Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.
Henry Ford
This week, we’re featuring one of the latest Hall of Fame entrants, Logun Williamson from the University of Utah. He landed 10th place in the Music2Go Multi-Player (All Time) Hall of Fame.
The Smartsims team reached out and interviewed Logun to speak on his experiences, the lessons he learned and advice he would give future students. Continue reading Getting Ready is the Secret of Success
Are you thinking about incorporating business simulation games into your courses or training programs?
Studies have proven that business simulations have the potential to improve student engagement, learning and employability. However, whether you are a new or experienced simulation user, it is extremely important to look for the best strategies to ensure smooth integration of the simulation into a course and maximize teaching and learning benefits.
Continue reading 5 Effective Teaching Strategies for Business Simulation Games
Bonilla Ice, a company ran by Brian Bonilla from Santa Clara University landed sixth place in the 2016 MikesBikes World Champs.
The Smartsims team reached out and interviewed Brian to speak on his experiences, the lessons he learned and advice he would give future students.
The strategy was to do a medium price and quantity strategy. I went with this strategy mainly in an attempt to stay neutral and then take advantage of any market inefficiencies or weaknesses posed by the other competing firms. However, I took more high risk; high reward strategy in the final 8 competition and this dug me into a hole.
I implemented this strategy by making sure I didn’t overspend in marketing and operations. One tool I used was the recommended indices in the provided market recommendations and reports. Another tool that I used was ratios that existed between workers and factory capacity.
I made sure I understood the components of the simulation and how each variable affected one another. I found all this out through the informational manual and practice with the simulation.
I thought the competition was initially overly ambitious in the beginning. With around 6 teams taking an ambitious strategy of investing a lot in marketing, none of us were able to receive an outstanding return on our investment to breakeven. Instead, we all received only fair returns and this is why many had a penny stock SHV. To crawl out of this hole, many of the competitors had to go through some more high risk and high reward strategies to get themselves out of the hole. Ultimately, those that played too safe or couldn’t eventually execute a well-played high risk, high reward strategy, fell behind and couldn’t catch up.
The main resource that helped me become so successful was my prioritization of certain market segments according how much of the total market cap they comprised. So, I knew if I had control over the most important market segments, I knew I was going to win. However, this method wasn’t so successful in the final competition since I think other competitors probably did something similar. In fact, if I did the exact opposite actually, then it would have worked beautifully in the final round because there was little initial competition there.
The main challenge that I faced was inaccurately forecasting my sales. How I tried to combat this challenge was by trying to better anticipate what my competitors do and price my bikes better.
Analyzing the industry benchmark for all firms and comparing my performance from my competitors were probably the most effective use of my time for business decision preparations.
All the business concepts I learned became a lot clearer once they materialized in the simulation. It showed me the importance of effective capital allocation and long/short-term financing. The simulation gave students the opportunity to apply concepts learned to a virtual business setting. This includes marketing, financing, and operations. The simulation gave me insight into all the variables that businesses need to consider in their decisions. Thus, the simulation was a great first step towards understanding a business and the thought that goes into business decisions.
The experience with the simulation involved a great mix of strategy and competition that I thoroughly enjoyed.
As tuition prices in the US continue to rise, and the job market in New York and nationwide becomes more competitive, the challenge is for recent graduates to gain real-world experience without taking on unpaid internships and more debt.
In today’s work climate, graduating students face a catch-22; they need job experience in order to be hired, but they need to be hired in order to get job experience. Many students turn to internships as a way around this conundrum. But internships can be a costly undertaking. Many of them are unpaid, and the ones that are paid are usually low salary positions. To top it all off, there is no guarantee of a job at the end. A 2014 article in Forbes magazine provides some depressing statistics about the state of internships in the United States:
Unpaid internships are of particular concern in the United States. Most graduating students leave university with thousands of dollars of debt, so the prospect of having to take on a full-time unpaid position is not feasible. Moreover, many unpaid internships are in breach of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In light of all these concerns, the U.S. federal government has been cracking down on unpaid internships. Very soon, these types of internships may be a thing of the past.
So if internships aren’t a realistic or fair option for many graduating students, what is an alternative way for students to gain real-world experience? The answer is business simulations.
Skills increasingly trump tenure in the workforce. Therefore, ensuring your students are armed with the latest knowledge and competencies is critical for staying competitive. Today’s students need to understand complex problems, experience working in teams of people with diverse opinions and learn how to come to a decision in the face of many competing options. In the past, many students have taken on internships to develop these skills. However, business simulations can provide this same practice in a low-risk, highly engaging environment, during the education phase itself.
Smartsims has a range of business simulation games that will challenge your students with issues from the real world. These business simulations provide an interactive learning experience that requires participants to apply what they have learned in a robust, virtual business-like environment. Participants build relevant skills, improve conceptual knowledge and gain a better appreciation of business strategy and of the systems of business management.
