Spartan Slippers International
2006 Undergraduate Team
Award: Best Submitted Reports

Spartan Slippers International was one of three teams representing the San José State College of Business in the 2006 International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition.

The team consisted of

• Michael Zezzo: President and CEO
• Karin Karlsson: COO and VP, International Business
• Jonathan Wang: Senior VP and CFO
• Michael Nguyen: VP, Finance and Deputy CFO
• Sunny Wong: VP, Sales and Marketing

Their advisor was Prof. Joel West.

The SSI team developed a plan for a series of enhanced slipper products, to be sold to consumers in “Merica” and “Sereno.” Over the course of two months, they dominated five competing undergraduate teams from San Diego, Oklahoma and the United Arab Emirates, both in the simulation competition and with the quality of their written reports.

The ICBSC is designed, however, to punish complacency or even the smallest degree of inattention. When industry demand collapsed after an unexpected bout of “bird flu,” the Spartans had difficulty adjusting their pricing and production strategies to return to their once market-leading profitability, and were eventually passed by two competitors. Despite these setbacks, the team remained one of the most cohesive and mutually supportive teams of any in recent SJSU history.