STU Ties for First Place in Global Business Strategy Competition
By Belkis Mejia Perdomo
Two St. Thomas University (STU) teams composed of senior students earned international recognition in the Business Strategy Game (BSG), an advanced online global business simulation marketed by McGraw-Hill Education, Inc. Team A SMIF tied for first place worldwide, while Team BMJ placed 73rd overall. Both teams ranked in the top 1% of all participating teams worldwide, competing against more than 10,000 teams from business schools across 30 countries.
The competition challenges students to manage virtual athletic footwear companies while developing their knowledge in business policy and strategy. Teams are critiqued on five performance metrics: earnings per share, return on equity, stock price, credit rating and image rating. The game simulates real-world business conditions in a growing global market over several years. Students manage the complexities of production, distribution to wholesale retailers, marketing, operations, facilities, compensation, and competitive positioning. The simulation mirrors the operations of real athletic footwear companies, including managing both branded and private‑label products across four major geographic regions: Europe-Africa, North America, Asia‑Pacific, and Latin America.
Team A SMIF outperformed teams from universities including California State University, University of Maryland, Texas A&M University, Florida Gulf Coast University, among others. The team includes Luca Vogel, Jan Gewaltig, Tobias Mattson, and Josh Cronje. All excelled in the Business Policy course taught by Lloyd Mitchell at STU’s Gus Machado College of Business. Team BMJ includes Lucas Olivos, Constantino Rau, Dominic Shoemaker, and Gustavo Tunon, whose performance also placed them among the top 100 teams in the competition.
Professor Mitchell praised the teams’ exceptional drive and professionalism. “The A SMIF team, all student-athletes who collectively speak six languages, demonstrated an exceptional grasp of strategy, teamwork, and leadership,” Mitchell remarked. “They paid consistent attention to all aspects of business management and worked cooperatively on the strategic and tactical decisions that placed them in a first-place finish worldwide.”
Through this rigorous hands‑on experience, students gained valuable insight into managing a complex global business under competitive market conditions. “The exceptional performance of our STU teams against not just the best American universities, but the entire world, is a concrete example of how we are achieving excellence and living up to our slogan: Be Giant!” commented David A. Armstrong, J.D., President of St. Thomas University.