North Island College (NIC) business students placed second in the recent Western Canada Business Competition (WCBC) simulation.
Douglas College’s New Westminster campus hosted the competition from March 8 to 10. The NIC team of Joaquin Arroyo Beytia, Akwasi Boateng, Haiden Edwards and Mohammed Amaan Khan went up against seven other teams in the senior division simulation competition and finished in second with their business, Envision Corp.
Through a business strategy simulation, teams tested their ability to run a fictional action camera and commercial drone business. The challenges included creating and presenting a strategic plan and participating in eight rounds of decisions, covering all aspects of business, including marketing and sales, operations, human resources, administration and finance. The competition takes place over 72 hours with tight reporting and analysis deadlines for each decision.
“These students surprised themselves as to how well they performed as they were very nervous and apprehensive at the start. They were quickly able to overcome this and plan and execute their strategy of high financial leverage with a focus on productivity. It was a close battle for first place with a team from Douglas College just beating them,” says Murray Erickson, the program instructor.
For the event this year, team members ran companies that compete for global market leadership in two product categories: wearable video cameras that deliver stunning video quality and have powerful photo capture capabilities comparable to those designed and marketed by GoPro and sophisticated camera-equipped copter drones that incorporate a company-designed-and-assembled action capture camera.
This competition provides an opportunity for NIC students to network with other business students and professors from colleges and universities across Western Canada, as well as practise the skills and knowledge they have learned in the classroom in a simulated real-world environment.
“The team started early each day and worked late into the next morning in making their yearly decision—great experience as close to real life as possible for these students,” Erickson says.