Best Strategy Invitational Changes & Advice For Fall 2013

The Business Strategy Game Best Strategy Invitational, or BSI, for fall 2013 will have the first decision round deadline of August 5th, 2013 at 10:00 AM central time. There are three Best Strategy Invitationals a year. The first in April. The second in August. And, the third in December.

If you have made it into the best strategy invitational, it is important to note there are some major changes between the the MHHE Business Strategy Game and and the Best Strategy Invitational:

Feel free to track the top BSI winners here http://www.bsg-online.com/stats/BestStrategyInvitational.html

Best Strategy Invitational Changes:

• You will still run an athletic footwear company, but there will be curve balls McGraw Hill throws at you in the BSI. You will get these curve balls in  weekly e-mails. For example, there is often congressman considering a bill that will raise the tariffs for shoes being imported from Latin America. Your team will then have to handle the decision round accordingly.
• Each BSI decision round will be one week day. When I competed in the BSI, I sent e-mails to the teams and talked with them after the competition was over. The time each team put in prior to the week and after the week corresponded highest with the team’s success. During the first Business Strategy Game rounds, teams normally have multiple days to sort through the information. Hit the ground running and try to outwork other teams if you want to win.
• You will be competing with the top teams who have experience playing the game. Don’t try any cheap tricks you did in the BSG Online because people will catch on during the Best Strategy Invitational.
• If you’re an undergraduate, you’ll be playing against MBA students.

A few words of advice for the BSI:

• Look online for experiences of people playing the Best Strategy Invitational. There are teams that have chronicled their experience with the BSI.
• Shameless plug here: but because of the swell of orders and e-mails during the BSI we know winning teams employ our strategies and win. Buy our strategy guide at a minimum to understand what the winning teams are thinking.
• As I said earlier, hard work is the key to success. Do you research and spend time in the game if you want to win.
• Communication within your team is key. It is often more challenging during the Best Strategy Invitational because your original team is back home for break. I recommend getting a good group collaboration platform up and running, like Google Hangouts,. You’ll want to be able to communicate quickly and efficiently with your team members.

As always, contact me if you have any questions. I’m more than happy to answer.