SPOTLIGHT
Business games leads to French fieldtrip
The International Business Games saw students travel to Lille to compete with peers from France and Belgium. A group of first-year students travelled to Lille, France, to take part in the first stage of the International Business Games.
During the game, they receive further information about developments in their market, which they have to assimilate and then react to.
The annual event features two parts – the first based at our partner university l’Université Catholique de Lille, and the second in Ghent, Belgium. The Games gives students the ideal opportunity to develop their business skills, and the Business School has been taking undergraduates each year since 2016. Senior Professional Tutor Brian Ricketts, who along with Dr Clay Gransden escorted the students, said: “This year’s group really enjoyed the experience in Lille. They made the most of the opportunity and have kept in touch with their individual groups. “Dr Gransden and I were delighted to be involved in the trip again this year and it was a pleasure to see how the Hope students worked well as a group, but also within their individual teams.” Working in groups, students are challenged with understanding the business environment of their market and developing plans for their company. Groups are given some initial information on which to build their plans, and this is then added to as the Game progresses. Students have to make decisions around market strategy, sales, pricing, production levels and recruitment.
Alongside this, the students prepare a presentation for the tutors, who then have the opportunity to ask questions. Monika Kucharska, who is studying Marketing and English Language at Hope, said of the Games: “It was an exciting opportunity to apply theory in practice, make friends and visit a beautiful city.” In each group, there are students from the three participating universities – Lille, Ghent and Liverpool Hope. This means students are not only given the opportunity to visit another country, but are also exposed to different languages and cultures. PULSE Magazine | 3
