October 14, 2024
Karriker's MBA students win global competition
Students in Dr. Joy Karriker’s graduate strategic management course won top honors in the world-wide August 2024 Glo-Bus Best Strategy Invitational (BSI). Karriker has used simulations, including Glo-Bus, for more than 19 years, with numerous teams earning high global rankings.
From Karriker & Aaron* (2014): “Simulations like the BSG and Glo-Bus allow students the opportunity to practice their integrated, strategic management skills in a relatively risk free
environment or “live case.” Because of their sound designs and intimacy with the principles of strategic management, the BSG and Glo-Bus provide unique and particularly rich contexts for student application of capstone constructs through complex, yet enjoyable, competitive frameworks.” They enhance online course delivery in several ways, not the least of which is providing for synergistic interactions among online students.
About the competition
From the Glo-Bus site: “The Best-Strategy Invitational (BSI) is a global competition among high-performing GLO-BUS companies from around the world. Hosted and administered by the GLO-BUS author team, the BSI is held over a two-week period each May, August, and December. Any student-team finishing in 1st place in the GLO-BUS simulation exercise conducted at their school, college, or university will receive an invitation to participate in the BSI.”
A total of 368 teams from around the world were invited to compete in the August 2024 BSI, and 17 teams accepted the invitation.
The competition saw one to five class members run companies that are in a neck-and-neck race for global market leadership in two product categories: (1) wearable video cameras and (2) sophisticated camera-equipped copter drones. As many as 12 companies can compete in a single industry grouping (class sizes above 50 are typically divided into two or more industry groups). The companies compete in a global market arena, selling to buyers in four geographic regions—Europe-Africa, North America, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.
For more on the competition, click here.
Each ECU team earned 1st place globally in its respective simulation industry. This is the first time an ECU team has won the BSI.
Will Bjorkman participated on one of the teams. He says, “The fact that both winning teams this past summer session came from your (Karriker) class at ECU really is a demonstration of the high-quality education we receive here in the East Carolina University College of Business.”
“I could not have done it without everything I have learned here from you (Karriker) and all of my professors,” said Bjorkman. “It truly has made me into a better person already, and I could not be more grateful.”
* Reference: Karriker, JH & Aaron, JR (2014). More than just fun and games: BSG and Glo-Bus as strategic education instruments. Journal of Management Education, 38(5), 768-755.
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