December 8, 2010

Marketing Students Place 1st Overall in Global Marketplace Competition

Overall Global Marketplace Competition Winners for Fall 2010, from left to right: John Cayer, Danielle Dow, Megan Means, and Sean Caven.

Opulescence, a University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire team, comprised of students from the Marketing 438 capstone course, took first place in the Global Marketplace Business Strategy Competition administered by the University of Tennessee. Students representing Opulescence were John Cayer, Sean Caven, Danielle Dow, and Megan Means. UW-Eau Claire entered 9 teams in 9 separate games and finished in first place in 6 out of the 9 games, and second place in 2 games. 

Over 50 teams from business schools in 12 institutions in the United States, Europe, South America and Asia participated in the competition at the most difficult level, according to Joseph Bonner, associate professor of marketing and instructor of Marketing 438. In this international experience, UW-Eau Claire teams competed against teams from Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Republic of Georgia, Ukraine, Poland, Philippines, Columbia and schools in the United States including Texas Tech, Tennessee State and National American University.  

The 10-week Internet-based competition required teams to use a sophisticated computer program that simulates the ever-changing global marketplace. Students managed the start-up and growth of an entrepreneurial firm. The competition dealt with market analysis, business strategy, real-time competitive analysis and response, and the interplay between marketing, manufacturing, finance, and accounting. Marketplace won the 2003 Gold Award for Excellence in E-learning in the simulation category hosted by Brandon-hall.com, an independent evaluator of e-learning tools. 

Following are the 1st and 2nd place results for UW-Eau Claire teams: