about GSC

About the Challenge

The Global Student Challenge is so much more than just an international student competition! It offers you the chance to gain valuable knowledge and further develop the skills you learned during your curriculum course. By participating in the Challenge, you will experience the life of a Corporate Executive and run your own virtual company together with your team. This is as close as you can get to reality! Ultimately, what we aim to achieve with the Global Student Challenge is to help you expand your professional network which might open new doors for you and your future.

The Challenge, now in its 7th edition, pits teams from top business schools and universities from across the globe against each other in the search for the world’s Top Talent in Supply Chain Management, - Finance, and circular economy.

The participation criteria:

  • Through an invitation only for curriculum students.
  • Only full-time students in academic year 2020-2021 can participate.
  • Students who previously attended a Global Final event are not eligible.
  • Now open to students participating in the Pilot Program. If you don’t have The Fresh Connection, The Cool Connection, or The Blue Connection in your curriculum but still want to participate, talk to your teacher about the business game and the opportunity of introducing a new learning tool into your course.
  • Important note: Students are not allowed to sign up or participate in a ‘Train the Trainer’ workshop organized by Inchainge or partner network. Doing so will automatically disqualify this student from participating in the competition.
Global Student Challenge Champions 2019

The Global Qualification Rounds for the special online edition of the Global Student Challenge 2020-2021 will only include The Fresh Connection. The Global Online Final Week will be an intense competition among the top value chain students around the world as they experience all three business games; The Fresh Connection, The Cool Connection and The Blue Connection. Unexpected turns of events will make the battle fierce as teams compete for the coveted Global Champion title and EUR 10,000 in cash prizes!

The Business Games

Game room at the Global Final at Windesheim

The three business simulation games included in the Global Final week will be The Fresh Connection (TFC), The Cool Connection (TCC), and The Blue Connection (TBC). In all three cases, the challenge is to run your own virtual company with a team of 4.

However, qualification is only possible by competing with The Fresh Connection in the Global Qualifications Rounds.

The Fresh Connection is a fresh fruit manufacturer and The Cool Connection is a manufacturer of personal care products delivering to retail channels. The Blue Connection is a virtual e-bike manufacturer and your challenge is to transform its value chain from a linear to a circular one by implementing a circular strategy.

In all cases, your virtual company is suffering severe losses so new management (you and your team!) has been appointed to make the company profitable again by making strategic decisions.

Together with your team, you will each assume an executive roll, such as VP Purchasing or VP Supply Chain, and it is up to you save the company from bankruptcy or to implement a powerful circular strategy! For more detailed information on the simulations, visit www.inchainge.com

Timeline

Prof. Dr. Michiel Steeman opening the Global Final at Windesheim University of applied sciences

  • Curriculum course

    You will play The Fresh Connection, The Cool Connection or The Blue Connection in class over the period of time your teacher has decided.

  • Local Final Not always the case

    In some exceptional cases qualification is organized locally in certain countries. Unless this is announced by your professor, this is not the case for your course.

  • Global Qualification rounds

    Three Qualification rounds will be held and the top 10% of each course is invited to participate. The best performing student teams during the curriculum course are automatically invited. The top teams receive information in the game on how to join one of the Global Qualification rounds. These are online events and the top teams are guaranteed a spot in the Global Online Final.

    Global Online Qualification 1: Nov 16 — Dec 4
    Global Online Qualification 2: Jan 25 — Feb 12
    Global Online Qualification 3: March 15 — April 2

  • Global Final

    May 2nd – May 8th, 2021

    The final phase of the Global Student Challenge Special Online Edition 2021 is the Global Final! Out of thousands of teams only the best will battle for the Champion title and cash prizes!

Rewards

Great rewards await ALL participants!
Big surprises at the Global Online Final!

International networking

You will meet students and teachers from top universities from all over the world. Share your culture and learn about others during the Global Final. Take with you an unforgettable experience!

Professional Training

The world's leading companies use Inchainge's business games to train personnel in the complexities of Value Chain Management. The Challenge allows students to bridge theory and practice in a real-life and volatile virtual market environment.

Community

As a Global Finalist, you become part of an elite community of the best and brightest talents globally. The once in a lifetime experience you’ve shared provides memories and a special bond that will last a lifetime.

€10,000 in Cash Prizes

You will be battling for the honor of being the Global Champion. However, the top teams also compete for €10,000 in cash prizes.

Certificates

Top teams can proudly demonstrate their performance with official certificates!

Champions

The winner usually takes all of the glory! However, this unique experience is what makes all Global Finalist true champions. You develop crucial hard- and soft skills beneficial to your future career. It shows that you are a true team player, you obtained real world experience, practiced critical thinking, and so much more.

Getting started is easy!

In 2018 we changed the participation criteria for The Global Student Challenge. Participation was no longer open to all students but by invitation only, for students that had The Fresh Connection or The Cool Connection in their curriculum.

We are delighted to announce that we are opening up the Challenge again to schools from all around the world! Those who are participating in a pilot program can now also compete for a spot in the Global Final! The pilot program gives 25 students access to one of our simulations and grants their educator free access to the Inchainge Connect educator conference that will once again run in parallel with the Global Final week. On top of that there are many additional benefits at only a very small investment!

Therefore, if you wish to participate but don’t have The Fresh Connection, The Cool Connection, or The Blue Connection (focused on the Circular Economy and newly launched in 2019) in your curriculum yet, we encourage you to speak to your professor about entering our pilot program and have him/her connect with us. The simulations provide a great opportunity to gain and practice Supply Chain skills in a professional and realistic setting, and are a great addition to any university classroom!

Are you an educator interested in our pilot program? Let’s connect!