Cresson, Pa.: Business is fast-paced, complex and always competitive. Two Mount Aloysius College student business teams took all those factors to heart. Made up of accounting and business administration majors, seven MAC business students took charge in a national competition and finished among the nation’s top 10 percentile.  With over 2,400 undergraduate teams competing, the Mount Aloysius students’ outstanding performance at CAPSIM’s Capstone Business Simulation stands the two MAC teams shoulder-to-shoulder with the ‘best of the best’ in business simulation competition. Capstone calls for fast-paced, team-oriented analysis and decision-making dealing with production, inventory management, finance, cash flow, human resources and marketing. 

Mount Aloysius President Tom Foley praised the students and the mentorship of MAC faculty member Chris Mingyar for the students’ success. “Stressing the fundamentals of business leadership, and the ability play to the strengths of the team is key to competing successfully,” said President Foley. “At Mount Aloysius our goal is to give graduates the tools they need to be community-ready, technology-ready and job-ready. Success in the Capstone competition offers us an additional assurance that our direction is sound. We’re thrilled for these students and applaud their hard-work and that of our faculty.”

Business Department Chairman Christopher Mingyar noted that the Capstone simulation is widely used in undergraduate senior capstone classes and MBA classes in universities like Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Penn State, Auburn, Florida State, and others.  “The simulation calls for students to take charge of a complex business situation in a fast changing market,” he explained. “They identify critical variables then make decisions aimed at achieving strategic goals. A vital part of the work includes analyzing the cause and effect of various decisions then moving forward as a team.” Mingyar added, “Obviously there are many quantitative dynamics at play here. There is also direct competition within their class and nationally. Results are objectively scored using a Balanced Score Card.”

Capstone Business Simulation participants are challenged to turn around a poor-performing, $100 million company, with five average products, in very different market segments, while satisfying customer demands for better, faster and cheaper products. With five to eight years to build success, there is immediate pressure for teams to develop a strategy and implement it with every decision. Each round is a year in the company’s life and decisions are made in research and development, production, marketing and finance. 

Capstone provides the rare opportunity to experience running a total business, complete with reports showing clear correlations between decisions and outcomes. Faced with a full range of strategy-based options, participants can try new tactics, test unfamiliar paradigms and take risks in a risk-free environment.

The two Mount Aloysius College senior teams that earned top 10 percentile status included Cindy Gampe, of Hollidaysburg;  Alicia Strittmatter, also from Hollidaysburg; and Stephanie Moyer of Portage.  MAC’s other senior team included: Cindy Gage, from Portage; Kyle Lawson, of Cranberry Township;  John Feltch, from Hanover and Johnstown’s Matt Ocipa.

CAPTION: Mount Aloysius College CAPSIM Business Teams turned in outstanding performances in national competition. From left to right are: Cynthia Gage; Matthew Ocipa; Alicia Strittmatter; Kyle Lawson; Cindy Gampe; John Feltch; Stephanie Moyer and Mr. Christopher Mingyar, MAC business department chairman.