St. Petersburg College students from the College of Business demonstrated exceptional skill and strategy in the recent Best-Strategy Invitational (BSI) competition. The competition is a prestigious global competition that brings together top-performing Business Strategy Game (BSG) companies worldwide. The SPC teams showcased their business strategy and decision-making prowess, competing against some of the best student teams globally. SPC students took first, second, and seventh place in the competition.

“Seeing our students excel in a global competition like the Best-Strategy Invitational is a testament to their hard work, dedication, and the exceptional education they receive at St. Petersburg College,” said Emmanuel Hernandez-Agosto, Dead of the College of Business at SPC. “Their outstanding performance, particularly taking first, second, and seventh places, highlights the strength of our business programs and the bright futures ahead for these talented individuals.”

The Best-Strategy Invitational is a global competition among high-performing BSG companies worldwide.

BSG is a “competition-based” strategy simulation exercise where the outcomes are always unique to the competitive interplay among the specific decisions and strategies of each competing company group.

Hosted and administered by the BSG author team, the BSI is held over two weeks each May, August, and December. Any student team who finishes first in the BSG simulation exercise conducted at their school, college, or university receives an invitation to participate in the BSI.

Each year, students in St. Petersburg College’s Business Administration and Management and Organizational Leadership bachelor’s programs participate in The Business Strategy Game as part of their MAN 4900 Strategic Capstone Project. The capstone students who ended their 2024 year on this high note are:

First Place: Hunter Moreland had the top stock price to get the edge over another company.

Second Place: John Fowler lost the first position on the last day which is equal to a year of simulation time. He came in second place, though he was very close to winning his industry.

Seventh Place: Ian Barto recognized he dug himself out of bankruptcy to have the top Return on Equity in his industry!

Moreland stated the competition solidified his choice to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a subplan in marketing. Currently, he works as a financial designer and sees the similarities between his real-life job and BSI.

“At first, I felt unsure of my major and not very confident before I reached the capstone course. The course changed all of that, I thoroughly enjoyed the simulation. I found myself refreshing the results each week when the decisions went through, and this habit continued for the BSI as well. Soon after the first round started, I started to feel so much better about what major I chose and my career path because of how much I enjoyed it,” he explained. “It didn’t feel like homework anymore. It turns out I got hired directly into a company that partnered with the professors from the capstone course because their work has some similar aspects to the BSI. This experience helped propel me mentally and professionally into my career. I am grateful for the program and the course; they reinvigorated my confidence and desire for my chosen career path.”