All-Time Best Performance by ISU at International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition

In an all-time best performance, Idaho State University’s International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition (ICBSC) teams won a combined five trophies. The graduate team won Best Overall Performance, Best Written Documents and Best Presentation. The undergraduate team won Best Overall Performance and Best Written Documents. Now in its 10th year of competing in this endeavor, this brings ISU’s trophy count to 24. 

ICBSC is a rigorous competition challenging top-level students from around the world to complete 12 quarters (three years) of simulated business decisions expedited over the course of a semester, in addition to submitting a formal business plan and annual report. Students then travel to Anaheim, California, for an intense 72-hour competition against their peers, followed by a formal presentation to executive-level judges from companies throughout the western United States.

“I can’t say enough great things about the students on our ICBSC teams this year, and I’m not alone,” said ICBSC Advisor and ICCU Endowed Professor of Management Dr. Alex Bolinger. “One of the ICBSC judges, who has had a long career in executive-level leadership in industry, told me that he has rarely seen a team that was as cohesive, connected, and capable under pressure as our undergraduate team. Another judge, a C-suite executive who has judged the ICBSC for over three decades, told me that our graduate team had about as perfect a competition as she has ever seen. I was told more than once that ISU is ‘building a dynasty’ in this competition. That is a tribute to the remarkable students, both past and present, that we have in the College of Business.”

The ISU College of Business undergraduate team, consisting of Gracie Funk (CEO), Dylan Bartos (CFO), Ethan Freeburne (COO), Carter Christiansen (CAO), and Karson Jex (CMO), was in a neck-and-neck competition with an experienced San Jose State student team (their CEO was a seasoned entrepreneur in his 30s who is returning to school to earn his degree).

Despite fierce competition in their division and a major curveball thrown by the simulation's administrator (a 20% tariff levied against all raw materials), the ISU team held their ground, pounced on a critical mistake by San Jose State with only a few quarters of decisions remaining, and raced to Best Overall Performance and Best Written Documents.

“Participating in ICBSC brought together everything I’ve been learning in my classes, allowing me to connect concepts from marketing to finance in a real-world setting,” said undergraduate participant and accounting and finance major Gracie Funk. “I’ve never had to make such intense business decisions before, and it was an incredible learning experience. I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to be part of it.”

The ISU graduate team, consisting of Matt Spanbauer (CEO), Anthony Land (CFO), Diego Jara Ulloa (COO), Dalton Derie (CAO), and Rae Karanjia (CMO), rode a dominating performance (nearly 45% market share and a better market capitalization than their two nearest rivals combined) to sweeping all three trophies in their world: Best Overall Performance, Best Written Documents, and Best Presentation.

“The teams and I would like to thank the College of Business faculty and staff that offered advice and continued encouragement throughout this process,” said Bolinger. “We would also like to extend a special thanks to Brenda Worrell and the executive team at ICCU for their commitment to this program. Without their generous support, including feedback and insights on the students’ presentations before heading to California, this incredible learning opportunity would not be possible.”