Schulich student places second at international competition

Schulich BBA student Ricky Tsang placed second in a competition that tests business acumen against competitors from around the world.

Ricky Tsang
Ricky Tsang

The Capsim Challenge is a competition for students who have completed a Capsim Business Simulation in their current course, including Capstone, Foundation and GlobalDNA.

Tsang first used Capstone Business Simulation in Professor David Weitzner’s class, and placed second in the competition out of students from 303 universities across 30 countries.

The six finalists competed in an intense eight-hour contest, making strategic and tactical decisions for their companies on hourly deadlines.

“As the real world of business today is one of cross-border competition, we need our students to be comfortable competing and engaging in open challenges,” Weitzner said. “Using Capsim has allowed us to create a course that lets students see both the practice of business and the experience of management education through a new lens. It challenges their paradigm of what it means to run a business and what it means to take a course.”

Tsang said it was a challenging experience and he learned something new during every round of the competition.

“It has helped increase my knowledge in terms of how pricing affects the competitive environment and how to take advantage of competitors that might not have made the most optimal decisions,” he said.

Making the finals against thousands of students around the world is a tangible addition to a student’s resume says Capsim Managing Director, Reda Chafai.

“They have proof they can make business decisions intelligently, quickly and under pressure,” he said. “This is as close as you get to a real-life management experience in education.”