Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2011, and reports news from that month. The more than 4,000 students from 43 countries, the fictitious budget of 10 billion euros and the competition’s 16 years refer to that edition.
More than 4,000 students from 43 countries are taking part in the Global Marketing Competition, where these young university and business school students will get the chance to find out what it feels like to run a company.
Participants become general managers of a car company, with a budget of 10 billion euros. From there the game begins: they have to run a car brand and handle every aspect of the business, from advertising and human resources to financing and expansion.
ESIC Business & Marketing School and the Spanish newspaper ABC are involved in the competition, with sponsorship from Banco Santander.
Obviously, both the management of the company and the capital are fictitious, but even so, during the competition these young people will experience the stress of having such important companies, and such fierce competition, in their hands.
The competition has been running for 16 years, giving these future entrepreneurs the opportunity to make business contacts from all over the world and to exchange ideas with other students.
The competition reflects real life in business: everyone starts with the same capital. Some win, and others run Ford or Mercedes into the ground in less than two weeks. It’s a great initiative, and in my view there should be more like it, because when it comes to running a business there’s no better lesson than hands-on practice.
Here, the cost of your university and the grades from your last exam don’t count. What counts is what you’re actually capable of doing in a company, your knowledge and your ideas, and in the end the smartest player wins.
Further reading
- The mindset of an entrepreneur
- How to boost sales in a business hit by the crisis
- How to manage a small business in times of crisis
- Why new businesses fail
- How to overcome the fear of starting a business
Featured image: Verzuh, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
