Students of the Faculty of Economics on the podium in Riga

Student Report on the Success:

"Between April 14-20, 2024, me and my two fellow students, James Olivér and Helbert Enrique, along with our guide Firat Sahin, had the fortunate opportunity to travel to Riga, the heart of Latvia, as part of the Erasmus+ program to represent the University of Sopron at a so-called Merkis: Strategic Management/Financial Simulation Game.

But what is Merkis? Merkis is a manufacturing company simulation game that serves as an evaluation and development tool. Participants manage their companies in teams, modelled in a physical business environment, while competing against each other. Participants take on different roles that change throughout the game. Students participating in the International Business Week acquire skills such as proactivity, positive thinking, creative problem-solving, and leadership. During the program, participants learn tactical management and planning, as well as corporate finance and negotiation skills.

The key to the first team division is that we should not know anyone, not even speak a language other than English very well. So, we had to work together as a team with complete strangers to steer our companies in a positive direction. In the second round, however, the teams and roles were again divided up, but here it was essential to form teams with people we knew, so the three of us ended up in the same company. The competition was actually scored based on the companies' revenue, so the winning team was the most profitable company. Unfortunately, the company we ended up in was not in the best position at this stage of the game, generating a loss of over 300,000 euros, which we, together with our colleagues from other countries, managed to turn into the most profitable team in the competition by the end of the game, thanks to our teamwork and perseverance. We were able to achieve this by investing a lot of money in automation in the final stage of the game, which greatly accelerated our processes, and by accepting contracts that required larger quantities of products, racing against time. Fortunately, we finished and delivered the products in the last 10 seconds. Instead of the average of 100-300 pieces, we managed to deliver 400 pieces to our customers, thus closing the competition with a profit of over 3,800,000 euros.

There was time to have fun and explore the city of Riga besides work and study. I think I can speak for all three of us when I say that this week was one of the most memorable experiences of our lives. The wealth of knowledge we were able to gain there will take us in a positive direction in our careers, and we will remember the time spent there for a long time to come.

Special thanks to Dean Prof. Dr. Zsuzsanna Széles, who drew our attention to this competition and supported our travel, and to Firat Sahin, who accompanied us to Riga. This was my first time on an Erasmus BIP program, and I am very happy that I could spend it with my friends and enrich the reputation of the University of Sopron with our results.

I can recommend the "International Business Week" event organized by BA Business and Finance in Latvia to everyone, I have no regrets at all!

I am grateful for the fantastic opportunity and the lifelong experiences!”

András Potyondi, Student