Aspiring CEOs from more than 280 universities on five continents competed in the Capsim Challenge in November, with 12 teams qualifying for the 48 hour, high pressure business simulation playoffs.

Rick Davenport from Midway College in Kentucky won the Capstone® Business Simulation Challenge and Tyler Melugin and Robert Stricklin of Montana State University, Billings, won the Foundation® Business Simulation Challenge.

The Challenge allows students who have completed either Capstone or Foundation business simulation in their university studies to take their skills to the next level in a global competition to run the world’s best simulated company.

Brendan Langen, Capsim’s Challenge Coordinator, said "challenge winners include their victory on their resumes to demonstrate their business acumen to future employers."

According to Foundation winner Robert Stricklin, "this isn't reading my book and remembering definitions, it is real world analyzing of what is possible and implementing a strategy to make my business as profitable and efficient as possible."

Stricklin said he entered the Challenge because "competition is the key motivator for me, along with the fact I feel the Challenge has relevance toward my area of education." Winning was an added bonus: "I got a sense of accomplishment and something I can put on my resume."

Capstone winner Rick Davenport said: "The Capstone Challenge offers the one time during my entire program where all the concepts we have learned can be used and evaluated. And by evaluated, I mean that not only can the instructors get feedback on the subjects they have taught, but the students can try the various concepts we have been taught in a environment where success or failure is clearly evident."

Capsim’s Brendan Langen said that while the competition finalists were still at university, "they have already learned what it takes to be able to balance a company’s operational, financial and sales goals under pressure. The Challenge gives business students the chance to pit their business skills against top competition around the world and see if they have what it takes to compete in an intense, time-constrained management experience."

"While most students do their first iteration of the simulation over a whole semester, the Challenge rounds are completed in a week and the finals demand a weekend of focused decision making. Decisions on their company’s production schedules, new product offerings, marketing, pricing, forecasting and finances are contracted into hourly rounds so there is very little time to analyze the competition, and the pressure is intense."

The Capstone® and Foundation® Business Simulation Challenge is a global online competition held in the spring and fall semester each year. The competitions are open to all students who have used a Capsim business simulation in their university course in the previous 12 months.

Finalist results from Capsim’s Fall 2011 Capstone® Challenge:

• First Place: Rick Davenport; Midway College, Midway, Kentucky; Dr. Rik Berry & Dr. Jerry Wellman
• Second Place: Vanessa Pazmiño and Andres Barriga; Universidad Santa María, Venezuela; Professor Jaime Rubin de Celis
• Third Place: Josua Bayerlein, Jan Niemeyer & Khaled Amir; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia; Dr. Retha de Villiers Scheepers
• Fourth Place: Melissa A. Gulbrandsen, Beth McCullough & Steven Musick; Jacksonville University, Davis College of Business, Jacksonville, Florida; Dr. George Gresham
  
• Fifth Place: Karunanithi Natarajan; Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India; Professor Dharam Pal & Professor CR Subramanya
  
• Sixth Place: Phan Bao Duy; RMIT University Vietnam; Professor David Knock and Dr. Hannarong Shamsub

Finalist results from Capsim’s Fall 2011 Foundation® Challenge:

• First Place: Tyler Melugin & Robert Stricklin; Montana State University, Billings; Professor Pat Holman
• Second Place: Harry Glinos; University of Maryland University College, Adelphi, Maryland; Dr. Ronald L Promboin & Professor Hisae Diez de Medina
• Third Place: Daishi Miyazaki; Lenoir-Rhyne University, Hickory, North Carolina; Dr. Craig Schreiber
• Fourth Place: David Render, Scott Noll, Jackie Schrick & Adam Forbes; Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas; Dr. Norma Juma
• Fifth Place: Dung Tran; Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa; Professor Christopher Conrad
• Sixth Place: Eric Marshall; Baylor University, Waco, Texas; Dr. Blaine McCormick