UHV students earn consecutive rankings in business simulation
A team of University of Houston-Victoria students has achieved a four-week streak in the weekly Top 100 rankings of the Global Business Simulation competition worldwide. In addition, four other teams out of nine achieved rankings during the semester.
“The global simulation offers students a chance to gain experience through experiential learning,” said Jifu Wang, UHV professor and associate dean of the business college. “Our students have benefitted from this simulation for years, and I am proud to see yet another group of students perform in such an excellent fashion.”
Each year, students in the Global Master of Business Administration program compete in the simulation as a part of their “International Business Strategy” course. During the week of Dec. 4-10, there were 1,003 teams from 70 colleges and universities around the world that participated in the simulation.
The capstone course is intended to equip students for the workforce by incorporating a learn-by-doing simulation and providing hands-on practice. In the simulation, students can apply what they learned in class to make business decisions and be held accountable for the results. In the simulation, each team runs a company that sells cameras and drones. Each week of the competition represents a year in the global market.
CloudCopter, managed by Dante Capella of Rosenberg and Nicole DeLoach of Houston, has achieved the Top 100 ranking list four weeks in a row.
The other teams that placed in the Top 100 during the competition are:
- A Company: Azzam Ali Abbas, Salah Nabil Al Saki and Leonela Aldaba
- DOMEGA PLUS CORP: Carlos Laerte Fontes Pinto, Shelesia Guillory and Eric Duran Guzman
- Elite Sky Solutions: Cyrus Harrington, Faisal Ishaque and Corey Kruseman
- GAerial Tech: Jordan Nevels, Khris Pepper and Felici Prah
Achieving a Top 100 ranking was an exciting accomplishment, and it has felt amazing to see that success continue for four weeks, Capella said.
“I am happy that we were able to bring UHV’s name into the Top 100 best performers in the simulation,” Capella said. “I am glad to bring honor to the university and to our professor, Dr. Wang, by performing well against other teams around the world.”
Capella and DeLoach met weekly to plan their strategy for the simulation. From the beginning, they researched the reports about the drone and camera manufacturing in the simulation and any other research they could find. Then they would come together to share their perspectives and choose how they wanted to proceed.
“I looked for as many sources as possible,” Capella said. “I was looking at everything from the standard materials for the simulation to online research and even videos on YouTube about how the simulation works. Then we put that all together and created our strategy.”
When planning their company’s strategy, DeLoach and Capella chose to focus on creating a quality product at an affordable price rather than several different models at various prices and quality levels. They also put some focus into researching the cultures of different markets around the world.
“Research is a must when making business decisions, especially when you’re working in different parts of the world,” DeLoach said. “If you don’t have a good understanding of the market, there’s no way for you to compete. We also made the decision to focus on smaller adjustments that can be reversed if they don’t work well instead of taking huge risks.”
As they look back on the simulation and the experience they gained at UHV, Capella and DeLoach agree that the exercise was a unique opportunity for them and others to learn about a global economy in a controlled setting.
“It was very beneficial,” DeLoach said. “The ability to learn in an environment free from real-world consequences when decisions don’t pan out allowed us to try things we might have hesitated to pursue in the real market. It’s been a worthwhile experience.”
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.