International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition (ICBSC)

In this competition, university teams of four to six students take over the management of a simulated manufacturing company competing directly against 4-5 other firms run by competitor teams from other universities. Teams in the competition are divided into “worlds” of about four to six companies with undergraduate teams and MBA teams having their own worlds. Each team assumes responsibility for key strategic and operational decisions in marketing, finance, and operations. Team members have the experience of running their own company as they strive to outperform their rivals.

• International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition (ICBSC)

This business competition involves both a remote phase and an intensive phase that, together, extend over a period of about ten weeks. The remote phase begins in January (the first week of Spring classes for CSULB) at home campuses; the intensive phase will occur in late April, when all teams will finalize their strategies.  Dates are available on the current term flyer or Key dates.

Set up your own Zoom Session to learn about the Competition and see if you are a great fit.  This is for students that want something challenging above and beyond the College of Business education. 

Contact Barbara Barcon, CSULB ICBSC advisor/lecturer,  CBA-ICBSC@csulb.edu  we will zoom you into what this Competition is all about.

Himanshu Ladole 2025

Yes, when I first heard of this competition, I had doubts about whether it was worth my time and if it will teach me something crucial and necessary to land a job on my career ladder.  After going through it I now understand how much this competition teaches about your capabilities and understanding of how an actual business is run. After surviving more hiccups during the semester and getting closer with my team and learning more about them, this experience means more than winning it, which highlights that this competition is nothing without a good team that cares and understands each other.

Daniel Tran 2025

I recommend this experience to others because it teaches you a lot of skills: technical, interpersonal and professional. We learned how to run a company, given a C suite position and sometimes more.  We learned how to work together as a team and resolve issues as one as well. Lastly, we got to network with industry professionals who gave us feedback on how to improve our professional journeys. 

Leah Espinoza, Evening MBA

When you are a business student, you hear the phrase “in the real world” many times over. It is in reference to life after school when everything you have learned will be put to the test. At CSULB the real world was brought to the classroom in the form of the International Collegiate Busilness Strategy Competition (ICBSC). After a selective application process, a group of graduate and undergraduate students from CSULB were split into three teams, each competing in a simulated environment of companies from all over the world. As the CEO of “What A Crock” I had the opportunity to learn concepts outside of the textbook that provided a glimpse into what I would face in the workplace as a C-Suite executive... 2020 ICBSC Update Post Competition - Leah Espinoza, Evening MBA

“The competition gave me the resources and knowledge that cannot be learned in a classroom. It showed me the importance of having a solid plan and being able to execute it. Most importantly, I can attribute a big part of my success to specific lessons learned during the competition.”

“I learned more in this class/competition than in all my classes over 4 years”

“This is the only class I liked coming to and working on.”

• 2025 Testimonials

Apply online with a written personal Statement. Deadlines and Key Dates. 

Applications are Open in Fall and Close Late October.

 Apply to be on COB CSULB Team for ICBSC

Each year students say that the competition has been the most rewarding experience of their college career. Some have said the greatest benefit was the realistic opportunity to apply academic concepts; others said the greatest benefit was being an integral part of a closely-knit, finely honed team. Students listing the competition on their resumes have discovered that it has helped them land a job or a valuable internship. Some have even benefited from interviewing a person that had earlier participated in the competition as a judge or team member. For students, the benefits include:

1. Hands-on experience of actually "running" a corporation
2. Bringing together functional academic concepts resulting in an integrated, applied management experience
3. The taste of battle with, at times, stirring success, or, at times, stunning failure--at least in the perspective of the moment
4. Feeling the synergy of the team experience
5. Earn three units of elective credit, if the program allows (always check with your advisor)
6. "The single most rewarding experience in my entire college career." (quote from a former student participant)
7. Become part of the CSULB winning tradition
8. Great resume builder!

Acceptance to be on a team is through the application. The best candidates will be those CSULB students who have completed their core coursework. It is recommended that Undergraduate students have completed IS 301, MKT 300, MGMT 300, and Acct 201 before applying. Usually juniors and seniors. MBA students must be in the Evening MBA or Online MBA program to receive credit and be eligible for this course. MBA students who have completed one year's worth of coursework are clearly eligible. In some cases, first-year MBA students with undergraduate business degrees, extensive business work experience or a strong desire to learn and compete might be qualified to be on an MBA team.

While no specific GPA is required, students who have earned at least a GPA of 3.0 if an undergraduate and a 3.3 if an MBA, like a challenge, are problem-solvers, and have a flexible schedule that will allow them to meet on weekends or other times with their team members are especially encouraged to apply. The competition is time-consuming. Expect to spend between 4-and 10 hours outside of class each week working with your team. Good writing, analytical, presentation, and computer skills, including the ability to use Excel or other spreadsheets, are skills essential to being successful in the competition.

