Student Support
The Competition
In this competition, teams of 4-6 students manage a simulated manufacturing company competing against 4-5 other firms run by teams from other universities.
Team Members’ Roles
Each team assumes the roles of the top executives responsible for management of a manufacturing company competing directly against 4-5 other firms in its World. The Worlds created for this competition are analogous to real-world industries. There are no other competitors in the industries than the teams in the Worlds to which each team is assigned. Each team is responsible for key strategic and operational decisions in marketing, finance, and operations as it competes against the other companies in its World.
At the beginning of the competition, students are asked to file a “Corporate Chapter” on which they indicate their names and the management titles they have assigned to themselves — e.g. CEO, V.P. Marketing, etc. Eight quarters of historical data are provided as the starting position wherein all teams are identical; then, 20 sets of quarterly decisions are submitted for operations over a simulated period of five years.
Each management team is responsible for a strategic business plan, an annual report, and one formal oral presentation to judges (who are senior business executives) sitting as the firm’s Board of Directors.
Team members typically learn first-hand how a group effort can result in synergy and enthusiasm.
Participants frequently say the experience is the most rewarding of their educational career.
Benefits for the students:
- Hands-on experience of actually “running” a corporation.
- Bringing together functional academic concepts resulting in an integrated, applied management experience.
- The taste of battle with, at times, stirring success, or, at times, stunning failure–at least in the perspective of the moment.
- Feeling the synergy of the team experience.
- “The single most rewarding experience in my entire college career.” (See some of the student testimonials on this website)
