Columbus, IN – IUPUC faculty member Thomas Clerkin, Ph.D., was recently inducted into The Business Strategy Game Hall of Fame as a Master Professor. Only 28 out of 3,600 registered professors were honored with the title in 2009.

Clerkin is now a four-time inductee into the Hall of Fame (2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009). Master Professor status is earned by having one or more Grand Champion teams in the Best-Strategy Invitational competition for May of 2009.

The Business Strategy Game is an online exercise where class members are divided into teams and assigned the task of running an athletic footwear company in head-to-head competition against companies managed by other class members. Company operations parallel those of actual athletic footwear companies. Just as in the real-world, companies compete in a global market arena, selling branded and private-label athletic footwear in four geographic regions — Europe-Africa, North America , Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

Company co-managers must make decisions relating to plant operations, distribution and warehouse operations, work force compensation, online sales at the company’s web site, sales and marketing, and finance. The challenge is to craft and execute a competitive strategy that results in a respected brand image, keeps your company in contention for global market leadership, and produces good financial performance as measured by earnings per share, return on investment, stock price appreciation, and credit rating.

Clerkin is an assistant professor of business in the Division of Business at IUPUC.