Abstract:

The competition in the current economic environment poses plenty of challenges both for current and future entrepreneurs, among which there will be some of the present students. Therefore, having the proper knowledge, competences and virtual experience in businesses field and being able to design a sustainable business model can make the difference between success and failure of any new started company. Consequently, training the entrepreneurial and managerial skills of students within universities with such targeted curricula, by using specialized business simulation software games, becomes a thing of tremendous importance. The article describes a specialized software tool that contains the simulation of all relevant functions of a company (research & development, human resources, production, distribution, marketing etc.) and puts the students in a very close to real life situation, where they work in teams and must compete against other similar companies, with the aim of maximizing the profit. Thus, it approaches a topic of a great relevance today, and that is analysing the benefits of using such specialized software tools for business simulation in the work with students. The conclusions of the paper shows that among other skills, developing also managerial competences for current students, who may become future successful entrepreneurs, should become one of the main desiderates of most universities.

Keywords:

Business simulation, software applications, business simulation games, entrepreneurial competences, practical managerial competences.