The Abertay team competing in the IBM Universities Business Challenge 2006/07 on the 30th of January performed very creditably against stiff opposition.
The five students from the Dundee Business School came in 3rd place out of 8 teams in the regional semi-final, held in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. In a roller-coaster competition that saw fortunes waxing and waning with every round, the DBS team was running last after the first round, but fought their way back to third place after round two and then second place after round three, only to drop back to third after the final round.
There was very little difference between the final profits of the top 3 teams, but only the top team in each semi-final plus the closest runner-up from all the semi-finals will go through to the national final.
The five DBS students can take pride, however, in knowing that they have gone further in the competition than any previous Abertay team.
The IBM Challenge is the premier business simulation competition for university undergraduates in the UK.
At each stage, teams are given a scenario featuring a fictional company for which they have to draw up a strategy for improving performance, taking into account not only its financial circumstances but also its responsibilities to stakeholders including suppliers, customers, and employees.
The Abertay team comprised Ben Groves (age 23) from Grimsby and reading BA Hons in Business Studies with Economics; Julia Wykrota (22) from Lodz in Poland and reading BA Hons Business Studies; Amy Wong (32) from Singapore and reading BA Hons Accounting with Finance; Matthias Kohlhaus (25) from Jesteburg in Germany and reading BA Hons European Economy and Management; and Krzysztof Tyszkiewicz (23) from Warsaw in Poland and reading BA Hons Business Studies.
Almost 150 teams from more than 70 other institutions have taken part in this year's IBM Challenge. The winners from the regional semi-finals go through to the national final at IBM's South Bank HQ in London in February, competing for a £1000 first prize.
Professor Mary Malcolm, Head of the Dundee Business School, said: "The IBM UBC is a true learning experience for all those who enter. It helps students to improve their decision-making skills, develop their team-working abilities and increase their knowledge of key business areas such as marketing, finance and production. The competition also enhances their employability skills and provides an important extra item for their CV."