Benedictine students rank in Global Top 100 for Business Strategy Game
Graduate students in Benedictine University's flexible Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program recently earned a series of "Global Top 100" rankings while participating in the Business Strategy Game (BSG), an online exercise that parallels the functioning of the real-world athletic footwear market.
More than 12,000 students and 400 teams in 40 countries compete in the BSG, but Christopher Drevalas of Naperville, Alison Hunter of Oswego, Lauren Linares of Willowbrook and Adam Nelligan of Naperville, scored high enough to be recognized as Top 100 Global Teams in the competition for successfully managing their companies for six out of nine weeks during the spring quarter as part of their "Strategic Management" course.
Students who participate in the game develop valuable real-world business skills, and it allows them to make a variety of different business decisions in an environment that replicates a competitive business atmosphere.
"The students learn to work as a team and make decisions that affect the financial health of the company utilizing all of their training at Benedictine," said John Draut, an instructor in the University's M.B.A. program. "This helps them to further develop lifelong business skills that cannot be gained solely in the classroom with me lecturing to them about theory."
Participants make decisions related to plant operations, distribution and warehouse operations, workforce compensation, online sales, traditional sales, marketing and finance. They are challenged to craft and execute a competetive strategy that results in a respected brand image, keeps the company in contention for global market leadership, and produces good financial performance as measured by earnings per share, return on investment, stock price appreciation and credit rating.
Both Drevalas and Hunter were so successful with their company, "Beats Bare Feet," that they were invited to compete alongside other Global Top 100 teams in the prestigious Business Strategy Game Invitational. In the end, the team placed sixth in the Industry 1 division.
"It made me realize just how much goes into a successful product," Drevalas said. "There is the actual production of the product including where to produce it, how much to pay employees, training and materials to use, etc. Beyond that, you have to consider marketing - not just to the end consumer but to the actual stores to get them to carry your product."
"I would definitely recommend other students participate in the Business Strategy Game," he added. "It becomes fun and at least for me, it got the competitive side of me going which makes it seem less like work. From an educational standpoint, it opens your eyes to everything that goes into running a business."
The Business Strategy Game is one example of several hands-on learning experiences Benedictine utilizes to encourage students in the University's business programs to apply real-world skills. In other classes, students prepare and present marketing plans for local businesses and have access to Bloomberg Professional service, a financial monitoring system used by central and commerical banks, investment institutions, government agencies and law firms in more than 160 countries.
"The Business Strategy Game was not only a great learning experience, but it was fun," said Hunter. "It was a well-crafted, hands-on learning tool that brought the entire M.B.A. experience to life in a fun and meaningful way."
At Benedictine, we promise our students an affordable and attainable undergraduate and graduate education infused with the Benedictine values that creates better learners, better leaders and better world citizens. Student learning and success is our first priority.
For more information about Benedictine's graduate business programs and to enroll, contact the Office of Admissions at (630) 829-6300, admissions@ben.edu or visit ben.edu/graduate. For a listing of courses and schedules, visit ben.edu/benulive.