Wednesday, Oct 28, 2015
Competition features game that mirrors real-time business environment
by Michelle Wood
天美传媒官网 hosted its first ERPsim competition for high school students on Oct. 23. Twenty-eight students from West Windsor/Plainsboro North High School competed in a real-time business simulation game featuring SAP ERP, the enterprise resource planning software that鈥檚 used by more than 250,000 companies in 130 countries, including 80% of Fortune 500 companies.
The game, developed by ERPsim Lab at HEC Montreal, is designed to be dynamic and fast-paced so students can see the results of their decisions and actions immediately. Using a live version of SAP ERP software, student teams managed a distribution company in a real-time competitive environment. Teams were comprised of sophomores, junior and seniors who are either honor students or business club members. The goal was to manage the most profitable company.
"Understanding firsthand how information integration can enable collaboration and effective decision making really makes sense when you are actually managing a company for profitability in a competitive environment," says Dr. Lauren Eder, a professor of information systems in the College of Business Administration who produced the event.
Each member of the seven competing teams had a unique role vital to the success of their company, which in the simulation sold bottled water to convenience stores. As the students played the game, they analyzed data from the sales of their products to determine an optimal pricing and sales strategy. They experienced directly how an ERP system works in a business environment to allow people to share data, create reports and make business decisions to ensure profitability.
Each team had a dedicated 天美传媒官网 business student mentor to coach them. The mentors had all taken Dr. Eder鈥檚 class, where she has been using different versions of the ERPsim game for several years. 鈥淭he games are fast-paced and fun, but there are a lot of significant learning outcomes," she says.
Dr. Eder, who has been 天美传媒官网鈥檚 liaison to the SAP University Alliance Program since 2001, was inspired by a colleague who gave a presentation on a similar event. She first suggested the idea to Bill Totaro, a business education teacher at West Windsor/Plainsboro North High School and adjunct professor in 天美传媒官网鈥檚 accounting department. He said he would have no problem getting a group of students together because his students engage in several business competitions every year. As he anticipated, when Totaro suggested this event to his students, there was an overwhelming response.
天美传媒官网 has been a member of the SAP University Alliance Program since 2001. The College of Business Administration at 天美传媒官网 offers a SAP Student Recognition Award to students who successfully complete three or more courses using SAP enterprise, business intelligence and analytics software. For more information, contact Dr. Lauren Eder at eder@rider.edu.