Simulations perform the very important role of bridging theory and real-life experience through active learning, considered to be a crucial technique to engage students by Cornell University Center for Teaching Excellence. They provide participants with the opportunity to make relevant decisions in a competitive marketplace so that they can see the immediate effect on business performance. And perhaps most importantly, they can save students time and money by providing the same benefits as an internship without the costs.
Simulations create more engaged learners: The high level of interaction makes learning fun, increases retention, solidifies learning and builds skills. Studies have shown that business simulations stimulate enjoyable learning (Fripp, 1997).
Simulations improve knowledge retention: By immediately applying new concepts, participants learn by doing. This approach produces significantly greater learning gains in both declarative and procedural knowledge than classroom learning alone (Sitzmann et al., 2006).
Simulations provide risk-free learning: More than just a business strategy game, a simulation recreates real world experience or tasks so that learners can practice without fear of major repercussions. It bridges practice and theory in a low-risk environment (Gosen & Washbush, 2004).
Simulations prepare learners for the real world: Users are able to practice different techniques so that they are better prepared when they encounter those or similar conditions in the workforce. This type of practical experience reduces the potential ‘shock’ of recent graduates entering their first job in their field of study (Kramer, 1974).
Read more about the benefits of business simulations or watch the video below:
Naming your company is one of the most important decisions when establishing a new business. It forms the foundation of your company’s brand and is key to a lasting first impression. However, coming up a name for your business is often as challenging as it is important.
So what are the best ways to pick a creative, meaningful or impacting company name?
Many company names are inspired by the founder’s own name. For example Bayer (Friedrich Bayer was the founder of the company), Boeing (after William E Boeing) and John Deere.
An amalgamation or acronym of the founder’s names could be used. Ben & Jerry’s for example (Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are the founders of this global ice cream empire), 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co) and DHL (Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn).
Alternatively, an acronym which combines your name with your location. For example, DKNY (Donna Karan, New York) or IKEA (from the founder’s name, Ingvar Kamprad, and his hometown, Elmtaryd Agunnaryd).
Take a word that’s symbolic for your company and invent a new word through a mash-up, alternate spelling or misspelling. This can give your company an internationally unique identity.
Mozilla, the internet browser, is a word mash-up, being Mozaic and Godzilla. Reebok is an alternate spelling of “rhebok”, the African antelope. Famous misspellings are Flickr and Tumblr, where the founders simply dropped the last vowel of the word.
Using a foreign word can also provide a unique flavor outside of the country of origin. For example, Acer is the Latin word for “sharp and able”.
If you wish to be bold you can use humor to create an immediate reaction from consumers. A successful funny company name will provide a lasting first impression and encourage customers to tell their friends about you.
For example, in the highly competitive frozen yogurt market, the company name Spoon Me, was quirky and funny enough to catch people’s attention that consumers now proudly don the company’s t-shirts, bumper stickers and other merchandise.
Also, names that are a play-on-words or that utilize puns can be a fun way for a company to create its own distinct image. Everyone remembers the coffee shop in the New York-based sitcom Friends, Central Perk. And our local seafood restaurant is named The Codfather.
Descriptive business names are upfront about the kind of products and services they offer. Their strength is they immediately communicate a key message describing what your company offers. This could be your company’s story, an inherent company value or a particular quality linked to your products.
For example, Freeset (a fair trade business whose goal to is set locals free from slavery and poverty), Best Buy and Staples.
More creative options are Greyhound (to convey speed), the Ford Mustang (evokes the emotion of power and freedom) and Nike (the winged goddess of victory).
Alternatively, you can combine two descriptive words to create a new meaningful word. For example Smartsims (smart & business simulations), Evernote (forever & note) and Groupon (group & coupon).
Sometimes the best company names come from simple ideas and concepts.
These include choosing a word from the dictionary (like Twitter), picking an inanimate object (Steve Jobs chose Apple for its friendly appeal and common usage) or even a geographical location (like Amazon or Fuji).
Alternatively, take a word that has special meaning for your business, but just use a portion of the word, like Cisco (from San Francisco where the company was founded).
Have you come across a particularly meaningful, creative or humorous company name? This article is now posted on our Facebook page. Click on the link below and comment to share these with us:
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To truly grasp the impact strategy and management decision-making have on business outcomes, students need real world experience. Smartsims business simulations encourage student engagement and accelerate learning by giving students their own business experience.
Continue reading Business Simulations: Real-World Experience for Tomorrow’s Professionals
Dr. Sprocket from the University of Auckland landed third place in the 2016 MikesBikes World Champs. The team consists of Nicholas Goddard, Philipp Noack, Meng Zhang, Tingyu Fu and Yanxin Jifrom (pictured above).
The Smartsims team reached out and interviewed Dr. Sprocket to speak on their achievement, experiences and advice they would give future students.
Comfortable team environment and effective division of labour. Each member knew what was required of them. However, whilst team members knew their roles, everyone was open to suggestions from other members. Importantly, decisions were made as a team and in an environment that promoted open discussion.
We analyse our results, conduct competitive analysis, discuss our next steps as a team, and make our decisions. We wait for the rollover and then the cycle goes on again.
