Some of the World's Brightest Business Students Enter the Final Rounds to Be Top CEO

Online, April 27, 2012 (Newswire.com) - More than 1,600 students from around the world have been competing in the qualifying rounds of the Capsim Challenge - an online global competition designed to see which business school students have the prowess to run a multi-million dollar company. Now, 16 of those students (12 teams) will be moving onto the final rounds of the competition, which begin Friday, April 27, 2012 at 12 p.m. CDT and go through Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 6 p.m. CDT. Winners will be announced Monday, April 30, 2012 at 12 p.m. CDT.

The Capsim Challenge is created and scored by Capsim Management Simulations, Inc.®, a global leader in business simulation technology used by universities and colleges to give students experience running a major corporation.

Finalists include:

• Jos Huijnen, Rotterdam School of Management (Capstone)
• Alex Zhang, San Diego State University (Capstone)
• Wilson Chiu, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (Capstone)
• Lin Danyang, Queen's University (Capstone)
• Christopher Steffes, Michigan State University (Capstone)
• Edmarie Roman and Sebastian Jimenez-Munoz, University of Puerto Rico (Capstone)
• Tanner Lambert, Montana State University - Billings (Foundation)
• Nicholas Holmes, April McClelland, Kathryn Lanning and Judyta Goscinska, Lenoir-Rhyne University (Foundation)
• Rob Williamson, Villanova University (Foundation)
• Jonathan Miller, Northwest Arkansas Community College (Foundation)
• Peyton Starr, Baylor University (Foundation)
• Rebecca Marshall, The King's College (Foundation)

"It's an extremely significant accomplishment just to make it to the finals," said Capsim Challenge Coordinator Brendan Langen. "With over 900 Capstone teams alone, from more than 20 countries fighting for a spot, the level of competition is at a fever pitch."

The Capsim Challenge is broken into two groups: Capstone® and Foundation®. While similar in scope, the Capstone Challenge requires students to run a $100 million business whereas the size of the company in the Foundation Challenge is $40 million. Both Challenges provide participants with the opportunity to integrate what they have learned during business school in a realistic way by running a simulated company, including overseeing the business's product development and finances. "During the Challenge, it is the students' job to select a strategy for their company, revamp its declining product lines or create new ones, as well as figure out the business's marketing and sales plans," said Langen.

For many students, the Capsim Challenge drives them to think strategically and employ tactics that will help them manage their simulated business as efficiently as possible. And as in the real world, during the Challenge, students have investors to answer to, sales goals to meet, and competition to monitor. The Capsim Challenge is also an opportunity for students to compete with other aspiring business leaders from around the world and to prove their own skills as a potential CEO or successful entrepreneur. This year's Challenge includes teams from several countries, including the United States, Australia, Taiwan, India, Canada, Poland and Switzerland.

Finalist Alex Zhang, an MBA student from San Diego State University who works as a R&D manager for a high tech company, said the Capstone Challenge taught him how different parts of a company work together and how bad decisions in one area can have a profound impact on the entire company. "From this experience, I can see how important each and every one of the functional managers are for a company to operate smoothly," said Zhang.

To interview any of the Capsim Challenge finalists, as well as the creators of the Capsim Challenge, contact the Capsim Challenge Coordinator, Brendan Langen at [email protected] or 1.312.477.7200 or Lisa Davis at [email protected], 1.773.220.6212. Most finalists can also provide video clips of their work during the Challenge should you need it. For more information on the Capsim Challenge, please visit www.capsim.com or follow us on Twitter: @capsimevents.

About the Spring 2012 Capsim Challenge
The Capsim Challenge is a global online competition held in the spring and fall semester each year designed to test the business smarts of undergraduate and graduate students worldwide. The competitions are open to all students who have used a Capsim business simulation in their recent university course work. Each simulation is designed to mimic real-world corporate issues and dilemmas putting students in realistic decision-making roles where they have to successfully run a company. The simulation covers finance, marketing, product development, labor negotiations, and human resources issues. Individuals can play with or without a team (five-person team maximum). The Challenge begins with eight qualifying rounds on April 13, 2012 followed by two days of finals (April 27-29, 2012). The winning team will be announced on April 30, 2012. For more information on the Spring 2012 Capsim Challenge, please visit www.capsim.com.

About Capsim Management Simulations, Inc.
Capsim is a global leader in business simulation technology and services designed to teach business acumen in any learning environment. Capsim Business Simulations create rich learning experiences that give participants, whether in an academic or corporate setting, the opportunity to practice the skills and build the business acumen that are behind today's successful companies. More than 100,000 participants at over 500 schools and corporations have built their business acumen through Capsim learning experiences. For more information on Capsim, please visit www.capsim.com.

About Foundation
Capsim's Foundation Business Simulation experience is an engaging, immersive exploration of core business processes. Participants learn by running a business that simulates the management decision processes in a competitive environment. The Foundation simulation provides solid exposure to the essential elements in business such as the critical relationships among the key business areas of research and development, marketing, production, and finance. Two additional functional modules, Human Resources (HR) and Total Quality Management (TQM) are available with Foundation.

About Capstone
Capstone is the Capsim flagship business management simulation. The Capstone simulation experience is richer in scope than Capsim Foundation, yet similar in structure. Participants in a Capstone business simulation find themselves faced with more strategy-based decision making because of the introduction of more sophisticated functional areas in the form of the Advanced Marketing module and the Labor Negotiation module. Also, the addition of more products and segments results in a substantial increase in data and competitive variables. The experience emulates real-world challenges that corporate managers face in today's global marketplace.

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