Globalization, Innovation and Sustainability The Business Simulation – component assess.
You are part of a team (three to five students) who together make up the executive managers of a company, which is entering the European Car Industry.
You will set up a car manufacturing company, design cars and sell these. Your company is in competition with the others within your seminar group and within the wider marketplace.
Achievement of this is through participation in a business simulation exercise (“The Business Game”).
The exercise is designed to allow you to apply theoretical knowledge to the setting up and running of a business, which is competing for market share. This will be achieved through application of simulation software, which will produce results showing the impact of your decisions on the company’s performance each year.
Before the simulation starts, you are allocated to your company teams. The teams will compete with one another for market share as part of the simulation.
Information on the market together with cost data will be posted on the e-learning portal. Each team should read this information carefully and use it to establish a business strategy.
During the simulation, the teams will make decisions over a number of rounds (each round is a year in the life of the company) which will be delivered to the Chief Executive of the parent company (NBS Motor Holdings Ltd) who will analyse them.
The results, in the form of a computer-generated report, will be provided to each team at the start of the next round.
The Business Simulation seminars will take the form of shareholder meetings. Each team will make a short presentation reviewing the performance of their company in the previous round and identifying key areas where the performance and management of the business can be improved.
The objective for each team is to maximise the shareholder value of their company at the end of four decision rounds.
To complete the assessment detailed below, it is essential that each team keeps a detailed record (minutes) of team meetings including notes of the decisions made, the rationale for these decisions, and the role(s) of team members
Critical evaluation of the company performance (50%, 1,000 words)
Present a table showing the following key performance measures over the four rounds:
Production (units) for each model
Sales (units) for each model
Unsold stock (units) for each model
Sales revenue for the company
Profit after tax
Bank balance
Outstanding loan
Shareholder Funds
Critically evaluate the performance of the company from the perspective of the key business functions.
Explain the links between actions, outcomes, and strategy clearly. Where possible you should also apply referenced business frameworks and theories to illustrate your actions and learning (NOTE: a detailed discussion of the theory is not required).
Comment on the trends in the above measures over the four rounds of the simulation, linking these to decisions made during the simulation.
