A team of six CSULB MBA students from the College of Business Administration were awarded first runner up in the annual International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition (ICBSC), an intercollegiate business simulation contest between schools from the United States and around the world.
Szilvia Balint, Paul Briet, Elisabeth Gogel, James Lee, Vala Shahabi, and Natalia Staneva beat more than 20 other teams during the competition losing the top spot to California State University, Fresno. Lecturer Annette Lohman in the Management/HRM Department served as the students’ adviser. Although the competition has been in existence since 1965, this is the first year CSULB had a team participating in the event.
The competition was based on a computer simulation of a manufacturing firm with domestic and international subsidiaries. The students served as strategic managers of simulated companies competing against other business students acting as managers of their own companies. The simulated environment incorporates the economies of two countries and requires consideration of global and domestic strategies. Students integrated and applied the principles they have learned in their coursework on how to run a business using teamwork, strategic planning and competitive intelligence. The competition began in February and ended at a three-day conference in San Diego.
“The competition provided a unique opportunity for MBA students to learn and apply business skills,” said H. Michael Chung, Director of Graduate Programs and Executive Education. “We are hoping to provide this unique opportunity to another group of CSULB MBA students at next year's competition.”