Five Bond University business students jet off to Ukraine this weekend to represent Australia at the international finals of the Global Management Challenge in Kiev.
As winners of last month’s National Final, Alexander Robertson, Casey Schneeberger, Connie Xu, Breanna Lee and Paul Kelly will compete against the national winners from over 40 other countries for the coveted Global Championship title.
The students are hoping it is a case of ‘third time lucky’ in the international competition, with two Bond University teams having travelled to Romania and Russia as National Champions to compete in the past.
The Global Management Challenge is the largest strategy and management competition in the world, involving more than 480,000 university students and business executives globally. It is essentially a strategic management simulation, in which each team runs a company with the objective of finishing with the highest company share price on the simulated stock exchange.
Bachelor of Commerce student Alexander Robertson said the team had been busy preparing their business model and cost functions in preparation for the final.
“This is the third time Bond has won and that gives us a competitive advantage because we can draw on the experience of the past teams,” said Alexander.
“Our aim is to improve our international placing by focusing on our preparation, in particular the business model elements.
“The business skills learnt in the competition are fantastic; however, the opportunity to network with other international teams is unparalleled. It’s not every day you get to talk to a room of business students and executives from around the world,” he said.
Head of the Bond University School of Business, Professor Keitha Dunstan said the School was extremely proud of the students and the hard work and preparation they had put into the competition thus far.
“The Global Management Challenge is an ideal forum for our students to practice and implement the skills they are taught through our curriculum and we’re confident this will help them in the competition arena,” said Professor Dunstan.
The team will compete in Kiev, Ukraine from 16 – 20 April, 2012.
This year the Global Management Challenge celebrates its 32nd year with over 480,000 university students and business executives participating, including teams from global companies Accenture, Allianz, Cadbury, Coca-Cola Company, Microsoft, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, IBM, Procter & Gamble and more.