The general management business game for universities and business schools
MARGA makes management tangible!
MARGA for Students is an open online business game competition: each team competes directly with teams from other degree programs and universities. Teams from different universities and degree courses (with up to six students per team) manage their own virtual company, develop strategies and implement them operationally.
Over a total of seven periods, the aim is to develop products, position them on the market and sell them. Learning videos with live Q&A sessions after each game period and the Online Course “Financial Basics” create a theoretical basis and provide a link to the content of the business game. MARGA for Students is available in English and German.
The program at a glance
Target group: Students in their first degree (bachelor’s and master’s programs) in economics and social sciences, industrial engineering, business informatics, etc.
Next date: April 27 – June 18, 2026, registration deadline: April 13, 2026
Time commitment: Approximately 45 hours in total (flexible scheduling) spread over 8 weeks
Price: €800 per team (up to six people).
Implementation: Full-service package with complete implementation and communication (no license model); the program takes place online in English and German (can be changed at any time).
Technology: Online access via standard browser (no additional software installation required)
Your option: The learning content can be tested in a final exam. We will provide you with possible questions and answers.
Award: In 2024, MARGA for Students was awarded the Comenius-EduMedia Seal and the Comenius-EduMedia Medal.
Learning objectives
Students steer their own virtual company and put their managerial knwoledge and skills into practice.
- Deepen and apply managerial topics
- Align all company divisions and functions
- Make substantial corporate decisions and discover the role of managers
- Develop entrepreneurial thinking and acting
- Discover management as team work
Our trial offer: New customers can register their first team free of charge.
Learning contents
From targets via corporate strategy to sustainable returns: Students manage the whole corporate process. Thus, MARGA offers a unique knowledge transfer to entrepreneurial thinking and acting.
- Marketing: Product, Price, Placement and Promotion
- Competitive strategies: Cost Leadership, Differentiation, Focus (Niche)
- Portfolio Management: Cash cows, Dogs, Question marks, Stars
- Production planning and capacity management
- Investment planning
- HR management
- Procurement and logistics
- Make-or-buy decisions
- Internal and external financing, equity and debt financing
- Management of receiveables and accounts payable
- Value-based Management
- Financial reports: Balance sheet, Income statement, Cashflow statement, Segment reporting
- Cost accounting: Full costing, Direct costing
- KPIs – Profitability, Liquidity, Financing, Asset structure
- Foreign currency/Hedging
- Organisation und interaction in a team
- Team ability
- Self-organisation
- Communication
- Virtual Teamwork
- Project management
Are you interested
in our MARGA
business game?
Book a free online meeting now. We are always there for you personally and will be happy to consult you.
What our customers say
What I particularly appreciate about MARGA is the comprehensive support. I divided my students into teams and registered them, and from that point on MARGA took care of the technical setup and handled all communication with the participants. At each submission deadline, I was always informed about the current content focus and the ranking positions of my teams. My students were supported by MARGA in an exemplary way and learned a great deal through the different course format and the additional external, non-university perspective.
Prof. Dr. Jochen Zimmermann
Dean of the Faculty of Economics,
University of Bremen
MARGA gave us the unique opportunity to put our management knowledge to the test without taking real risks. Understanding the impact of decisions on various key performance indicators and economic interrelationships was the foundation for responding to changing market conditions. This knowledge is a major asset for our further studies.
Nils Kohrn
Participant Westfälische Wilhelms University Münster
MARGA enabled us to develop a comprehensive understanding of overall business interrelationships. What we liked most was the opportunity to simulate a company’s decision-making process without having to take real risks.
Former participant
RISEBA University of Applied Sciences,
Latvia
It was fascinating to see how companies with identical starting conditions developed in completely different ways within their respective market environments. This clearly demonstrated to the students how strongly entrepreneurial success depends on the decisions made by people within a specific industry and highlighted the dynamics of competition. Successful management was experienced as a team effort. All learning objectives were fully achieved. Many thanks to the entire MARGA team. I was also very impressed by the personal time commitment and the willingness to help. At the request of one of the teams, an individual Q&A session was even conducted one hour before the final submission. Excellent!
Prof. Dr. Bernd Wieberneit
Chair of Real Estate Investment and Asset Management
Hochschule RheinMain
Your benefits with MARGAHigh Flexibility
High Flexibility
Participation takes place entirely online and is possible regardless of location or time. For each period, there are fixed submission deadlines. In between, students are completely flexible in how they organize their working hours.
Learning by Doing
Students learn in a self-directed manner by actively managing their own virtual company. The content they have learned is applied and reinforced over multiple periods, leading to a sustainable learning effect.
Game-based Learning
Students develop an understanding of overall business interrelationships in a playful and engaging way. The competitive nature of the simulation ensures interactive and highly motivated learning.
Real scenario
The MARGA business simulation uses current scnarios which are closely related to real economic events and developments
Individual tutoring
MARGA experts support the teams during the self-directed online phases for content-related and organizational questions.
Strong partners
With ESMT Berlin and Handelsblatt Media Group, we have two strong partners at our side who stand for scientific content and economic topicality.
Customized business games
We develop flexible programs for you in the following formats: face-to-face, online, blended learning. In doing so, we are guided by your organizational framework.
Standard adaptions
The aim is to address specific topics and special features in the program or to set content priorities. We take learning content from the business simulation and establish a concrete link to your degree program.
Individual adaptions
If you would like to make further adjustments to the simulation, we will be happy to develop a business game with and individual scenario, specific market envrionment or individual key figure systems
Further information for download
Time schedule summer semester 2026
PDF 129 KBFactsheet MARGA for Students
PDF 4 MB
Registration MARGA for Students
Conditions:
- The participation fee per team is €800 plus VAT.
- Each team consists of up to six people.
- New customers can register their first team for the program free of charge.
