Students in the master’s of business administration degree program at the University of Missouri-Rolla will test their management skills during a real-time simulation game Thursday, Jan. 18, in the lobby of the Havener Center. The event, which will take place all morning on Thursday, is open to the general public.         

The MBA students will be running a simulated company using SAP, a leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that is used by many large companies worldwide.         

By integrating knowledge from accounting, finance, operations, economics, marketing and management, students will use their decision-making skills to evaluate market fluctuations, consumer behavior and market reactions as they manage the end-to-end production of six varieties of cereal, from purchasing raw materials to choosing the distribution channel.         

“To make a profit, student teams have to understand how to leverage the information technology to achieve a competitive advantage against the other teams — instead of just learning technology for the sake of learning technology,” says Dr. Bih-Ru Lea, assistant professor of business administration at UMR. “Once the simulation is completed, students are required to produce a report and provide a presentation of their performance to the faculty panel.”         

UMR’s MBA program is unique in that it is technology based, combining business, technology and enterprise resource planning. The new program officially started with the current semester.        

The program is designed to allow completion in one calendar year, with a total of 36 credit hours required. During the first semester, students are involved in intense team experiences, including the ERP projects and business simulations. 

During one semester of study (typically in the summer), MBA students will gain real world experience through a six-credit-hour practicum, which will be offered on campus or as an internship through an off-site company.         

Students may customize their degree by choosing a concentration in e-commerce, enterprise resource planning, finance, human-computer interaction, information technology management, marketing, new product design and management or supply chain management. For more information about the MBA program, email program director Brenda Bouse at bouseb.mst.edu  or visit http://mba.mst.edu .