Winning business policy team presents on Hasbro

Friday Dec. 9 in the Teletorium, the Policy class final presentations were held and judged to determine this semester's most successful simulated company.

The students form teams of five in each class. This year's teams were composed of students from a multitude of backgrounds within the different business majors. From there, they are given a handout with the criteria for grading, and decide on a company from thousands of options. United States companies are recommended, but students are not limited to U.S. companies.

The students spend all semester getting ready for the last day of class. They must completely immerse themselves in the company to understand its history, competitors, and habits. A strategic plan is created based on real time or current issues. Students must also look at the external and internal environment of the company to draw their own conclusions about the three-year plan future of the company.  

Professor and Chair of the Department of Management, Claire Simmers, Ph.D., said, "There is no right or wrong answer. It's all about how you develop the logic."

Simmers said the course requirements extended beyond the classroom and enabled students to build communication skills and put out a product with a group on a timeline.

The class is taught by four professors throughout the semester in management, accounting, marketing and finance. There were nine sections of the Policy class and six to seven groups per individual class. The professors picked one group per class for the final presentation. The groups in each class created a 15 minute presentation for the professors to judge, and after the selection for each class the presentation was narrowed to 10 minutes and polished to be presented to well-known judges from outside the university.

Stephen Porth, Ph.D., associate dean and professor of Management said students must "have a very thorough analysis of the companies through understanding the competitors, customers, current issues and strengths and weaknesses."

Porth said it was a capstone course because it cuts across all of the business majors, which include marketing, finance, accounting, management and human resources. The project builds off of what the students have learned in these classes.

Students are encouraged to "think like they were actually managing the business" instead of thinking of it as "just a student assignment," said Porth.

Regarding the winning team, Porth said, "It wasn't only the fact that they had a good presentation, it was their strategic thinking that was really good."

The group also incorporated a new product demo with a virtual avatar.

Matt Depietro, '12, said, "the presentation had a lot of pizzazz" and "[we] had a lot of personality in our group."

The winning group represented the Hasbro Corporation. These five students had a very impactful experience throughout the semester.  Ben Slagis, '12, said that "policy is a very tough class."

"[It was] most rewarding experience I've ever had with a class," he added.

Simmers said, "It's more intense and not like any other class you've taken."

Kate Smithson, '12, agreed, "[I have] never put more time and energy into any class than I have for Policy."

The group started early and spent about 10 hours per week in the beginning, and by the last week they put in about 14 hours a day. Through this amount of time they bonded and learned the value of collaboration.

Tricia O'Hara, '12 said, "[The professors] try to teach you how to work in a group," she continued, "they wanted us to learn the value in the real world."

Simmers explained that St. Joe's policy course is unique because it is the only program that uses primary data."It's like doing a thesis at a group level," she said. She is very proud of the students in the class and cannot wait for next semester's presentation on April 27. All are welcome to attend.

Simmers concluded, "I don't know of another business school that has a model like this."