Two teams of University of Houston-Victoria School of Business Administration graduate students each earned a ranking in the weekly Top 100 of the eight-week Global Business Simulation competition.
Aliyu Abubakar of Richmond, Indra Bhanu Gautam of Katy, Prasanth Kumar Kodali of Houston and Michelle Marie Thompson of Victoria were part of D Company, which was ranked 73rd out of 2,986 teams from 155 colleges and universities during the week of Nov. 12 to 18.
Maitri Nareshbhai Acharya and Grace Adeyemi of Katy and Josue David Cisneros of San Antonio made up F Company and tied for 78th place out of 1,796 teams from 112 colleges and universities during the week of Nov. 19 to 25.
“The Global Business Simulation offers a unique opportunity for students to test their knowledge,” said Jifu Wang, UHV professor and associate dean in the School of Business Administration. “The simulation’s economic conditions adjust every week based on the teams’ decisions, much like the real global economy constantly is shifting in response to actions by international companies. It’s exciting to know that our students are able to function in this environment and achieve excellent results.”
Each year, students in the Global Master of Business Administration program compete in the simulation as a part of their “International Business Strategy” course. This semester, 2,985 teams from 157 colleges and universities around the world participated in the simulation. The course is the capstone for the UHV Global MBA program. During the simulation, teams of students control individual action-capture camera companies in a global simulation of the worldwide economy. The students must create strategies to help their companies compete in the global market.
D Company prepared by holding meetings through Skype – sometimes working as late as midnight or 1 a.m., Kodali said. When the team’s Top 100 ranking was announced, one of his teammates started calling the others late at night.
F Company decided to take a compartmentalized approach similar to a real company’s board of directors. The strategy helped the teammates apply each of their areas of study to better run the company, Cisneros said.
“We wanted to treat it like a true corporation with each of us taking partial ownership of the business,” he said. “The possibility of getting into the Top 100 added an extra element of competitiveness and excitement. I’m proud to know we were able to earn a spot in the rankings.”