Business simulation games for students in the STARS EU context

Students from Portugal, Spain, Germany and Poland have been able to benefit from an innovative and practical learning experience, thanks to their participation in an international business simulation, organized within the framework of the BIP (Blended Intensive Programme) of STARS EU, which has just ended. This training activity, organised by the Alliance partner, Bremen University of Applied Sciences (HSB), previous virtual work with an intensive face-to-face phase, thus favouring dynamic, flexible training adapted to the European context.

In this BIP, STARS-EU students participated in a business simulation game that reproduces real situations that usually occur in the business world. To do this, they organized themselves into management teams, made strategic decisions, applied methods of analysis and forecasting, and competed with each other in a highly realistic environment. This methodology, based on the principle of “learning by doing”, allows theoretical knowledge to be transferred to the practical level and strengthens skills such as leadership, communication, decision-making and teamwork.

Under the title ‘Doing Business in Europe as Team Challenge’, the event took place with around 30 students in the summer semester of 2025 in Bremen and online. In addition to the students from the alliance’s partner universities (Bremen University of Applied Sciences (HSB), Bragança Polytechnic University, University of La Laguna ), the University of Gdański (Poland) – one of HSB’s oldest cooperation partners – also participated.

The BIP was divided into two phases: a virtual phase and a physical mobility week in Bremen. During the virtual mobility phase, students took part in four online sessions in which the thematic focus areas were presented – including international accounting, legal and cultural frameworks and team building.

 

Working in simulating companies

This first phase was concluded with a group presentation. In the physical phase, the students worked intensively in their simulated companies, took part in a company visit and an excursion to Hamburg and attended interactive seminars. Each team presented its final results at the end of the week. The final event was the award ceremony for the team that achieved the highest profit and the best planning accuracy under challenging conditions.

With the BIPs, teachers gain a deeper understanding of the European higher education landscape, so ‘BIPs offer a unique opportunity to integrate internationalisation into the curriculum without the need for long-term mobility,’ says Prof. Dr Stefan Veith from Faculty 1 – Business and Economics at HSB.

He organised the BIP together with his colleague Prof. Dr Martina Röhrich at HSB who thinks that this format enables students to work in different teams on real-life problems and broaden their academic and intercultural perspectives. For lecturers, BIPs offer a platform for innovation in teaching, cross-institutional collaboration and a deeper understanding of the European higher education landscape.

For the students, it’s an opportunity to communicate more in English, as well as the enriching chance to work with students of different nationalities,” says student Maria Inês Teixeia from Bragança Polytechnic University (Portugal). “The BIP offered a wonderful mix of learning and spending time together”. Similar opinion has got Diego Morera Pérez, from the University of La Laguna: “I thought it was great to be able to improve my English through this teaching format. I have gained more confidence in communicating with people in English”.

The BIP was financed with Erasmus funds totalling 6,000 euros and it was the Erasmus Office of the International Office of Hochschule Bremen, which provided support with the organisation.