Contact Barbara Barcon, CSULB ICBSC advisor/lecturer, at CBA-ICBSC@csulb.edu

CSULB Business Students Win Big in this 2024 year’s 60th  International Business Competition!

CSULB sent 3 teams, two undergraduate teams and one MBA team, to compete in this year's International Business Competition.  They worked all semester and then attended the Intensive Phase in Anaheim with schools from around the country and Canada last weekend.  

The CSULB teams brought home 7 trophies, including 2 for Best Presentation to their Board of Directors (judges), 2 for well-written and illustrated documents, 1 second runner-up, 1 first runner-up, and 1 First Place.  Amazing results!!!  A life-changing learning experience.  

Congratulations to the team members of PET, Oh’Cean Scape, and Fold N Flair.  Well done!!!

If you think you might be interested in competing next year and taking the course in the Spring, read more here and check out the website (new dates will be posted soon). 

 2024 simulated companies.

At the 59th annual International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition in 2023, 

One undergraduate team and two MBA teams competed.  Universities from as far away as Scotland and Canada competed as well as many universities from around the US. The teams worked all semester to run their simulated company, provide a business plan and an annual report, and then present to their judges (Board of Directors) in person on Saturday. Their performance was outstanding and each team went home with at least two awards.

• The undergraduate team participants were CEO Samantha, Fay, CFO Isabella Paine,  COO Justin Hosler, CIO Catherine Dao, VP of Marketing Scott Tomlinson, and Controller Anna Lair.
• Team members on one of the MBA teams were CEO, Kathy Borkowski, COO, Carmen Guzman, CMO, Laura, Radivoyevitch, CFO, Angel Martinez, and CIO Adam Sharief.
• The other MBA team consisted of COO Anna Rad, CFO, Alejandro, Robles, COO, Juan, Gomez, and VP of Marketing, Brenda Acosta
• 58th Annual International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition! 2021-2022
• 2023 COMPETITION BUSINESSES PRESS RELEASES

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Teams from around the world competed all semester and concluded with an Intensive Phase Event on April 21-23, 2022. The COB entered three teams, each one winning at least one award. Two of the teams took home Best Overall!

The class and the competition simulate a real business that the teams run as members of the Executive Team.  They enter quarterly decisions each week (and 4 in one day during the intensive phase) and determine how much. to produce of their product, where to produce, how to market, which models to release, how to finance their company, and all while creating shareholder value and competing with other schools. 

This year's CSULB teams comprised 2 MBA teams and 1 undergraduate team.  All did an amazing job and were rewarded as follows:

• Sol Soles - Best Documents and Best Overall
  • CEO Samantha Borrego, COO Christopher Tapia, CFO Jacob King, CMO Andrea Urtuzuastegui, and CIO Edgar Juarez
• Chic - Best Documents
  • CEO Randall Belyea, COO Robert Papadopoulos, CFO Isaac Gordon, and CMO Chieu Le
• Edibowl - Best Documents and Best Overall
  • CEO Sam Garcia, COO Corrina Rodacker, CFO Thorsten Oppermann, and CMO Teddy Ibrahim

57^th Annual International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition 2020-2021

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After a semester of virtual planning, analysis, document writing and decision making the 22 Teams from 12 universities across the country (and Canada) concluded last weekend with the grueling intensive phase.  They met with their Board of Directors (professionals, also from across the country) to convince them that they made the right decisions and are the right management team to move the company forward.

All three of the CSULB teams, 2 undergraduates and 1 graduate, performed admirably.  Team Glovely, an undergrad team, came in 3^rd place overall in their “World.”  Led by Steven Salazar as CEO and Jinny Uh as COO, Melanie Tran as VP of Marketing, and Jose Godinez as CFO.  While grad team Fly-Cleats took the top honor with First Place in Best Overall!! They were also runner-ups in Best Documents.  Fly Cleats was led by Evening MBA students Kurt Bogle as CEO, Barron Effenberger as CFO, online MBA student Mai Weisz as COO, and M.S. Marketing Analytics student Charlotte Mahone as VP of Marketing.

Students commented on what an amazing learning and life experience it was for them.  Some even said it was their best college experience, period.

GO Beach!!

Archive of Press Releases 2020-2021

• Fly Cleats Press Release (PDF)
• Paradigm Press Release (PDF)
• Glovely Press Release (PDF)

Annual Winners Articles and Press Releases

• 2025 Winning Results 61st Annual International Collegiate and 2025 Press Releases
• 2024 60th 3 teams, two undergraduate teams and one MBA team,
• 2023 7 Trophies for College of Business at 59th ICBSC
• 2022 3 CSULB Teams Win Big! 2022 ICBSC 58th Annual
• 2021 57th Annual ICBSC Teams Win ! 2021
• 2020 56th Annual 3 ICBSC CSULB Teams Win Big! 2020