Westminster College Business Students Continue to Place in Top 100 in Global Business Strategy Game
Posted on Tuesday, May 7, 2013
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - Students in the Westminster College "Strategic Management" capstone course recently placed in the Top 100 for their return on average equity in a global simulation known as the Business Strategy Game.
Each week of class simulates a year in the life of the organization that student teams manage. Westminster's team "Elite" placed 39th for their return on average equity (ROE) and team "Dominant Footwear" placed 96th for their ROE for the week of April 22-28.
The co-managers for team Elite are Robert Lupton and Tyler Robinson. Lupton, a senior accounting and business administration major, is a son of Robert and Andrea Lupton of Cortland, Ohio, and a graduate of Howland High School. Robinson, a senior business administration major, is a son of Brian and Susan Robinson of Creston, Ohio, and a graduate of Norwayne High School.
The co-managers for team Dominant Footwear are Kelsey Mersing and Victoria Mills. Mersing, a senior business administration major, is a daughter of Louis III and Julia Mersing of McKees Rocks and a graduate of Montour High School. Mills, a senior business administration major, is a daughter of Natalie and Howard Mills and a graduate of New Castle High School.
During the game students operate an athletic footwear company and compete against other footwear companies in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Each company has co-managers that are responsible for making decisions on production operations, upgrading plants and expanding or reducing plant capacity, worker compensation and training, pricing and marketing, and more.
According to the Business Strategy Game website, "The competitive nature of a strategy simulation arouses positive energy and steps up the whole tempo of the course by a notch or two. The healthy rivalry that emerges among the management teams of competing companies stirs competitive juices and spurs class members to fully exercise their strategic wits, analytical skills, and decision-making prowess - much more so than occurs with many other types of assignments."
The final component of liberal studies is the senior capstone course. The capstone is at least a four-semester-hour course within the major designed to provide an opportunity for students to evaluate and assess the strengths and limitations of their major field. Additionally, the capstone experience permits opportunity for structured reflection on the value of education in and beyond the major and provides another chance to strengthen communication and problem-solving skills.
The Strategic Management capstone course specifically focuses on general management skills involved in choosing an organizational strategy, committing critical resources to implementation, and appropriately reevaluating that strategy as internal and external organizational environments change. The course integrates the major business functions using top management's generalist views. The primary method of instruction is case analysis.
Contact Jacque L. King, assistant professor of business, at (724) 946-7163 or email for more information.
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