When Ladislav Král first entered the Global Management Challenge six years ago, he just wanted to test out the theories he'd learned in his college classes. Since then, he has entered the business competition with a different goal in mind — to win.

And that is exactly what he did.

In 2005, and then again this year, Král and his Czech teammates came in first in the national competition, winning prizes ranging from computer software to fully paid MBA scholarships. Král, however, isn't satisfied yet. "I still haven't won the international," he noted matter-of-factly.

Each country holds its own series of mini-competitions before sending the winners to the international finals, which will be held in Macau, a small string of islands off the south coast of China, next year.

"It's a team competition, so team building is good for students. Another thing is to test their knowledge from school, to test the theories they've learned," said Betty Habalová, Global Management Challenge coordinator for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

At a kickoff event in Prague last month, the Czech teams were given a comprehensive breakdown of a fictional business that sells its product on the European and NAFTA markets, as well as the Internet.

Over the next couple of months, teams will be expected to monitor and keep the business afloat during a series of five-week elimination rounds. Participants must make weekly decisions about their companies' welfare and business strategies, including marketing, production, human resources and finance.

The weekly information submitted by each team is then fed into a computer-generated analysis program, which determines the outcomes of each team's decisions and evaluates how they affect the company's market value. Every week represents a financial quarter; so after each round, teams will have guided their company through a year and a quarter of activity.

"It's a simulation of reality," explained participant Lenka Melicharová. "I think it's very good to gain this general view of how a company works, like what decisions need to be made and what information you need to do that."

At the end of five weeks, the 202 Czech teams will be whittled down to 64, based on the highest stock prices on the virtual stock exchange. This process is repeated until eight teams remain.

These eight teams will go on to compete in the national finals this spring. In this one-day competition, held in the Prague, players must adjust their mindsets from making weekly decisions to exercising their gut-reaction skills.

Rather than having one week to consider pros and cons before submitting a decision, each team is faced with five immediate crises and given one hour per crisis to shepherd the company through while maintaining its stock value. This last session determines the country's top team.

Living the 'Dream Team'

Král, a 25-year-old MBA student at the Institute of Finance and Administration, is determined to win the international division and has already assembled a Global Management Challenge "Dream Team" of impressive competitors from past years.

One key member of his team, which is sponsored by Microsoft, is his younger sister Lenka Králová, 23.

"Last year we discovered it would be nice to merge and make a team together," said Králová, a student at the University of Economics in Prague.

"We wanted to merge our experience and be the best," her brother added with a confident smile. Král appears to be the model of a business mogul in the making.

Beyond the tangible prizes and the all-expenses-paid trip to Macau for the international finalists, Král and Králová both cite numerous real-world benefits to participating in the Global Management Challenge.

Competitors "use the knowledge gained here in our jobs," Král said. In addition, they gain experience and make connections that could come in handy in the business world.

Král works at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and said he met someone during a previous Global Management Challenge who helped land him his current job.

Králová said she's grown more confident in job interviews since first participating in the competition, which she proudly includes on her résumé.

Participants also benefit from mentoring and communication with patron companies, noted Habalová, the competition's regional coordinator.

Each team is sponsored by a patron company, which pays the teams' 40,000 Kč ($1,882) entry fees. The Prague Post is sponsoring a Czech team in the 2007 competition.

As for their chances to clinch the national title and go on to Macau as representatives of the Czech Republic in 2007, Král and Králová are optimistic.

"Since we joined with a team from last year, we are quite strong," Král said.

His sister, however, is a little more cautious.

"Strong, but we can be kicked off in the first round, you never know." she quickly added. "The competition changes every year and every round."

Regardless of how their team fares in the end, brother and sister each testify that this competition has well prepared them for the real world of business ahead.