Category Archives: News

SMARTSIMS PRODUCT UPDATES: December 2018

December 7, 2018Product Updates, Marketing Simulation, Teaching Methods, Business Simulator, Business Simulation, NewsCamille Canuto

On-Screen Warning on Unsaved Decisions

Some students miss out on saving their decisions when they move onto a different screen or click away. So we have now added a new on-screen warning to notify students if a decision they have entered has been left unsaved.

On-Screen Warnings on Decision Screens (MikesBikes Introduction)

Forecast Sales and Planned Production Warning

Students will now receive a warning when they have entered a high Sales Forecast, but their Production Quantity is lower.

They will also receive a warning when their Planned Production Units is higher than their Sales Forecast.

Launching a Second Product in the Same Market Segment

This warning message should not discourage students from launching a second product if they wish, but it just informs them of what this decision entails.

Missed our previous Product Update articles? You can check these out here:

Student Success Stories: Journey from a MikesBikes Business Simulation Student to a Smartsims Employee

November 30, 2018Student Advice, Experiential Education, Experiential Learning, Business Simulation, NewsCamille Canuto

Get to know the latest addition to the Smartsims Team, Sunil Abinandan. He shares his experiences doing the MikesBikes Advanced simulation as a student, mentor and how these successfully helped him land the job here at Smartsims! Continue reading Student Success Stories: Journey from a MikesBikes Business Simulation Student to a Smartsims Employee →

AdSim Advertising Simulation Report Guide: Industry Benchmark Report

November 13, 2018Business Simulation Hints Tips Cheats, Student Advice, Experiential Education, Business Simulator, Experiential Learning, Business Simulation, NewsCamille Canuto

The Industry Benchmark Report is a summary of all firms’ key results so you can benchmark yourself against your competitors. Click on the image below for an example report:

The Sales Revenue listed for each is the total wholesale sales revenue for each company’s products.

The Cost of Goods Sold is the number of units of a particular product sold multiplied by its manufacturing cost.

Gross Margin is the amount of profit that each firm made after the manufacturing costs were deducted.

Note: You have no control over either the wholesale price or the manufacturing cost of your product, so your aim to maximize sales revenue by running the most cost effective advertising campaign that you can.

The Evaluation Research expenditure lets you know how much market research your competitors are purchasing.

The Agency Fees let you know whether your competitors are using an Agency or not and how much it is costing them.

The Media Advertising expenditure allows you to see how much money your competitors are spending on Advertising, but now how they are allocating it to each media type.

Marketing Contribution is the amount of profit remaining after manufacturing (cost of goods sold) and marketing expenditures have been deducted. This is a measure of how profitable your firm is as a result of your decisions.

Need more help?

You can receive an immediate answer to a number of commonly asked questions through our Support Center.
Contact us here.

Question of the Week: Why did I receive a different number of units from what I ordered? | Music2Go Marketing Business Simulation

October 29, 2018Marketing Simulation Hints Tips Cheats, Marketing Simulation, Student Advice, Experiential Education, Business Simulator, Business Strategy, Experiential Learning, Business Simulation, NewsCamille Canuto

In Music2Go you make decisions for an entire year, but your factory has a limited ability to adjust the number of units produced to try to meet actual demand during the year. This is called Demand Responsiveness.

Demand Responsiveness allows the actual number of units ordered to increase or decrease by up to 20% to meet the actual demand for your product.

For instance, if you ordered 1 million units of a product, then the actual number of units delivered could vary between 800,000 units and 1.2 million units depending on actual demand.

In our example above, we ordered 1.9 million units of our Sonic product, but the Actual Units ordered was less than this at 1.5 million because the demand for our products was less than what we anticipated to sell.

Note: Most worlds have 20% Demand Responsiveness enabled, although your instructor may request this to be modified or disabled for your Multi-Player.

Question of the Week: Which Agency should I choose in AdSim Advertising Simulation?

October 15, 2018Student Advice, Experiential Education, Business Simulator, Experiential Learning, Business Simulation, NewsCamille Canuto

Agency Selection

The first key decision you need to make for each of your products is whether you will employ the services of an advertising agency to assist you with your media selection.

Four Agencies

Internal Plan

The Internal Plan means trusting your own media selection ability and going at it alone, which often obtains far greater returns.

The default plan for each product is average at best. Approximately 30% of you promotion budget is being wasted on poor media selection. By carefully reading and analyzing the marketing plan and market overview/research for your product’s target segment, you should be able to greatly improve the effectiveness of your promotion budget.

TV Magic

TV Magic is a media-buying agency that specializes in producing TV advertisements and bulk purchasing TV advertising time.

