ICBSC
History of the International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition

Origins

In 1965, the first Intercollegiate Business Policy Game for the Western U.S. was hosted by the University of Nevada, Reno. What is now called the International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition (ICBSC) is an intercollegiate competition between business schools in the U.S. and other countries. The competition is based on the Business Policy Game by David Fritzsche.

The annual contest today features approximately 30-35 teams, organized into multiple “worlds” with 5-6 teams competing against each other to be the top performing team for that world. For example, the 2006 competition included participants from across North America as well as Europe and the Middle East, with teams from California, Oregon, Oklahoma, Illinois, Ohio, Arkansas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, London and Dubai.

Since 2000, the contest has been hosted by the University of San Diego, School of Business Administration. It was previously hosted by San José State (1995-1999), UNLV (1993-1994) and originally by UNR (1965-1992).

Teams from the College of Business at San José State University have successfully competed since 1982 in the ISBSC at both the undergraduate and MBA level. The Hall of Fame lists prior winning teams from SJSU.

Most of successful teams were advised by Dr. Abdel El-Shaeib (1982-1984, 1996-2005) of the Department of Organization and Management. Other faculty advisors have included John Miller (1985-1991) and Dr. Stephen Achtenhagen (1992-1995). Beginning with 2006, the SJSU teams have been advised by Dr. Joel West.

Format

The simulation competition has two phases:

• the “remote” phase from late January to early April, where teams make weekly decisions about their company’s resource allocation and then find out how they are doing compared to their rivals from other colleges; and
• the “intensive” phase, where all teams meet for two-and-a-half days (Thursday afternoon to Saturday evening) to complete the competition, make an oral presentation and attend a closing awards banquet.

The intensive phase of the contest is normally held at the Bahia Hotel in San Diego.

Last updated November 20, 2007