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Pensacola State College graduates Skylar Smith, Robert Williams and Elizabeth Guercio are among the world’s best “virtual” business owners. The Spring 2024 graduates participated in “The Business Strategy Game” and placed first in their class and 13th worldwide for the week of Feb. 26-March 3. They are pictured with Strategic Management course instructor, Professor Lillian Harding, far left, and Business Department Head Dr. Michael Payne, far right.
Three Pensacola State College graduates – Elizabeth Guercio, Skylar Smith and Robert Williams – are among the world’s best “virtual” business owners.
The Spring 2024 graduates participated in “The Business Strategy Game” and placed first in their class and 13th worldwide for the week of Feb. 26-March 3.
“The Business Strategy Game,’’ is an online exercise where classmates are divided into teams and must run a company in head-to-head competitions against other class teams from around the world.
Guercio, Smith and Williams owned and managed “A Shoe Depot,” a company that designed, created and sold shoes to retailers internationally.
“We competed against six other teams in our class and thousands of teams worldwide,” said Williams, who earned his Dr. Marjan Mazza Bachelor of Applied Science in Business and Management – Business Management Organizational Administration concentration degree on May 10.
He said the Business Strategy Game taught him how to be successful in business.
“It’s not all about numbers and selling shoes. A lot of your success depends on what is happening behind the scenes – such as endorsements and retailer support,” said Williams, who also learned the importance of investing in employees and your company.
“And it’s important to take risks,” said Williams who hopes to secure a position in data analytics, business intelligence, or human resources.
Smith, who earned a Dr. Marjan Mazza Bachelor of Applied Science in Business and Management – Human Resources concentration degree, said she learned the importance of teamwork.
“My biggest takeaway was despite being the type of person who would rather do things myself, I learned to work with my other teammates and use their strengths,” she said. “And it did take all of us to get it done.”
She said she also learned how to strategize.
“There were some weeks where we did really well and some weeks where we dropped back, but with the game, you learn the importance of strategizing,” she explained. “The other teams’ strategies can affect your team’s performance, so it wasn’t a game where you progressed upward each week.”
Smith, who has worked at Navy Federal for a year, plans to stay with the financial institution.
“I hope to grow in management at Navy Federal,” she added.
Guercio earned a Dr. Marjan Mazza Bachelor of Applied Science in Business and Management – Health Care Management concentration.
Dr. Lillian Harding, the College’s Strategic Management assistant professor, said over the last 12 months, nearly 50,000 students used the Business Strategy Game in over 2,600 classes/sections at more than 500 college/university campuses in 52 different countries.
“Company operations parallel those of actual athletic footwear companies. Like in the real world, companies compete in a global market arena, selling branded and private-label athletic footwear in four geographic regions ─ Europe-Africa, North America, Asia-Pacific and Latin America,” Harding explained.
“Each company’s performance is based on a balanced scorecard that includes brand image, earnings per share, return on equity investment, stock price appreciation, and credit rating. There’s no built-in bias favoring any one strategy and no ‘secret set of strategic moves’ that are sure to result in a company becoming the industry leader.”
She said the “A Shoe Depot” team was the Industry Champion and earned a Global Top 100 ranking for its company’s BSG performance.
“It must be noted, during the competition, this team landed high score performances worldwide with a fifth best Return on Equity and 13th best Earnings Per Share,” Harding said.