Swan Valley Regional Secondary School took home the trophy and $2,000 in prize money in the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce Youth Business Institute grand challenge.
The competition involved 63 teams totalling 285 students.
The winning team, consisting of Grade 12 students Courtney Dubyk, Jessica Whitmore, Troy Tripp and Grade 10 student Michael How, also beat the team from Carpenter High School in Meadow Lake, Sask., in the interprovincial challenge, netting an additional $1,000 in prize money.
The four students attend the school of 650 students in Swan River, a town of 4,000 dependent on agriculture and forestry situated between Dauphin and The Pas, Man. As a regional school, some of the students ride the bus for more than an hour each day to attend classes.
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The grand challenge, in which four of the best teams of students from Manitoba compete against each other in a computer simulation of the real intricacies of the business world, is “very fun,” according to Dubyk.
“The best part is getting results back, because you have no idea what’s going to happen or how it turned out,” she said.
Last year’s winning school, Reston Collegiate, came in second place, and the team from Vincent Massey in Brandon placed third in the competition’s 18th year.
With eight different factors controlled by the players, ranging from price, marketing, investments and dividends paid out, decisions must be made quickly, just like in the real world of business.
“Going into the game, you never really have a strategy. We have to decide on the spot and adapt to any changes that are necessary,” said How, who added that he has already decided to study business administration after he graduates.
“You have to check your numbers, be very meticulous. You have to be fast and efficient,” he added.
Tripp said he most enjoyed the competition’s intensity. With 10 decisions to be made with only half an hour for each through the course of the game, mistakes can be costly.
“You have to make quick decisions and guess what your competitors are going to do,” Tripp said. “The trend is your friend.”
Whitmore added that the fluctuations in market conditions as the game progresses require a flexible approach, rather than a fixed strategy.
“You can’t really say there is one specific strategy,” she said. “You have to follow the trend.”
Teacher Byron Ross said that his role was providing students with the information they needed to play effectively while analyzing the competition to help develop strategies.
“Then I leave it them. I think it’s really important for them to learn how to make those types of decisions,” he said, confessing that he is probably “too conservative” and risk averse to win.
