The Fall 2024 semester at St. Petersburg College (SPC) was marked by unprecedented challenges due to two hurricanes. Hurricane Helene struck at the end of September, affecting several students attending SPC remotely from North Carolina, while major flooding impacted Pinellas County and the surrounding areas.

Just a few weeks later, Hurricane Milton made landfall, causing significant damage and power outages that disrupted the lives of both students and faculty, many of whom are still recovering.

Despite these adversities, the fall capstone students demonstrated remarkable resilience. The College of Business at SPC utilizes the Business Strategy Game (BSG). Each semester, the BSG ranks the best-performing companies worldwide based on Overall Score, Earnings per Share, Return on Equity, and Stock Prices.

In the Fall 2024 semester, SPC’s 59 teams in the capstone class, comprising six different industries, achieved outstanding results in the global ranking which included 530 teams. Remarkably, every industry had at least one company in the global rankings, a rare feat. Three industries had three companies each on the list, while two other industries had two companies each.

In total, 15 companies from SPC’s capstone class (out of 59 teams) ranked globally, representing 25.4% of the class—a new high. Additionally, five companies ranked in more than one performance metric in the same year.

The Business Strategy Game also hosts a Best-Strategy Invitational after the semester ends. Two of SPC’s high-performing teams competed in this global competition and placed third at the end of the two-week event.

• Industry 1, Golden Step: Comprising students Lilian Henderson Hunter, Benjamin Ryckis, and Mario Smith, this team overcame a slow start to achieve a global ranking of #3 with an overall GTD score of 100.
• Industry 4, Core Alpha Athletics: Led by solo competitor Aaron Williams, this team faced the challenge of competing alone. Aaron led the industry with a #1 ranking until two schools outmaneuvered him, ultimately finishing at #3 with an overall GTD score of 109.

Additionally, Universal Financial Consultants, an industry partner, sponsors the Dr. Robin Wilber Analysis Accuracy Award, which includes a $1000 prize. The team of Andrew Carbonara, Noah Cummings, and Colin DiMarco won this award with five Bulls Eyes, tying the record for the most Bulls Eyes in the simulation and achieving this in the shortest time period ever, despite the competition being shortened by a week due to the hurricanes.

We are incredibly proud of our students’ performances this past semester. Congratulations to everyone in the capstone course for overcoming adverse conditions and achieving such high levels of success. We are confident these experiences will serve you well in your future business and career endeavors.

In Spring 2021, the College of Business at St. Petersburg College began offering a series of badges, or digital credentials, for students to demonstrate their accomplishments from the MAN 4900 Strategic Capstone Project course. Each badge uses specific assessment indicators that students must achieve in order to earn it. These badges can then be displayed by students in their digital resume to build their professional brand and promote their knowledge, skills and abilities to the business community.

What are the top badges earned?

There was a total of 178 students in the Spring 2021 pilot course. The most frequently earned award was the Team badge, which was earned by 87.6 percent of the students. SPC Professor Dr. Robin Wilber was excited to see the majority of students were rated positively by their peers to earn this badge.

“Being an effective co-manager, able to work in groups, manage meetings, and follow through on performance needs are vital skills for success that most businesses need to see in our graduates,” Wilber said.

The second most frequently issued badge was Strategic Team, which 42.1 percent of the students earned. Professor Roni Murphy noted how challenging teamwork can be.

“Earning a 90 percent or better in the international business simulation is challenging for groups,” she said. “They have to co-manage their company, while competing against other companies in their industry, using the Business Strategy Game. This is a pretty realistic scenario for international businesses.”     

The Strategic Planner was the third most earned, with 27.5 percent of the students meriting it. SPC Professor Dr. Tom Philippe expressed how this badge requires students to demonstrate both individual knowledge in the business acumen, as well as team knowledge to work well together in making and implementing a strategic plan. 

“The real challenge in earning this badge is that it requires students to analyze business data, identifying problems and implementing solutions as they work collectively to achieve the strategic plan,” he said. “This involves using critical thinking skills to optimize a variety of operating, marketing and financing decisions.”

Which badges were the hardest to earn?

The other six badges, which were more difficult for students to earn, may be considered more prestigious, as fewer students were able to achieve the high standards necessary for these credentials. The business community might ask our graduates about these badges to identify applicants that showed this top level of performance in our program. Small business owners and managers may even want to showcase these badges to present the high level of competencies for people in the company to support credibility and client or customer references. 

Badge	% of Students Earned
Strategic Analysts	21.3%
Problem Solver	20.2%
Strategic Scholar	19.7%
Analytic Skills	17.4%
Leader	8.4%
Group Effort	5.1%

What badges are coming?

The College of Business capstone team plans to continue to evolve and improve the digital credential options. This fall, we will introduce five more badges: Operations Management, Financial Management, Marketing Management, Human Resource Management, and Corporate Social Responsibility. See all of our badges here.  

Whether you are a student or a business partner in our community, if you have further ideas for desired digital credentials, just reach out to me at huehnbrown.wende@spcollege.edu.