We went for creating high quality products and selling them at a high price. To complement and support this strategy, we made sure to allocate a reasonable amount of our budget towards Marketing our products.
We used the lessons we learned from the Single-Player and from our course. We also came up with calculations to figure out the possible outcomes to get the best results.
Practice. Practice. Practice. Single-player is a great way to familiarize yourself with how the simulation works. However, success in the team competition relies on team cohesion.
The qualifying rounds were very competitive. The final rounds and competing for the top four spots was tough, but not as daunting. We felt that we were capable on competing for the top spot.
One of the challenges we faced was managing our time. We were on a break during the competition. Some team members were working full-time while others were on vacation.
In addition, there were also issues with communication. Being on break meant that some team members went home (some lived overseas). This meant that we could no longer meet in person. Thankfully, through social media, communicating was not that difficult. However, sending messages online and not speaking to each other directly caused some misunderstanding. We overcame these difficulties by coming to a consensus on all decisions.
The course competition helped us prepare for the World Champs.
The business simulation is a fantastic way of giving students a taste of working as executives of a large manufacturing and distribution company. It also taught us the importance of teamwork.
In addition, it gave us an opportunity to try different strategies, make mistakes and fail in a safe environment. It also allowed us to learn from our mistakes and failures.
The staff were fantastic.
The video below will demonstrate how to make a Sales Forecast for an existing product and a new product in MikesBikes Introduction, as well as the complementary production decisions for both.
“This video will demonstrate how to make a Sales Forecast for an existing product and a new product, as well as the complementary production decisions for both.”
A Sales Forecast is a prediction of the number of units we believe we can sell in the year ahead.
This should be calculated using your predicted market share of the total market size for the year ahead.
So what we need to do first is determine what our current market share percentage is. To do this, view the Market Summary Report. We can see for our RC_Rockhopper product, we have a market share of 55.5% of the total unit sales last year. We then need to find out what the total market size will be for the year ahead.
If we look at the Market Information report, we can see that the demand forecast for the year ahead is 42,000 units.
Therefore, our sales forecast is calculated by our market share of the forecast total market size for the year ahead. In this example that would be 55.5% of 42,000 units. This is 23,310 units.
Now that if you believe that based on your decisions for the year ahead you can increase your market share from last year, you would use this adjusted market share instead of last year’s market share.
For this example we believe our market share will stay the same so our Sales Forecast will be 23,310 units. We enter this into Price screen under “Sales Forecast.”
Once you have entered your decision, click “Apply.”
Note the warning displayed here. This is telling us that our current Planned Production will not allow us to meet our Sales Forecast. This is when the difference is greater than 10%. So we know we need to go to the Production Planner screen to ensure we are producing enough products to meet our Sales Forecast.
We can see on this screen our Sales Forecast of 23,310 units in this screen. We can also see if we have any existing stock from last year, which in this example is zero. So our Planned Production to meet our Sales Forecast for the year ahead is equal to our Sales Forecast.
Enter the figure and click “Apply.”
If we did have any stock to carry over, we would subtract these units from the Planned Production figure.
For a new product the challenge is we do not have an existing market share percentage to work with. Therefore, a Sales Forecast for a new product can only be based on the Forecast Total Market Size.
In this example we want to launch into the Road market.
The Market Information report tells us that forecast demand for the year ahead is 6,500 units. If we then look at the Market Summary Report, we see that there were no competitor products in this segment last year. However, given the opportunity an empty market segment creates, we should assume that at least one or two other competitors will also launch into this market. Therefore, it is reasonable for us to expect to secure a third of the Road market segment’s total size, which is approximately 2,160 units. Click “Apply.”
We then need to our Production decision.
This concludes our brief demonstration on how to conduct a sales forecast and make complementary production decisions.
For more in-depth information, you should view the tutorial videos on our website.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at help@smartsims.com
The tech start up industry in Boston and New England is making a strong comeback after many years of stunted growth. To gain an edge in this competitive industry, recent business graduates from New England universities need something to make them stand out from the crowd. Engaging lectures, hands-on lab sessions, and relevant case studies are necessary elements of a well-designed business course curriculum. But they cannot provide one very crucial thing: experience. This is where business simulations, created by Boston-based Smartsims, enter to provide the tools to nurture fast-thinking, creative, tech-industry-ready graduates.
Continue reading How Business Simulations Help Graduates Get Ahead In New England’s Tech Industry
“Branding is simply a more efficient way to sell things.”
-Al Ries
1. Branding increases the effectiveness of your product advertising and results in increased product awareness.
2. In the next period, consumers “forget” the advertising to some extent, but any new branding adds cumulatively to what is left.
Note that branding does not contribute to the effect of public relations.
About half of your brand awareness will carry over from the previous period. The curve shows the increase in brand awareness (on top of what is carried over) achieved by various levels of expenditure.
3. This video is an excerpt from the MikesBikes Advanced Sales & Marketing video, which sums up why Branding plays an integral part in your Marketing strategy.
The same principles also apply in MikesBikes Introduction.
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