Leadership Development Week: Wrap-up
Master Students Meet Simulation Challenge to Demonstrate Leadership Skills
Simulating Real Business
As part of Leadership Development Week, our Master students were immediately immersed in a stimulating challenge in collaboration with digital learning provider, Edumundo.
Teams of students had to manage their own sneakers brand over a period of six years. A new management team had to be put in place, actively selling sneakers to customers while competing against other teams for market share.
Cross-campus Competition
With the simulation being run simultaneously across our three campuses, students were mentored by Dag Flachet in Barcelona, Francesco Derchi in Geneva, and Juan Parodi in Madrid. Dag was full of praise for the students:
It’s a very exciting interactive competition. A lot of students met for the first time and they all worked together enthusiastically in a challenge that covered all three campuses. I love this cohort and they are really great students!
In an intense, but fun week, the student teams created a company profile, a business strategy and analyzed the target market. Looking at the men, women’s and kids market, the teams needed to consider price, quality, and customer intimacy. And as part of the competition, they had to think about the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, promotion.
What business news would impact their sales? Would they reach their KPIs? Would financial and non-financial targets be met? With deadlines in place and each team’s strategy impacting the success of other teams, which team would emerge as winners?
And the Winners Are…
After a week of teamwork that covered six years of business, the winning group were five students from Barcelona. Team member Rania Ben Dhahri was thrilled:
This experience has not only taught us how to effectively manage a company but also how to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of the market and the economy. We are proud to have achieved first place each year, culminating in our victory today. This accomplishment reflects the dedication and determination of our team, as well as the invaluable guidance and support from our professors and mentors at Geneva Business School.
As a prize, the winning team got to choose a restaurant of their choice. But the simulation was an invaluable experience for all students who took part. And it is the kind of real business that Master students interact with during Leadership Development Week here at Geneva Business School.