TV Magic will suggest a TV advertising media plan that will be significantly better than following the default plan. They are less skilled at other media production/selection, but their suggested plans will be noticeably better than the default plan.

Print Works

Print Works is a media buying agency that specializes in producing print advertisements and bulk purchasing print advertising space.

Print Works will suggest a Newspaper/Magazine advertising media plan that will be significantly better than following the default plan. They are less skilled at other media production/selection, but their suggested plans will still be noticeably better than the default plan.

Radio Can

Radio Can is a media-buying agency that specializes in producing radio advertisements and bulk purchasing radio-advertising airtime.

Radio Can will suggest a radio advertising media plan that will be at least significantly better than following the fault plan. They are less skilled at other media production/selection, but their suggested plans will still be noticeably better than the default plan.

Need extra help?

You can receive an immediate answer to a number of commonly asked questions through the Smartsims Support Center
Alternatively, you can contact our Support Team here.

How do I Test My Decisions in MikesBikes Introduction to Business Simulation?

October 7, 2018Business Simulation Hints Tips Cheats, Student Advice, Business Simulator, Business Simulation, NewsCamille Canuto

There are three ways on how you can test your decisions in MikesBikes Introduction to Business Simulation.

1. Live Forecast

The figures on the Live Forecast update in real-time as you click “Apply” on any decision screen. This enables you to easily see the impact of individual decision changes on overall performance.

The figures can then be clicked to bring up the relevant forecast report in full. Previous figures remain in small font below.

The new Live Forecast feature will help you make more informed decisions and provide an immediate warning if you have made poor decisions.

2. Forecast Results Reports

This menu features reports which give you an indication of your performance – assuming you meet your forecasts.

There are a range of Pro Forma reports available for you to view:

Forecast Results Report Overview
Pro Forma Income Statement
Pro Forma Product Gross Margin Report
Pro Forma Cost of Goods Manufactured Report
Pro Forma Cashflow Report

3. Offline Mode

This feature in the Multi-Player allows you to try out different decision options and strategies before you commit yourself.

In Offline Mode, your competitors use only their default decisions. So don’t read too
much into the results.

To start Offline Mode, click the “Offline” button next to the Multi-Player launch button.

In Offline Mode, your competitors use only their default decisions. So don’t read too much into the results. For instance, in Offline Mode you might launch new products into empty markets and do very well due to lack of competition. But if you use those same decisions in the Multi-Player, you could do poorly if the other firms choose to launch new products at the same time. So always think about what might happen if your competitors were to do something differently.

Important: After using Offline Mode, your team’s agreed decisions need to be re-entered in the Multi-Player.

Watch our tutorial video here:

Note that this feature might be disabled in your course.

Need extra help?

You can receive an immediate answer to a number of commonly asked questions through our Support Center.
Contact us here.

Smartsims Product Updates: September 2018

September 24, 2018Product Updates, Marketing Simulation, Business Simulation, NewsCamille Canuto

Updated Product Development/Launch Screens (MikesBikes Introduction & Music2Go Marketing)

The decision screens which enable students to modify an existing product and launching new products now feature additional information to help students make more informed decisions.

Launching a new product

Previously students would need to navigate to the Market Information and Market Summary Report for this key information, but we have now placed it directly within the screen.

Modifying an existing product

Students will now see a short description of each option with the corresponding cost and benefit.

Missed our previous Product Update articles? You can check these out here:

Question of the Week: What is Investor Relations?

September 10, 2018Business Simulation Hints Tips Cheats, Student Advice, NewsCamille Canuto

More than a mathematical analysis of risks and returns determines the value of a share. It is also affected by how much the investment community knows and understands about the company concerned, and their perceptions of the quality of the firm’s management.

Hence to ensure that their shares are fairly valued, firms need to make every effort to ensure that investors and their advisors have recent frequent clear information about the firm’s situation and plans. The larger and more complex the firm, the more effort is required.

Investor Relations (Investor PR) Index

The Investor Relations (also known as Investor PR) index essentially acts as a multiplier on your company’s share price. So for a very simple example, if your Investor PR index is 1.1, then your Share price will be 10% higher than if your Investor PR index is 1.0 (assuming no other changes). In practice, by spending on Investor PR you will reduce your profit, which will be a drag on your share price, so the effect isn’t quite as simple as that.

In general, the larger your company, the more you need to spend to get a higher PR index. The maximum PR index possible is around 1.2, and you have to spend more and more to raise your index the closer you get to that limit.

How much should we invest in Investor PR?

Your best guide to how much to spend on Investor PR is to look at your current Investor PR index and spend, then decide how much more you are willing to spend on it to try to boost it. Keep in mind that if you spend too much on Investor Relations you may depress your Share Price by reducing your profit and earnings per share. Also decide whether or not there is another better use for the money spent on Investor Relations such as on Product Development.

