The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Faculty of Business invites Year 10 and 11 high students to participate in its annual online business simulation competition, 'Game On'.

The virtual business game allows senior high school student teams to compete for the opportunity to win a regional prize for their school of $1 000 or the major prize of $2 500. The winning student team members will also receive individual prizes.

Dr Abhishek (Abbey) Dwivedi, 'CSU Business - Game On' coordinator and lecturer in marketing in the CSU School of Management and Marketing, said, "Participating student teams will engage in a simulation game that is hosted and funded by Charles Sturt University. The game complements the Stage 6 NSW Business Studies curriculum and covers key areas including finance, human resource management, marketing, and operations.

"It allows students to build and operate their own 'virtual' business in a simulated market environment, while developing skills relevant to the real world.

"Students learn through hands-on experience and are encouraged to apply these key business principles to their own 'virtual' business. They can be creative in their business development and will enjoy seeing their business grow through their work."

In 2014, 252 teams competed from 30 schools across NSW and northern Victoria. The champion NSW team in 2014 was 'GGC Team' from All Saints College, Bathurst, which was also the runner-up in 2013.

Schools can register any number of teams, with two to four students per team, who will compete against each other and teams from other schools. Student teams are supervised and registered by a teacher. Teams from subjects such as commerce, economics, legal studies and other related subjects make up the majority of entrants. However if a school does not offer business-related subjects, they are still welcome to submit teams of other interested students, provided that they have a teacher willing to register and supervise their team(s) throughout the game.

'CSU Business-Game On' also incorporates a feature for teachers. Supervising teachers are able to trial the simulation first-hand before the full student version simulation goes live. The trial simulation will be held from Monday 23 March to Friday 3 April, and will allow teachers to familiarise themselves with the interface and functionality of the online simulation. The trial is a short version of the simulation that is self-driven to allow teachers to progress through the trial at their own pace. More details will be provided on the http://www.csu.edu.au/go/gameon website and by email.

The simulation commences on Monday 4 May and includes eight rounds of decisions and follows a timeline which finishes Friday 4 September. At the end of the simulation, teams will be judged in terms of the total profit generated.

Registrations close Friday 20 March. Years 10 and 11 teachers can register their student teams by completing the registration form and email to: gameon@csu.edu.au.

If teachers have any questions about any aspect of the game, please contact 'Game On' coordinator Dr Abbey Dwivedi on (02) 6051 9815 or gameon@csu.edu.au.