University of La Verne CAPSIM Team #1 in Nation
La Verne did it again. Team Erie, consisting of Shannon Jones, Branden Rademacher, Kevin Randall and Robert Villas, placed #1 in the nation in a CAPSIM category the first week of November. This is the third time in 6 weeks they have been in the top ten of over 500 teams and the first #1 ranking. This is especially impressive given their competition including Penn State, Auburn, and Notre Dame.
For the past ten years, the University of La Verne has partnered with Management Simulations® to provide a live laboratory for business students to practice the skills they have learned in their business classes. Management Simulations is America’s leading provider of business simulations to corporations and universities. The CAPSIM game is played by teams of four or five students who make weekly decisions about finance, production, R&D and marketing. They compete against up to 4,000 teams each week from schools such as Penn State, Auburn, Syracuse University, the University of Texas and Baylor University.
Several of the students who have graduated from La Verne have written that this experience, which includes the chance to make executive level decisions without punishment, was the most important they had in college. Our graduates who work for Deloitte and other major firms have written that they use the skills they learned in CAPSIM daily.
AACSB uses the learning outcomes provided by CAPSIM to measure school progress and those measures are being used by La Verne for the upcoming WASC Accreditation visit.
Once a week, the top ten CAPSIM teams in the nation are ranked in seven different categories of profitability and use of resources. The University of La Verne ranks in the top ten frequently for three professors who teach it: Dr. Janis Dietz, Dr. Richard Simpson, and Dr. Yvonne Smith. Last year, one of the teams was #1 in the country for several weeks running—that is the best team of all the schools playing that week. Last December, La Verne professors were invited to Harvard to participate in teaching the game to 900 Harvard MBA students.
For the Fall 2009 season, three teams have been in the top ten for Dr. Dietz’s class, for rounds 2, 3, and 4. This is the first time that she has had three teams in the top ten at the same time. Both regional campus and traditional campus students takes the course at the end of their senior year. Though challenging, students continue to find the lessons learned in this competition are long lasting.
CAPSIM Team Members
- Alfredo Ayala
- Miguel Galvez
- Brittany McClintick
- Douglas Mendoza
- Shannon Jones
- Branden Rademacher
- Kevin Randall
- Robert Villas
- Josefina Castellanos
- Stephanie Garcia
- Nick Patterson
- Jennifer Perez
- Jeremy Tokushige
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