THREE students of the University of Guyana’s School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI) recently outshone many of their colleagues from around the world in the GloBus International competition, a business simulation competition that focuses on competitive business strategy in a truly global market arena.
The students who participated in the competition are Sean Langevine, Anisa Ramraj and Traceyann Massay-Gillis.
As part of the simulation competition, each group was required to run a company in head-to-head competition against other students who were also put in charge of other companies, all of which manufactured and sold two product categories, wearable video cameras and sophisticated camera-equipped copter drones.
Providing a brief background of how students were able to enter the competition, Dean of SEBI, Prof. Leyland M. Lucas, said that over the past two years, students of SEBI have been engaged in a simulation exercise as part of the requirement for the BUAD 4201 Course (Business Policy & Strategy), which is taken by students in their final semester.
This course is a senior-level management course that focuses on firm efforts to attain and sustain a competitive advantage. It is concerned with managing the competitive position and long-term development of a business enterprise to ensure its survival and success.
The goal of the course is to increase the students’ effectiveness in managing strategically. During the just-completed second semester, several groups were recognised for their performances, which involved being ranked in the top 100, globally.
Recent statistics show that in the second semester of the 2020/2021 academic year, the simulation was used by over 30,000 students, 253 campuses, and in 28 countries.
Of all the groups around the world participating in the semester-long competition, 675 teams were invited to compete in the May 2021 Best Strategy Invitational (BSI) Tournament and 65 of them accepted the invitation. They were separated into six different simulation industries, each competing for a BSI Grand Championship.
Langevine and Ramraj were grouped with D Safare Company while Massy-Gillis was placed in J Photography Company.
At the end of the invitational tournament, D Safare finished in first place, as the overall best-performing company, and J Photography finished sixth.
The SEBI students were extremely delighted with their successes and expressed gratitude to UG for allowing them to participate in the international competition.
Langevine said: “The process was complex. We were placed in an industry with students from around the world. Unlike the in-class simulations, we had one to two weeks to make strategic decisions, think about what other companies might do, and formulate a strategy to outperform them.
“I believed in my vision and strategy. I was confident in my ability due to the knowledge gained during my interactive sessions with Professor Lucas, the Business Policy and Strategy course lecturer at the University of Guyana. He had a unique way of teaching, where he forced me to find what I was looking for by providing clues, but once I found them, I never forgot them.”
Ramraj said: “When I first saw the invitation to participate in the GloBus Best Strategy Invitational, my first thought was that I would have to tell this to Sean Langevine. This was because he was exceptionally outstanding at understanding the simulation and its mechanisms.
“After having told him, I thought it would have ended there for me, even though there was a small voice at the back of my mind telling me to go for it. This voice won when Langevine asked me to participate in the competition alongside him. Having been friends for the last four years, I accepted.”
She added: “As Guyanese, we often hear of the accomplishments of citizens from other countries and not much news of ourselves unless it’s a tragedy of some sort. Thus, competing with the world was nerve-wracking, to say the least, as we wanted to bring recognition to our country for a positive reason.
“When I entered the competition, I felt relaxed, calm, and collective – that only lasted until the first day of the competition. The anxiety of having to compete against international teams was intense – it was terrifying. However, as we excelled each week, the fear and anxiety faded, and the trust in myself and my teammate increased.”
In a brief comment, Massay-Gillis related: “I considered this an incredible honour since our group received honourable mentions for placing in the top 50 for a few categories during the weeks of the competition. However, I was the lone participant since the other members opted out of the competition.
“On recognition that first place garnered an invitation to a global competition, I was eager for more chances to compete and refine my knowledge and strategies. This made my semester even more exciting.” (University of Guyana)