View other Question of the Week articles here:

What Does Awareness Index Mean and How Do You Influence It?

How Do We Decrease Our Factory’s Wastage?

How Do We Increase Our Delivery Rate?

Smartsims Product Updates: August 2018

August 15, 2018Product Updates, NewsCamille Canuto

The following are Smartsims product updates available from August 2018. Where product names are noted in the heading, that update only applies to these products.

Smartsims Support Center Goes Live!

The Smartsims Support Center is our online knowledge-base for all simulations.

This live resource enables users to find instant answers to their questions, as well as browse a wide range of help topics. The current articles available range from getting started, help with logging in and registration, through to guiding students on how to make decisions.

Full information on this new online resource: https://www.smartsims.com/news/support-center-simulation-knowledge-base/

Tutorial on how to use the Smartsims Support Center: https://www.smartsims.com/support/business-simulation-help/

New Live Forecast Feature (MikesBikes Introduction & Music2Go)

Our new Live Forecast is located at the top-right of all decision screens and displays the two main metrics from the current Forecast Results Reports.

MikesBikes Intro: Forecast Profit & Forecast Cash Available

Music2Go Marketing: Forecast Marketing Contribution & Budget Remaining.

These figures on the Live Forecast update in real-time as students click “Apply” on any decision screen. This enables students to easily see the impact of individual decision changes on overall performance.

The figures can then be clicked to bring up the relevant forecast report in full. Previous figures remain in small font below.

The new Live Forecast feature will help students make more informed decisions and provide an immediate warning if they have made poor decisions.

Performance Star Ratings (MikesBikes Introduction & MikesBikes Advanced)

The bottom-left of the simulation interface now features a new gold star rating system:

The star rating students receive is based on their results from the previous year. A jump in Shareholder Value will result in an additional gold star achieved and vice-versa.

We hope this will further motivate students to improve their performance each year of the simulation.

Editing Product Names (All MikesBikes & Music2Go)

Previously, the name for the initial product has been computer generated (Adv1, Adv2, etc). Now through the Product screen students can edit their product’s name in the first year of the simulation:

Additionally, when students launch a new product, they can now edit the new product’s name at any time prior to the next rollover.

Missed our last Product Updates article? You can check it out here: https://www.smartsims.com/product-updates/june-2018/

If you have any comments or questions feel free to contact us.

Press Release: Smartsims Support Center Goes Live!

August 10, 2018Product Updates, Marketing Simulation, Student Advice, Business Simulator, NewsIan McPherson

The Smartsims Support Center is our new simulation knowledge-base.

This live resource enables our simulation users to receive instant answers to their questions, as well as browse a wide range of help topics to guide them through their learning journey.

The Smartsims Support Center works on any device:

Browse decision areas such as Marketing, Operations, Finance; or specific decision periods:

And users can share their feedback on the help articles, enabling us to continue to improve content available through the knowledge-base:

Where?

You can find the Smartsims Support Center here: https://www.smartsims.com/support

Alternatively, click on new Support button at the top of any of our webpages:

Spread The Word!

We recommend placing a link to the Smartsims Support Center in your Course Syllabus and/or on your Course’s Webpage.

This proactive approach takes our current service offering to the next level in user experience.

Of course, our Helpdesk Team continues to be available every day of the year: Contact Us

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On-Screen Warning on Unsaved Decisions

On-Screen Warnings on Decision Screens (MikesBikes Introduction)

Forecast Sales and Planned Production Warning

Launching a Second Product in the Same Market Segment

Missed our previous Product Update articles? You can check these out here:

Related Articles

Agency Selection

Four Agencies

Internal Plan

TV Magic

Print Works

Radio Can

Need extra help?

1. Live Forecast

2. Forecast Results Reports

3. Offline Mode

Need extra help?

Updated Product Development/Launch Screens (MikesBikes Introduction & Music2Go Marketing)

Launching a new product

Modifying an existing product

Missed our previous Product Update articles? You can check these out here:

Investor Relations (Investor PR) Index

How much should we invest in Investor PR?

View other Question of the Week articles here:

Smartsims Support Center Goes Live!

New Live Forecast Feature (MikesBikes Introduction & Music2Go)

Performance Star Ratings (MikesBikes Introduction & MikesBikes Advanced)

Editing Product Names (All MikesBikes & Music2Go)

Missed our last Product Updates article? You can check it out here: https://www.smartsims.com/product-updates/june-2018/

The Smartsims Support Center works on any device:

Browse decision areas such as Marketing, Operations, Finance; or specific decision periods:

And users can share their feedback on the help articles, enabling us to continue to improve content available through the knowledge-base:

Where?

Spread The Word!