n.02 | December 2006 |
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A worldwide competition Twenty-seven years ago the Global Management Challenge was started in Portugal. At that time the organizers were a long way from thinking about the rapid growth of this competition from its modest start to the sensational international growth achieved by the year 2006. The Global Management Challenge is now the largest competition incorporating virtual business management and strategy, in terms of the number of countries involved across the world. To date, the number of countries (distributed throughout Europe, Latin America and Asia) that have developed the Global Management Challenge is 23 (including Portugal). This internationalisation started with Brazil 23 years ago. Then Spain, Italy, Germany, France, China Republic and many others, entered the Global Management Challenge. At the beginning of this year (2006), during the International Final – that was organised in May, at Warsaw - there were representatives from nineteen countries. Now additional national competitions have been introduced in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Ukraine and Russia.They have joined this community of nations and expanded the competitors participating in the Global Management Challenge. This is a great time for the competition and it is the first time that four new countries have entered in a single year. It proves the vitality and the importance of this international competition. We already have enquiries from additional countries that wish to join the challenge and compete in future years. The support and enthusiasm of the many sponsors and supporters has been a vital element in the successful growth and status of the Global Management Challenge. In Portugal the competition has twelve sponsors and five supporters. Some of them have sponsored the competition from the very beginning. Multinational companies such as Microsoft, Alcatel, Staples Office Centre, Barclays, SAP, Accenture, are sponsors, some of them supporting the Global Management Challenge in more than one country: for example Microsoft sponsor in six countries, Accenture and TAP Portugal (the Portuguese airline company) in three countries. Sponsors play a fundamental part in contributing to the vitality and international status associated with the continued expansion of Global Management Challenge. |
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What makes the Global Management Challenge so successful? The secret lies in providing answers to a series of questions: - Why is this competition so appreciated by such a wide range of participants? - The range of entrants includes students, employees at all levels of the workforce, enterprise directors, mentors and sponsors from all over the world? - What is the secret of this success? The answer is simple. The students of economics, management and engineering who participates in this competition, are given the unique opportunity to learn how to run a company. Many other participants can experience the similar opportunity to either work alongside, or compete against an infinite range of competitors.They can test their skills, improve their methods and put into practice their various theories and philosophies. For them, this is vital time in which to shape their professional future. In the competition they can show to potential employers their various talents and their potential development in the future. On the one hand the enterprises directors, in giving their support to the participating teams, can identify people with talent to work with them. All over the world where the Global Management Challenge is developed, companies recruit participants of the teams they support. On the other hand, by supporting internal teams formed by their operational staff, they are giving them the opportunity to practice their management skills and to learn a little bit more about running a company. They can also see how a decision has impact in all business structure and develop their team spirit. In Portugal, for example, Portugal Telecom supports an average of 50 internal teams every year. An objective is to provide the younger talented employees with a wider understanding of, and learning more about, running a business. They can see how a decision taken in one part of a company can have an impact across the whole business. Taking part develops team spirit and boosts corporate morale.In Portugal, for example, Portugal Telecom supports almost 50 internal teams every year with the objective of providing the young, talented workers with more knowledge about the running of a business. Last, but not the least, sponsors have the advantage of being associated with the Global Management Challenge – a world event, based on a successful and robust simulator which has continued to develop in line with the problems and challenges of modern business practice and current economic problems. International Final in Warsaw Warsaw, capital of Poland, hosted the 2005 International Final of the Global Management Challenge. Nineteen countries from Europe, Asia and Latin America, competed to become International Champion, but only one achieved it - China. This is the fourth time that a team from China has won the competition since the year 2000. “It was a hard work, but we were very competitive. The secret was to cut the costs to get more resources, and to have returns”, explained Guo Ying, during the gala dinner. The ‘home team’ Poland took second place. The Polish team were very exited with this result, because, in 2004, they won the title of International Champions for the first time. Greece, Romania and Bolivia were first-time competitors in Warsaw but did not get through to the final round. Sorin Garbacea, from the Romania team commented, “The competition was too strong”. Erwin Mancilla, the team leader of Bolivia said at the gala dinner, “The quality of the team is important, and the experience of being in the international final is more important than winning.” Next year, in Macau, there will be 23 countries competing. It’s going to be a mixture of cultures and ways of doing business. Belgium, Brazil, People’s Republic of China, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, France, Germany, Italy, Macau, Mexico, Romania, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Slovakia, Bolivia, Denmark, Greece, United Kingdom, Ukraine and Russia, will compete to be International Champions of the Global Management Challenge 2006. |
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| Piotr Wielgomas (Polish Partner) and Pedro Alves Costa (International Organiser) |
Winning Team – People´s Republic of China |
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| Award Sponsor of the Year – Millennium Bank | Group Photo |
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