High School Business Challenge
The Montana Chamber Foundation sponsors an exciting business education simulation called the Montana High School Business Challenge (HSBC). Over 13,000 Montana students have particpated in this 12-year-old program since its inception. Over 1,400 students in more than 60 schools compete annually in the HSBC. Our goal is to eventually offer the Business Challenge in every Montana high school. The High School Business Challenge follows the former Business Week, an annual week-long program on the MSU-Bozeman campus that taught high school students business principles from 1978-1998. Today, HSBC goes directly into the classroom.
Spring Semester 2012 High School Business Challenge begins the week of February 13, 2012
"Click" on the date in the table below to view weekly team stock price outcomes
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February 22, 2012 |
February 29, 2012 |
March 7, 2012 |
| March 21, 2012 |
March 28, 2012 |
April 11, 2012 |
Final-April 18, 2012 |
The Montana Chamber Foundation contracts with the Montana Council on Economic Education to provide teachers the materials and support to conduct the High School Business Challenge as part of their curriculum. Teachers still attend business education seminars held throughout Montana but they also attend a 4 hour HSBC training program before they can offer the HSBC in their respective schools. After the training, teacher/instructors then schedule the High School Business Challenge for students in their business, math, and social studies classes.
Instructor Resource Guides for Teachers and Sponsors Interested in HSBC
"HSBC has been a great way to take the lessons learned in the classroom and apply them in a more real world, hands-on situation. The students respond well when they see the connection between the classroom and the world of work."
Janie McFarland, Instructor, Conrad High School
Students form teams of two to five students and make all the operating decisions for their simulated business which manufactures and markets a compact blue-ray disc player. The decision inputs are then matched against the other teams in the competition as all teams "go to market" competiting against one another. Each week of classroom decisions represents a business quarter. The game runs for 8 weeks during a semester, or the equivalent of 2 years in their business cycle.
Students make decisions in:
- Research and Development
- Marketing and Advertising
- Production and Inventory
- Pricing
- Ethics
- Cash Flow Analysis
- Hiring and Firing
- Financing and Debt management
"I just want you to know how 'hooked' my kids are on HSBC. It's ALL they want to do and I am so glad they are competing. They have learned more about business from this simulation in 5 weeks, than they will ever learn from our text book all year long. It is outstanding."
Tamiara Wacker, Instructor, Melstone High School
Each week (business quarter), the MCEE game administrator collects the team decisions, evaluates them against “competitors” (other teams), computes the sales for that quarter, and returns the results to the teams, who then make new decisions.
Each team starts with a stock price of $25. The final stock price is based on:
- Total Profits
- Profit Trends
- Return on Sales
- Stock Price and Dividends
- Good Corporate Citizen Mini-Cases
"As a sophomore in college, I look back at my high school career and realize that two of the best decisions I made were enrolling in Mrs. McFarland's accounting classes and participating in the Business Challenge. The basic principles that were applied in the Business Challenge have definitely carried over into several of my accounting and economics classes. In all honesty, when doing homework or listening to lectures on financial topics, it is as if those who have participated in the Business Challenge actually have established some sort of prior knowledge or background on the subject and can easily relate. Generally speaking, the Business Challenge has proven to be very advantageous in my pursuit of a Business Economics/Political Science degree, and I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to participate."
former Conrad HSBC student team member and current Carroll College Student
The three teams with the highest stock price at the end of the semester win scholarships and are presented with recongition plaques at a community ceremony. Teachers of the top team each semester are also recognized and rewarded. The top team each semester is invited to one of the Montana Chamber's major events: Business Days at the Capitol in January for winners of the Fall semester and the Montana Chamber and Governors' Cup Golf Tournament in the summer for the Spring semester winners.
