February 26th, 2016 | Uncategorized
As a Business Master’s student at Waterford Institute of Technology, I have heard all about the high quality of the Business School at WIT from my lecturers, classmates, and from Waterford residents in general. Now you might be thinking that these people are a little biased, being from the Waterford area and having attended or taught at WIT, but I can honestly say that they’re not! So far throughout the past six months studying at WIT, I have been through a rigorous schedule of academic theory and real world experience. Last semester I completed a marketing plan for a real company; this semester I am working as a consultant for two start-up companies, putting together creativity and leadership workshops, and most recently, starting up my own microcomputer company.
Okay, the last one isn’t completely true. But one of the modules on my course is a Business Simulation class in which the class is split into four groups who each run a simulated microcomputer business. The entire game is online in a virtual global market. We create our business names, design various computer brands, create our own advertisements, and much, much more. We have to take into account demand projections in order to decide how much factory space to buy, undertake Research and Development to add new features to our computers, decide how much to pay our workers, and figure out how much we can spend on our various costs without going bankrupt. It really is a comprehensive game that has tested my sanity more than once—especially because it is competitive. We are all competing against each other for market share, profits, and customers. Then our companies are ranked from best to worst performance each week.
Most recently, our companies had to make a Tactical Plan for the next three quarters of our operations. We basically had to plan every decision we would make over the next three weeks and project the results of these decisions. We then had to present these Tactical Plans to the “Dragon’s Den,” a panel of lecturers who decided which Tactical Plan was the best. Based on how well each group presented their tactical plans, the Dragons awarded the best company $4 million to spend in the game. The rest of the companies would be awarded a lesser amount, with the last place company earning $3 million.
So last night, after practicing my spiel for the Dragons about 100 times until I got it perfect, I went into the Dragon’s Den. It was a nerve-wracking experience; after each presentation, the Dragons asked some very tough questions. If you had any mistakes on your Tactical Plan, be assured the Dragons would find it! Nonetheless, my group did an excellent job and came away with an investment of $3.5 million.
Although I was extremely relieved when the Dragon’s Den was over, I think it was an incredible learning experience. Our business savvy was put to the test as we competed with the other companies throughout the game. Then, our ability to present our business plans to a panel of lecturers was really a great test to see if we knew our stuff and could speak about it confidently. Overall, the experience proved to me why people talk about the WIT Business School with such high esteem; it does an excellent job of placing students in real life situations to provide them with a experiences unlike those of any other business school.
Victory Scholar: Katie Fox
Present University: Waterford IT
US League: NEC
Club/Community Partner: Waterford Wildcats
Alma Mater: St. Francis College
Sponsored by: Teamwear Ireland
