accounting participate in the simulation as a capstone project in their final year of studies. According to instructor Bob Evans, the project provides students with the opportunity “to apply everything they’ve learned through their program in terms of marketing, operations, finance, sales and economics in a simulation exercise that is as real-life as it’s possible to get.”
Although Conestoga students traditionally do very well in the competition, thanks to the program’s emphasis on applied, project-based learning, Evans describes this year’s results as exceptional. Of the 26 Conestoga teams involved in the competition, 13 placed in the Global Top 100 for one or more of the four performance criteria, which include: Overall Game to Date Score, Earnings per Share, Return on Average Equity and Stock Price.
The Backdoor Shoes team, consisting of Matthew Davis, Kevin White, Scott Murray and Wesley Price, tied for best Overall Score and had the top Earnings per Share and best Stock Price performance of all 5166 teams for the week of April 4, the final week of their competition.
E-Company team members Liyuan Qiang, Yunlu Zhao, Yu-chi Wang and Fang Chen also tied for best Overall Score, and were ranked in the top 15 for both Earnings per Share and Stock Price for the same week.
According to BSG organizers, the “excellent” performance of Conestoga teams in the simulation “reflects well on the caliber of instruction that students are receiving” in the program.
More information about The Business Strategy Game: Competing in a Global Marketplace is available at: http://www.bsg-online.com/stats/top20.html?id=825
For media inquiries, contact Brenda Cassidy, Corporate Communications Manager, 519-748-5220 ext 3336 or bcassidy@conestogac.on.ca