Iona Student Teams Rank in Global Top 100 of Business Simulation
GLO-BUS virtual simulation gives students an opportunity to Learn Outside the Lines of a traditional classroom.
Four senior business students earned first-place finish as the best-performing company in their simulated camera and drone industries as part of the GLO-BUS business competition, an online simulation run by McGraw-Hill/Irwin. The competitive online business game is a required semester-long assignment in the Iona Capstone course Business Policy and Strategy, taught by Dr. Jeffrey Alstete, professor of management in the LaPenta School of Business.
Outstanding students Andrew Govea, Jada Jackson, Conor Byrne and Kevin Newman earned certificates awarded as industry champions. In addition, as winners at Iona University, these students are eligible to compete in the next Best-Strategy Invitational, where high-performing companies worldwide face off in a two-week competition hosted three times per year.
The following LaPenta School of Business senior teams placed in the Global Top 100 during the final week this fall:
- Jada Jackson and Andrew Govea
- Kevin Newman and Conor Byrne
- Scott Galst, Sofia Giamanco, and Javier Raudales
- Sabrina Guglielmi and Negli Lala
- Nicholas Sass and Nicholas Walden
- Timothy Bergamini and Federico Russo
- Michael Byrne and Tyler Cleary
Kevin Newman ’23 and Conor Byrne ‘23
Govea said: “The most important lesson I got out of the game was to adapt multiple aspects of your business such as product design, marketing, worker compensation, cash flows and ESG in order to align with our company’s vision of being a socially responsible provider of quality drones and action capture cameras for an affordable price, thus led me and Jada to victory in the long run.”
Jackson said, “I learned a lot about the financial aspects of a business strategy. I enjoyed being able to manage a company and absorb skills that can help with my future career.”
Prof. Alstete has used active learning simulations since 2005 and writes peer-reviewed research journal articles about teaching strategic management.
GLO-BUS is a completely online global simulation by McGraw-Hill/Irwin where the focus is on competitive strategy, and student teams run companies that produce wearable action video cameras and camera-equipped drones in head-to-head competition against companies run by other class members. Company operations parallel those of actual technology companies. Just as in the real world, companies compete in a global market arena, selling cameras and drones in four geographic regions — Europe-Africa, North America, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.
Jada Jackson ’23 and Andrew Govea ’23
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona is widely recognized in prestigious rankings, including The Princeton Review’s 2025 national list of “The Best 390 Colleges” and The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s “2024 Best Colleges in America,” which ranked Iona at #66 in the nation overall and #8 in the nation among Catholic schools. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just six percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2023.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian. Connecting to its Irish heritage, the University also recently announced it is expanding abroad with a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.