ATHENS, W.Va. (Hinton News) – Ten Concord University students have achieved high placement among participants globally in a competitive on-line business simulation during the Spring 2023 semester. Da’Vion Moore, Nick Cooper, Savannah Groom, Stella Dunn, Hunter Steel, Bryce Mutterback, Trey Spence, Ella Goodwin, Jordan Ballard, Caleb Dangerfield, and Melinda Kostenko placed in the top ten percent of all competitors worldwide overall for the entire Capstone competition. Students participated in Capstone as a part of their Strategic Management class.
Capstone, provided by Capsim, simulates the management decision processes in a true-to-life, competitive environment. Every semester, Concord requires participation in the simulation as part of the business program capstone experience for students nearing graduation.
As part of the competition, each Concord student assumed the role of CEO of a simulated company. They were expected to assess the situation of a simulated business vis-à-vis other
competitor firms managed by other students and then develop a sophisticated competitive strategy to position up to eight distinct products in five market segments and deliver desired results to shareholders as reflected by a balanced scorecard.
Strategies were required to address decisions related to product specifications, pricing, marketing spend, sales forecasts, R&D budgeting and scheduling, production scheduling, management of direct costs and contribution margins, purchase or sale of production capacity and automation, inventory management, accounts receivable and accounts payable, human resource investments in staffing, recruiting and training, Total Quality Management investments, and funding of business cash flow needs through equity and debt issuance. Students executed their strategies in competition with the strategies of other students in a simulated market over a simulated eight-year period.
The Capstone business simulation is utilized by leading business schools in the United States and around the world. Capsim tracks the performance of participants using a balanced scorecard, and reports on participants with balanced scorecard results that are in the top ten percent of all simulated companies that have participated in the simulation in the last six months.
