Saint Leo Students Master Global Business Game
June 25, 2008
MACDILL AFB CENTER – Two SLU seniors majoring in business and
accounting emerged as world-class competitors in a test of their
financial acumen and management savvy.
Brandy Morehouse and Francesca
Norman, both ’08, have been invited to compete in a worldwide match
of previous high-scorers in The Business Strategy Game, a special
online exercise used by nearly 400 colleges and universities.
Morehouse and Norman competed together as a team during spring
semester in a capstone business course, Strategic Management, led
by SLU’s Tampa area director, Kenny Gonzalez.
The cutting-edge coursework may be new to some people, who are
more familiar with competitions at business schools where students
vie to see who can write the best business plan for a hypothetical
enterprise.
The Business Strategy Game advances that concept by forcing
students to imagine they are actually running publicly-owned
companies, and are accountable to stockholders, customers, vendors
and employees. Over a period of weeks, students are expected to
overcome various challenges while managing plant operations,
warehouse and distribution functions, online sales, overall
marketing and finance.
While the authors of the game vary the industry assigned from one
competition to the next, the game objectives remain constant: best
the competition in the categories of earnings per share, stock
price, return on equity, and a combined score of those
measures.
Morehouse’s and Norman’s assignment was to compete in the
private-label athletic footwear business.
“The simulation is an excellent follow-up to what we learned in
accounting,' says Norman.
Both students enjoyed seeing how each management move led to a new
situation to address.
“You learn so much about how accounting applies to the overall
business,' Morehouse explains. “Anything you touched affected
something else – sometimes for the better, but sometimes
not.'
Their mythical company, Champ Footwear, performed particularly
well during the week of May 12, 2008. The team tied for 8th place
in the world on their overall score, and placed within the top 100
on the other measures. “There were 1,171 teams of students playing
the simulation during that particular, so making the Top 100 for
all four of the ranking variable (and as high as 8th on one
variable) was no small accomplishment,' Greg Stappenbeck, one of
the authors of The Business Strategy Game, told SLU.
Prof. Stephen Baglione, chair of the department of business
administration, was so impressed by the news that he came to final
class of the semester to congratulate Morehouse and Norman and hear
their final reports. “The presentations were very professional,
analytic, and self-critical,' Baglione commented. “They revealed
strategy, tactics, and interpretations of results. They were a
testament to the students’ dedication and the professor’s
guidance.'
Morehouse and Norman are considering whether to compete in the
invitational match, scheduled for August. Both think it would be
fun, but also have busy schedules to consider.
Morehouse works as an analyst for defense contractor Northrop
Grumman at MacDill. She studied for her degree part-time, while
raising a family, to remain competitive in the workforce. And
Norman, who is retired from the U.S. Army and is multilingual,
wants to continue her education through law school and launch a
second career in tax, business or immigration law.
For more information on The Business Strategy Game, go to www.bsg-online.com.
