News release from IPFW:
IPFW Business Students Earn Top Rankings in Global Business Simulation
(July 9, 2015) — Students in the Summer 2015 Business J401 Administrative Policies class at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) outpaced competitors from more than 600 universities in the Business Strategy Game to earn first place worldwide for Earnings Per Share and Stock Price and second place in Return on Average Equity.
The Business Strategy Game, known as BSG, is an online exercise in which classes divide into teams and simulate the running of an athletics footwear company. The teams are in head-to-head competition. 50,000 students from 40 countries participated in the competition.
The class is taught by Želimir William Todorovic, associate professor in small business and entrepreneurship in the Doermer School of Business, and includes a thesis, presentation, and exam in addition to the BSG simulation.
The class learns real-world experience in this game because it operates on a parallel with existing companies. As it says on the BSG-online website, “Company co-managers must make decisions relating to plant operations, distribution and warehouse operations, work force compensation, online sales at the company’s website, sales and marketing, and finance.”
The challenge is to craft and execute a competitive strategy that results in a respected brand image, keeps the company in contention for global market leadership, and produces good financial performances as measured by earnings per share, return on investment, stock price appreciation, and credit rating.
“Our students are top-tier students, competing globally,” says Todorovic. “The BSG simulation allows them to get a real-world feel for working in business and how to manage a company. To see these students work this hard and perform so well makes me proud as a professor.”
This edition of the game concluded June 28, when the final scores were announced. IPFW’s “Ascension Footwear” team scored first worldwide for Earnings Per Share and Stock Price. In an exciting turn, a second team of students from IPFW’s J401 class, “Caring Soles,” scored second in the world with their Return on Average Equity.
The Ascension Footwear students taking first worldwide for Earnings Per Share and Stock Price were:
- Jared Bragg (senior, marketing)
- Joseph Guardiola (senior, management)
- Ji In Jung (senior, management)
- Channing Lamborn (senior, marketing)
- Joshua Schmitt (senior, accounting)
- Tyler Schroeder (junior, finance)
The Caring Soles students who came in second place worldwide with their Return on Average Equity were:
- Andrea Banghart (senior, marketing)
- Taylor Franzen (senior, accounting)
- Colt Hudson (senior, business economics/public policy)
- Adam King (senior, marketing)
- Jorge Ramirez (senior, management)