“Playing” at being businessman; this year, the topic is energy

 Energy efficiency will be the theme of the next Strategic Business Game “Crea la tua impresa” (“Create your Own Business”) of the LIUC, Carlo Cattaneo University, organised in collaboration with the Regional School Office of Lombardy and with the company Sorgenia.

The game was devised by CETIC (Research Centre for the Economy and Information Technologies and Communication), which operates within the Industrial Engineering School of the LIUC. As usual, the objective of the game, for students enrolled in the fourth and fifth years of technical schools and high schools, is to manage a business in competition with managers of other virtual companies, in every part of Italy.

The initiative was created through the partnership of the LIUC with Sorgenia, one the most important companies involved in the free energy market in Italy, who, with a number of initiatives, promote sustainable mobility on two wheels and reducing energy waste by private individuals, companies, and the public administration. In “Create Your Own Business” the young participants will be called to challenge each other in the situation of a company that produces e-bikes (a new concept of electric bike). The theme of energy efficiency will be one of the decision variables that the young managers will have to manage, for example, by considering the replacement of old generation machinery with new, highly energy-efficient machinery.

As usual, every team will have the job of managing its business strategically to maximise the value of the company (a composite indicator that takes into consideration various aspects of company management, such as economic-financial management, staff management, technology management, and even energy efficiency), while competing with others in a single market.

The Business Game includes an elimination phase, when the teams will play three remote games, while connected simultaneously to the web platform created by the CETIC of the LIUC, and a final game, on 14 May 2014, at the university.

A lot of attention will be paid to the creation of a genuine Business Game community on the social networks (Facebook and Twitter). During the various games, the teams will be asked a number of questions, always on the theme of energy efficiency, to create opportunities for debating and sharing ideas.

The project is an interesting, interactive and innovative example of learning by doing. The teams taking part will be called upon to compete in trials that will require logical ability, a strategic vision, team spirit and the desire to put oneself to the test.

It is a real and fun opportunity to learn about the LIUC, and the world of business, starting with an analysis of the available information on the state of the market, and ending with taking decisions of a strategic nature. It is an opportunity to put yourself to the test, in one of the many activities that the LIUC organises to spread the culture of business.

The figures from the last Business Game confirm its success: 272 teams enrolled from 82 schools, with 1416 students. The schools that took part were from the following regions: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany, Umbria, and Veneto.

Entries will be accepted until 11 December.

Information and entry forms are available from the website: www.liuc.it/businessgame.