44th Annual
International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition
April 17-19, 2008

Competing among 23 teams from six states and two foreign countries, teams representing San José State’s College of Business won top honors at the 44th Annual International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition. The two SJSU teams won the grand prize in two of the five divisions of the 2008 competition, which concluded at at the Bahia Hotel in San Diego on April 19, 2008.

When the competition began on February 5, SJSU was represented by two teams competing in separate divisions:

• Sight Joining Sound Unlimited (MBA): Shannon Laoye, Warinda Rijiranuwat, Charmy Ruparel, Eric Wang, Chad Webb, Min Yan
• Beyond Storage (undergraduate): Pedro Alvarez, Christine Ermatinger, Harry Kaura, Janelle Small, Justin Virrey

Members of the 2008 prize-winning San José State teams (left to right): Min Yang, Eric Wang, Chad Webb, Warinda Rijiranuwat, Shannon Laoye, Charmy Ruparel, advisor Joel West, Janelle Small, Justin Virrey, Christine Ermatinger, Harry Kaura, Pedro Alvarez.

At the end of the three day “intensive” phase in San Diego, both teams emerged victorious, winning all possible awards in their respective divisions. Both teams won 1st prize for overall financial performance of their simulated companies, the first such SJSU teams to do so since 2003. Each team also won the award for having the best submitted written reports, in the form of an prospective business plan and a simulated annual report.

Prof. Joel West of the Department of Organization & Management served as advisor and coach to both teams. In addition to Prof. West and the 11 students, San José State was also represented by two former SJSU team advisors, Dr. Abdel El-Shaeib and Dr. Stephen Achtenhagen, who served as volunteer judges for other divisions of the competition.

The contest was hosted by the University of San Diego, School of Business Administration. The 44-year-old competition was previously hosted by SJSU, UNLV and the University of Nevada Reno.

Last updated April 21, 2008