College of Business

Here are a few things you probably wouldn’t expect to hear in the halls of Ferris’s Business Building:

• “We just lost $8 million dollars.”
• “Our stock price rose 73%.”
• “I can’t believe we made 700,000 too many units last year.”
• “Our profit margins fell from 42% to 16%.”
• “We don’t have enough capacity to meet customer demand”

However, these types of comments are common around the tables in the capstone class required of most business majors within the College of Business. This capstone class, BUSN 499, is essentially a course designed to help students develop and execute corporate strategies, practice hands-on functional management, and master fact-based analysis and decision-making.

Interdisciplinary Integrated Experience

The official title of the class, Interdisciplinary Integrated Experience, may be a mouthful, but it does attempt to describe its intent. Dr. David Nicol, Dean of the College of Business, explains that the capstone course taps into the many previously taken business core classes and “is a unique experience for our students. It challenges them through simulations and discussions to successfully confront the complexities of the dynamic workplace.”

BUSN 499 for the past several years has incorporated a web-based business simulation called Capsim. Within this simulation, students work within small teams where each team represents a firm competing for sales with other student groups. Within these teams, students need to coordinate managerial decisions in marketing, research and development, finance, and production. Ferris faculty often adds extra complexity by incorporating total quality management, human resources, labor relations, and/or advanced marketing concepts.

For the Ferris professors that teach BUSN 499, one of the main objectives of using this multi-faceted simulation is to help the soon-to-be-graduates learn from their mistakes—and there are many mistakes made. Some of the common mistakes are spending a lot of money and inadequately marketing a product or effectively marketing a product but not focusing of the quality of the product, or investing a lot of money creating and marketing a product but not buying the factory space to make it. Luckily, the simulation is only a simulation and no real harm is done, which can be a good thing. Students say they would rather learn these mistakes with fake money than real money.

Reviewing the results of these decisions can be an emotional experience for the students. “Did our stock price go up?”, “Were we able to get rid of our excess inventory?”, “Did we lose market share?” are all questions frequently asked. Many students mention that they are eagerly waiting for the results to be available at the website.

Of course, the simulation is just a simulation; aside from influencing the students’ grades and emotions, no real harm is done. In many cases, this can be a good thing. As one student put it, “I would rather learn these mistakes with fake money than real money.”

Most academic majors require a capstone class as they approach graduation. As Dr. Fritz Erickson, Academic Provost, says, “These classes are a critical component for our students to link both theory and practice. Employers seek Ferris graduates because of our students’ ability to think about and apply concepts beyond the walls of a classroom.”

BUSN 499 professor Don Jackson agrees that our graduates are known to stand out from other university’s graduates. He notes that employers he has spoken with view our students as “well prepared to work in a team setting, under deadlines and competitive pressures. They also have valuable experience working with occasional team conflict situations.”

For students, the word on the street is that BUSN 499 is a challenge. “Students are initially quite intimidated by BUSN 499 and the simulation,” states Dr. Ann Gilley, another BUSN 499 professor. She continues, “They have heard about the simulation itself, the time commitment, and the rigor of the course. At the end of the semester, however, students are typically invigorated -- they have participated in high-performing teams, collaborated on executive-level decisions, made mistakes, experienced success, and enjoyed the competition.” A Fall 2011 graduate from Traverse City concluded, “Even though this class was extremely time consuming, I found it to be a great learning experience from both a teamwork and business management standpoint.”

Many other students have also given insights about things they have gained from the class about teamwork, integration, finances, and competition. One student said,

“Teammates or prison mates? Either way, we were forced to work together and survive together. With the competitive nature of the game, we forced ourselves to find common ground and work together. I think that this was as much or more important than other areas of the course because it teaches you life lessons about working as a team in your future employment opportunities. If you cannot fit in and find common ground, you will be voted off the island and the team will survive without you. To not become shark bait, you need to work as a contributing member of whatever team you are put into.”

At times, world events occur that create great discussion within this capstone class. Similar to this energy level, Dr. Chet Bolling has found that “The unique market/competitive conditions arising out of Capsim simulations rival the catalyzing properties of highly charged news events. The spontaneous twists and turns in the competitive fate of student firms engaged in head-to-head competition frequently inspire lively discussion, driving learning far beyond what’s routinely possible in most lecture- or case-based courses."

Overall, students find the class challenging yet very beneficial. BUSN 499 will be sure to help you see the big picture.

Story by: Samantha Bankey