Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/59966
Competing for ATTENTION L ike business schools, corporations have a real stake in making sure that b-school graduates are prepared to work in the commercial world. Businesses have many ways of participating in the educational process, from funding internships to pro- viding guest lecturers to serving on advisory boards. A few corporations take a more active role by sponsoring and running their own student competitions. Hosting a competi- come in handy when the corporation is looking to hire top graduates. Yet there's an altruistic side to such competitions The synergy tion not only allows corporations to offer training opportuni- ties to students, it also gives them a chance to increase their name recognition on campus. In fact, the branding opportunity is one of the key benefits corporations reap when they organize competitive events. Students who participate in a sponsored competition meet with the company's recruiters, use the company's prod- ucts, play business games based on the company's numbers, and generally become more familiar with what the company has to offer—which can between business schools and major corporations operates on many by Sharon Shinn illustration by David Lesh levels, and one of the most intriguing is the company-backed student competition. as well, and companies that sponsor these events emphasize that their primary goal is to give students a trial run in the real world before they're actually out wrestling with it. For instance, BusinessWeek's case writing competition, launched last year by the New York City-based magazine, was founded partially so that stu- dents could use real-world resources when solving a business dilemma. "Most case com- petitions are organ- ized so that students read a case and respond to the ques- tions," says Deborah Parker, BusinessWeek's di - rector of education and corpo- rate marketing. "In the real world, an employee would do the research, ask the ques- tions, and facilitate the discussion." Thus, the BusinessWeek game requires students to find and construct their own cases. Trust by Danone, an interactive business strate- gy game offered by Paris-based food producer 40 BizEd MAY/JUNE 2005