BUSINESS STUDENTS EXCEL IN SIMULATION

May 12, 2011

A group of business students has reason to be proud this semester, after sharing a place in the top 10% in the world with schools like Harvard Business School, Kelley School of Business, and Vanderbilt University.

Linda Ferraro, assistant professor of management, announces the outstanding performance of two sections of Southern students in her MGT 450 course this semester (pictured above). MGT 450 is the capstone course within the School of Business and as such aims to coalesce all of the students' academic learning into an integrated experience drawing from various disciplines (Finance, Accounting, Marketing, Management, Human Resources and others). Ferraro uses a simulation in the courses she teaches called, coincidentally, "Capstone," by Capsim Management Simulations. This semester the SCSU undergraduate student teams outperformed many others in the simulation rounds. Capsim maintains a Top Ten list which keeps a running account of the teams that have reached a level of performance far above others. The team listed under SCSU has scored in various rounds of the game (they play 8), better than 99% of all schools taking part at that point in time. This includes graduate teams and also teams from Harvard and Wharton.

Ellen Durnin, dean of the School of Business, said, "I am proud of the work that Professor Ferraro and her colleagues are doing to prepare our students for their careers upon graduation. The inclusion of an exercise that simulates teamwork, decision making, quantitative and presentation skills is exactly the type of experience that sets apart Southern's graduates from their counterparts at other schools.  It is our goal to work closely with the business community to provide them with employees who are ready to contribute to their organizations from day one.  Congratulations to Southern's Business School students on their fine performance n this capstone course experience."
One of the participating students commented, "Capsim was a learning experience unlike any that we have experienced in other business classes at Southern. We were able to do real, hands on learning, as if we were involved in a company outside of the class room and in the working world."

Another student remarked, "The way the system and groups were set up gave us an extremely real feel of how a real company/business runs. We had to work with people we have never met on some areas that we may have not been familiar with to come up with strategies and solutions. Capsim assisted with our overall learning of how a business operates -- marketing, production, financing, human resources, etc. But especially what it takes for a team to be successful. Capsim was a challenging program but a great experience to lead us out into the business world."