Strategy Board Competition Highlights

Seventy freshman College Park Scholars (CPS) students competed in the fifth annual Strategy Board Competition, showcasing their business savvy for more than a dozen high-powered companies. In the competition, held on Dec. 12, 2002, four- or five-member teams study, and make strategic recommendations for, real-world companies. Each team illustrates its recommended strategy on a display board, which is evaluated by a team of three judges, including a representative of the company.

The winning team recommended enhanced products and marketing campaigns for the Pepsi Bottling Group. The team members were: Jess Bellissimo, Alyssa Nadler, Nicole James, and Dan Janoff. The strategy board for the Washington Capitals scored second place.

The competition is the culmination of a semester-long project that is a highlight of the introductory business class required in the University of Maryland's CPS Business, Society & the Economy (BSE) program. Students spend the first half of the semester researching their assigned company and conducting an analysis of the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. For the second part of the semester, students analyze the information they gathered and devise strategies. The assignment requires a comprehensive written report in addition to the strategy board.

"This is a chance for the students to try real-world applications of the concepts they learn in class," said Roxanne Lefkoff-Hagius, director of the BSE program and teaching professor of marketing. "It's also an opportunity for them to learn about conducting research, and about working together on a team."

Lefkoff-Hagius developed the competition in 1998 and received the Smith School's Krowe Award for Classroom Innovation for it in 1999.

Dan Janoff, a member of the winning team, said that, in completing the project, "We learned a lot about Pepsi, but we also learned a lot of business terminology that we hadn't been aware of before. There was also a big focus on advertising and marketing, and we could see how advertising works."

Students find the project challenging, but they recognize its learning value and enjoy the hands-on work of creating the board. "We didn't know anything about our company when we started, but after our research, we saw what opportunities they had," said Risa Bisagni of the Sodexho team. "We could be creative with our board," she added, noting that it's a refreshing change from working in front of a computer.

Many judges represented companies that have been involved with the competition since it started. John Harper, CFO of Hecht's, was impressed with the level of the freshmen's business savvy. "The kids have a strong grasp of what is expected, and they are really creative and forward thinking," he noted. "It's obvious that they have done a lot of research. Every group had at least one idea that deserved real consideration."

Penny Homer, representing USA Today, was participating for the first time. "I'm blown away by some of these presentations," she remarked. "They really did a great job. I could tell that a lot of thought went into it."

The winning teams received gift certificates to Barnes & Noble. Other participating companies (15 in all) included: AMS, AOL/Time Warner, Black & Decker, Comcast, Hewlett-Packard Company, Marriott International, Riggs Bank, Ryan Homes, Sherwin-Williams, and Xerox-Reliable Office Technologies Corporation.