Sales volume, advertising expenditure, profit. For some students, these terms are probably tiresome business learning material or at least quite abstract. Not so for Theo Zöllner and Gabriel Kuznik, both of whom just graduated from high school in Neubiberg. You have analyzed, tinkered and logically deduced a great deal about these topics for the business game “Play the Market” over the past few months. They did so well with their strategy that they finished as the best of almost 30 teams from different schools in Bavaria in their market and are now allowed to go to the semi-finals in Würzburg on June 24th. There were 28 markets in total. “We are happy that we can be there and will do our best,” says Zöllner.
In the business game, which is organized by the Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft, each team takes on an imaginary company, this year a manufacturer of high-quality fitness bars. In the first round, the participants competed against each other online. The two 18-year-olds not only had to determine the amount of advertising expenditure and the price, but also had to develop an employee strategy. Ecological aspects should also be included. The profit and the social and environmental responsibility factors determined a team index value, which is decisive for which team advances. Zöllner and Kuznik took part in the competition as part of the elective subject Business Conversation taught by teacher Benjamin Schallenberger.
Selling a machine increased profits
The key to the success of the two: They worked very precisely, they adjusted the strategy when they thought it was appropriate. “In the beginning, we mainly looked at the maximum sales volume,” says Zöllner. Accordingly, they entered advertising and quality expenditure in the plan tool in order to achieve the desired value. But then the two 18-year-olds got to grips with the planning program more intensively and found out that the maximum sales volume is not that important. They now aligned themselves to the highest profit. “We set up a formula for ourselves,” says Zöllner. In the end, they also gave ecological responsibility more weight and found that demand increased as a result. “In the end we were ahead of the other teams,” says the 18-year-old. The better things went, the more it spurred them on. “We approached it with logic and calculated values, not just roughly estimated them,” says Zöllner. They always tried to be one step ahead of the others. The fact that they sold a machine that they realized they didn’t need also had a positive impact on profits.
The fact that the two didn’t give up and even developed their own formula suits them. Because they are among the best high school graduates of this year at the school, Zöllner, for example, achieved a grade of 1.0. In any case, he is someone who finds math easy and who takes a close look at things. He tells of Kuznik that he wants to study computer science. Your teacher can explain the success of the two in the competition very well. So the two could “think analytically and networked” and “bite down on something if they enjoy it”. Schallenberger also attributes the good performance to the fact that the students make good decisions and are able to derive necessary changes from wrong decisions.
It was more of a coincidence that Zöllner and Kuznik took part in the planning game. According to Zöllner, both actually wanted to register again for a biochemistry internship, but that was not possible. This is how they occupied Economic Conversation. Even before “Play the Market”, the students in the course took part in the stock market simulation game, tinkered, were successful and had more and more fun with it, as Zöllner explains. Her teacher, Schallenberger, observed very well that more and more students were interested in the political subjects of geography and economics. “In my opinion, this is due to the closeness to the reality of life and the importance for current and later life,” he says. Both subjects are about understanding the connections in the world and possibly being able to have a positive influence on them.
It remains to be seen how Zöllner and Kuznik will use their economic experience in the future. Now the semi-finals in Würzburg are coming up. There 30 teams compete against each other. The challenge: The foreign market will also have to be considered. Zöllner is in good spirits. “We’ll go about it as logically as possible again and hopefully recognize small interim challenges again,” he says. Maybe the two of them will make it to the final with their promising strategy – the main prize is a trip to New York.