High School Business Challenge
The Montana Chamber Foundation sponsors an exciting business education simulation called the Montana High School Business Challenge (HSBC). The program runs for eight weeks each semester of classes, Spring and Fall.
Over 15,000 Montana students have particpated in this 13-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, as well as some colleges, private schools, and even businesses!
Click here for the HSBC brochure for more information and sponsorship form.
High School Business Challenge Welcomes New Schools & Instructors
The spring semester Montana High School Business Challenge (HSBC) competition began Wednesday, February 20, with 247 teams registered. When the final signup is complete, over 700 students will be enrolled in the competition this spring! We welcome new teams from Malta, Terry, Jordan, and Billings Central into the HSBC program. Teachers from those schools received webinar training recently.
For more information about the Montana High School Business Challenge, contact Kerry Schaefer, HSBC Coordinator at 406-463-2370 or
Kerry(at)MontanaChamber.com.
Click on the date in the table below to view weekly team stock price outcomes.
How It Works
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" competing against one another.
Each week of classroom decisions represents a business quarter. The game runs for eight weeks during a semester, or the equivalent of two 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."
Tamaira Wacker, Instructor, Melstone High School
How Students Compete
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
What Students Win
The three teams with the highest stock price at the end of the semester win scholarships.
Other scholarships are awarded for finishing in the top quartile of stock prices and for realizing the largest stock price rebound from the mid-point of the competition until the final week. The Montana Chamber Foundation is pleased to partner with
Student Assistance Foundation to coordinate and leverage those awards. Winners are also presented with recongition plaques at a ceremony in their community. 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.
Our Partner
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.
"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
History
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.
Here is a listing of winners of the HSBC since its inception in 2000:
SPRING, 2013
1st – Sunburst
2nd – Whitefish
3rd – Red Lodge
FALL, 2012
1st – Melstone
2nd – Conrad
3rd – Melstone
SPRING, 2012
1st – Conrad/Heritage Christian (tie)
3rd – Melstone
FALL, 2011
1st – Melstone
2nd – Rapelje
3rd – Missoula Loyola
SPRING, 2011
1st – Heritage Christian
2nd – Heritage Christian
3rd – Melstone
FALL, 2010
1st – Heritage Christian
2nd – C.M. Russell (Great Falls)
3rd – Plevna
SPRING, 2010
1st – Heritage Christian/Melstone (tie)
3rd – Whitefish
SPRING, 2009
1st – Laurel
2nd – Conrad
3rd – Laurel
FALL, 2008
1st – Laurel
2nd – Laurel
3rd – Melstone/Plevna (tie)
SPRING, 2008
1st – Heritage Christian
2nd – Heritage Christian
3rd – Conrad
FALL, 2007
1st – Conrad
2nd – Laurel
3rd – Capital
SPRING, 2007
1st – Plevna
2nd – Laurel
3rd – Plevna
FALL, 2006
1st – Plevna
2nd – Heritage Christian
3rd – Melstone
SPRING, 2006
1st – Melstone
2nd – Melstone
3rd – Heritage Christian
FALL, 2005
1st – Laurel
2nd – Melstone
3rd – Cascade
SPRING, 2005
1st – Billings Career Center
2nd – Petra Academy
3rd – Billings Skyview
FALL, 2004
1st – Rapelje
2nd – Melstone
3rd – Laurel
SPRING, 2004
1st – Rapelje
2nd – Great Falls Central
3rd – Great Falls Central
FALL, 2003
1st – Rapelje
2nd – Great Falls Central
3rd – Great Falls Central
SPRING, 2003
1st – Heritage Christian
2nd – Colstrip
3rd – Laurel
FALL, 2002
1st – Laurel
2nd – C.M. Russell (Great Falls)
3rd – Fergus (Lewistown)
SPRING, 2002
1st – Carter County (Ekalaka)
2nd – Belgrade
3rd – Winifred
FALL, 2001
1st – Skyview (Billings)
2nd – Rapelje
3rd – Plevna & Twin Bridges (tie)
SPRING, 2001
1st – Big Sky (Missoula)
2nd – Rapelje
3rd – Carter County (Ekalaka)
FALL, 2000
1st – Park (Livingston)
2nd – Heritage Christian (Bozeman)
3rd – Great Falls
SPRING, 2000
Pilot program - no competition
