In the "Profits" category, a team of Central Connecticut State University management students playing the computer simulation game known as Capstone proved world class. Capstone is played worldwide by over 1,830 teams of undergraduates and Master of Business Administration students. In the ranking on profits, the CCSU team—(from left to right) Jaime Cordova-Mendoza, Donald Vaccaro, April Voisine, Dr. Cavaleri, Denise LaMontagna, and David Gajoviak—finished in 10th place or in the top .005 in the world. Not shown: Crystal Castleberry.

This past fall 25 students taking the senior level Integrative Policy & Strategy course taught by Dr. Steven Cavaleri, professor of management and organization, were divided into four teams. "A main benefit of playing the game is what is termed 'cross-functional integration,' that is, understanding how to get all functions of a company to act in unison. This is one of the primary objectives of the course," said Cavaleri.

In the Capstone simulation, each team acts as an executive committee responsible for running an electronic sensor company. Using the software, players determine product positioning, price, sales and promotion budgets, production levels, and financing requirements.

The teams are evaluated on their performance based on six criteria: profits, market share, return on equity, return on assets, return on sales, and stock price.

During the eight Capstone rounds, one per week, "students learn facets of product research and development and invent products based on certain dimensions to fit customer specifications," explained Cavaleri. "Then they need to produce the product by making decisions on automation, materials to purchase, staffing, and training. The next step is financing, through selling stocks, bonds, and so on." In running the hypothetical $100-million company for eight simulated years, the team makes key decisions on finance, production, human resources, and quality management. Students, operating in a competitive marketplace, experience the positive, and negative, implications of their business decisions.

The decisions the team makes are uploaded into the computer, and the simulation determines the results, such as return on sales, cumulative profit, profit margin, and market share. "Students receive immediate results, which hardly ever happens in real life. That might take years, and the feedback may not be definitive, but ambiguous," stated Cavaleri. "Thus, students can relate their decisions to actual consequences. The game helps tremendously, because the theories we discuss in class become concrete."

Donald Vaccaro, senior finance major, said of the CCSU team’s winning performance, "We were successful because of teamwork and a lot of pre-planning. Most of the research was done before we ever made our first move. Another factor of our success was that we spoke with a unified voice and a uniform strategy. This was a great simulation, true to life experience, and it demonstrated the interaction of all the different facets of a company. Dr. Cavaleri did a great job in making sure the teams were composed of diverse majors—marketing, management information systems, finance, human resources, and accounting."

Capstone was developed by Management Simulations, Inc., originally as an executive education program for corporate clients, and is also used in executive education programs at leading business schools.