Libby High School team wins business challenge

The Montana Chamber Foundation sponsors an exciting business simulation called the Montana High School Business Challenge (HSBC), and this semester Libby’s team of two, Sabra Hancock and Justin Brewer, have taken first place with a stock price of $130.15.

The winning team beat 237 other teams from around the state, and all teams start with a stock price of $25 per share.

The teams of two to five students compete for college scholarships. Each week, they make all the operating decisions for their simulated business which manufactures and markets a Digital Music Player. The decision inputs are then matched against the other teams in the competition as all teams “go to market”, competing against one another.

Each week of classroom decisions represents a business quarter. The game runs for eight weeks during a semester or the equivalent of two years in their business cycle.

Winning team member, sophomore Justin Brewer was part of the challenge last semester and said his team didn’t even get in the top eight. So what was different this time around? “I think we [teammate Sabra Hancock] made better decisions overall and actually, this time we spent way more money,” he said.

Hancock, who had also participated in last semester’s challenge and was in the top three, agrees, saying “we knew what we were doing more this time. I enjoyed it a lot.” Hancock has no plans to enter the business world, with her heart set on a career in music.

Over 1,500 students compete annually in the HSBC, with more than 20,000 Montana students participating since its inception. Scholarships awarded total over $80,000.

Although it is called the High School Business Challenge, some primary schools and some colleges offer it, as well. The goal is to eventually offer the Business Challenge in every Montana high school, as well as some colleges and private schools. Libby High School business teacher Michelle Foss has been offering it since 2004.

According to Hancock, some of the team’s success should be attributed to Foss “Miss Foss really helped us out and doing this with her has been great. We’ve all been really excited about it” she says.

Brewer says that their team was successful because “we both had input.” Hancock and Brewer chose to be a team and were not randomly assigned.

Saturday, April 29 will be the “Business Challenge Bowl”, with the “Sweet 16” (top eight teams from each semester) competing for top honors and scholarships.

Teams will be required to complete four inputs, representing four business quarters, with final team standings based on the stock price at the end of the last quarter.

Business advisors will be on hand throughout the Challenge Bowl to discuss business acumen and impart real-life knowledge to students. Advisors are not expected, nor is it desired, to assist with the simulation.

To be successful, students must make sound decisions in research and development, marketing and advertising, production and inventory, pricing, ethics, cash flow, hiring and firing and financing and debt management.

Each week (business quarter), the Montana Council on Economic Education (MCEE) game administrator collects the team decisions, evaluates them against “competitors” (other teams), computes the sales for that quarter, and returns the results to the teams, who then make new decisions.

Each team starts with a stock price of $25/share. The final stock price is based on total profits and profit trends, sales return, stock price and dividends and being a good corporate citizen.