As the executive team, the students are provided with the seed capital (investment money) to start up their business. They can use this money to build a factory, open sales offices, and design brands. They will invest 1,000,000 in each of the first four quarters. An additional 5,000,000 will become available in quarter 5 from venture capitalists, for a total of 9,000,000.
The executive team has the next 2 years (8 quarters or decision periods) to get the company off the ground. Within this time frame, they should become a self-sufficient firm, earning substantial profits from their operations.
The web based exercise challenges students to make tough decisions in Accounting, Finance, Advanced Marketing, Manufacturing, Business Partner Negotiations and Profitability Analysis. The market in the game is competitive and fast-paced, the customers are demanding and the competition is working hard to increase their market share.
Students can play against their peers. The grading is based on the balanced scorecard that measures profitability, customer satisfaction, market share in the targeted market segments, asset management, and preparedness for the future and wealth.
• Focus on process of working as a team to achieve goals
- Assess team skills, and work styles, and then assign corporate responsibilities
- Organize the work and establish personal goals
- Determine how to manage the organization and establish group norms
• Determine desired image of company
- Designate a company name
• Sell common stock to executive team
• Contract for market survey
Quarter 2: Evaluate market opportunities, setup operations, and prepare for test market.
• Review market survey results—evaluate segments, markets, and potential competition
- Analyze market opportunities
• Establish corporate goals and strategic direction
- Specify and rank order corporate goals
- Write mission statement
- Select target segments
- Establish strategic direction
• Create customer value—match components to benefits (Quality Function Deployment)
- Design initial brands for test market
• Select test markets
- Open sales offices
• Setup manufacturing operations—analyze financial tradeoffs of plant location and capacity
- Build plant
- Invest in plant capacity
• Sell common stock to executive team
Quarter 3: Go to market to test strategy, and market assumptions.
• Sales office management
- Hire sales people—assign to segments
- Set brand prices—price promotions
- Set sales priority
- Choose POP displays
- Open new sales offices (Optional)
• Advertising
- Ad copy design
- Media placement and ad frequency
• Establish production plan for quarter
- Forecast demand by brand
- Set target and replenish points
- Set daily production schedule for each brand
• Budget market research
• Sell common stock to executive team
• Compute pro forma cash flow
Quarter 4: Evaluate test market performance and revise strategy, become a learning organization.
• Evaluate financial performance
- Profitability analysis
• Evaluate market performance
- Customer opinion—brand designs, prices, advertising, and sales force
- Market demand—by company and brand
- Competitor tactics—segments targeted and selection of marketing tactics
• Budget market research
• Revise marketing tactics as needed, and continue test marketing
- Brand designs
- Brand prices, priority, and POP displays
- Sales office locations
- Sales force numbers and assignments
- Advertising copy and media placement
• Revise production decisions as needed
- Fixed capacity
- Scheduling options
• Sell common stock to executive team
• Compute pro forma cash flow
Quarter 5: Seek external funding—prepare business plan and negotiate equity investment.
• Evaluate financial performance
- Profitability analysis
• Evaluate market performance
- Customer opinion—brand designs, prices, advertising, and sales force
- Market demand—by company and brand
- Competitor tactics—segments targeted and selection of marketing tactics
• Develop two year business plan
- Goals—marketing, financial and ownership
- Marketing strategy
- Manufacturing strategy
- Financial strategy
- Pro forma cash flows and financial statements
- Size of equity request, number of shares offered, and share price
• Present business plan to venture capitalists and negotiate equity investment (consult your instructor or Marketplace processing center for details)
• Invest in R&D for new technology
• Begin global roll out of business plan
Quarter 6: Monitor, improve, and execute.
• Evaluate team—self-assessment of roles played, contributions made, and adjustments needed
• Evaluate performance—financial, marketing, and competitive
• Skillfully adjust strategy
• Marketing—make incremental changes in tactics
- Use activity based costing (ABC) to evaluate profitability of brands and sales offices
- Conduct demand analysis to estimate brand, price, advertising, and sales force elasticity
- Continuously improve brand features (R&D)
• Manufacturing
- Fixed capacity
- Scheduling options
• Compute pro forma cash flow
Quarters 7 & 8: Continue to monitor, improve, and execute.
• Manage strategy
- Unanticipated competitive moves
- Financial capability
• Continuously improve brands
- R&D
- Pricing
- Promotions
- Sales force
• Manufacturing
- Fixed capacity
- Scheduling options
• Compute pro forma cash flow
Final Quarter: Report to the board.
• Report on operations since presentation of business plan
- Market and financial performance
- Valuation of the firm
- Departures from plan, justification
• Present plan for the future
Duration: 3 days
