UA Walton College MBA Students Take Second Place in National Business Simulation Competition

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ­ Two MBA students from the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, finished second in the Capstone category of the Spring 2004 Capstone- Foundation International Business Simulation Challenge, sponsored by Management Simulations Inc., Northfield, Ill.

Robert Wittig and Jim Craig, both of Fort Smith, were second among the six finalist teams in the Capstone intercollegiate competition. On April 25, they completed the final round of the competition, which compressed eight years of management into one day. The winners demonstrated the most profit with their simulations. A total of 703 teams ­ 997 participants ­ worldwide entered the Capstone and the Foundation competitions.

First place in the Capstone competition went to a team from Stevens Institute of Technology and third through sixth place respectively were from St. Andrews Presbyterian College, University of Massachusetts and Dartmouth, University of Georgia, and Binghamton University.

“The capstone challenge is a national challenge competition where teams from all over the United States ­ and a few from overseas ­ compete in a business simulation,” said the Walton College team’s sponsor, Vikas Anand, assistant professor of management. “During the simulation teams have to make wide-ranging marketing, production, financial, human resource and research and development decisions. It involves forecasting future competitor actions, investing in production capacities and forecasting the future sales and business environment. 

“During the competition, Jim and Robert 'managed' their company for eight years,” added Anand. “They had worked hard on developing complex forecasting models, which helped them create $135 million in profit.” Wittig and Craig were members of the college managerial MBA class and graduated this spring.

Walton College Dean Doyle Z. Williams said: “Congratulations to Robert and Jim on this wonderful accomplishment. Their work helps us confirm that indeed we are a nationally competitive business school.”

Capstone® is the most widely used business simulation in the world. It has been adopted by Fortune 500 companies and hundreds of colleges and universities around the world.