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International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition

December 31, 2022

59th Annual International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition (ICBSC) – Building Bridges from Academia to Industry

Please register by December 31, 2022!

College of Business at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) cordially invites your university to participate in the 2023 International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition (ICBSC).

In this competition, teams of 4-6 students take over the management of a simulated manufacturing company while competing directly against other firms run by competitor teams in a simulated world. The simulated environment incorporates the economies of two countries and requires consideration of global and domestic strategy.

The ICBSC Legacy

The ICBSC was launched in 1964 and is one of the oldest business strategy competitions. An example of ICBSC loyalty to student development is Willamette University which competed in 1965 and every year thereafter. The competition simulation has evolved from mail-in submissions to a browser-based interface.

Each year our students, whether or not they bring back a trophy, tell us that this competition has been the single most rewarding experience of their college career. Some students listing the ICBSC on their resumes have discovered that it has helped them during job interviews. In today’s job market, this means the value of this investment in our students is multiplied many times.

About the 2023 Competition

The ICBSC begins with a remote online phase in late January 2023 and culminates with a three-day intensive phase in Anaheim, CA on April 20-22, 2023.

The Competition utilizes the Business Policy Game, an international simulation, designed to enable advanced business students to integrate and apply the theoretical knowledge they acquired in their business courses. The students become strategic managers of simulated companies competing against other business students acting as managers of their own companies. The Competition extends over five simulated years, one calendar quarter at a time.

The competition provides students with an opportunity to make quarterly business decisions, develop a business plan, produce an annual report, and practice oral presentation skills during the mock Board Meeting conducted at the intensive phase in Anaheim, California.

Our competition is unique because, in addition to the simulation, the competition also includes interaction with a Judging Panel. The judges act as the Board of Directors for each team. Teams make presentations and judges provide feedback. While we include some savvy business strategy faculty, most of our judges are industry executives. Our judging panels have included high level executives such as current and past Vice Presidents of Northrup Grumman, Juniper Technologies, Bank of America, PriceWaterhouseCooper, Pacific Gas and Electric, Shamrock Foods as well as many others.

2023 ICBSC Registration Form & Supplemental Materials

As the competition’s Administrative Co-Director, I would like to personally invite you to send one or more undergraduate and/or MBA/MA/MSc teams to this year’s competition.

Please find below links to the competition registration form and supplemental materials that may be useful:

· 2023 ICBSC Registration Form (Online)

· 2023 ICBSC Registration Form (Word Document)

· 2023 ICBSC Overview (includes important dates)

· 2023 ICBSC Flyer (please circulate Flyer)

· 2023 ICBSC Brochure (please circulate Brochure)

· 2023 ICBSC Presentation (a useful tool for gaining support)

Additional information about the ICBSC can be found at our website icbsc.org.

There is an excellent YouTube Video developed by the San Jose State University undergraduate team on our website. From the video you can see the kind of learning and excitement that the competition generates for student participants.

Please e-mail me (nataliya.acc-nikmehr@csulb.edu) with any questions.

I hope you will join us by competing in this year’s competition and I look forward to seeing you and your team in April of 2023!