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Online Simulation Exercise ENTR 422, Spring 2021 Prof

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Online Simulation Exercise

ENTR 422, Spring 2021

Prof. Matthew Barlow

Simulation Exercise Instructions and login to Play can be found at the following links:

https://forio.com/simulate/mit/cleanstart/simulation/login.html

 

•             Please watch the instructional video prior to playing by clocking on the ‘View Instructional Video’ link.

•             To play practice runs of the simulation, please click on ‘Play As Individual’ link.

•             To play within the course (only one time, for credit), please click the ‘Play As Part of A Class’ link and use the provided login instructions.

Simulation Requirements:

•             Please watch the instruction videos prior to playing the game.  You play the game as many times as you like prior to the round that counts, so feel free to ‘practice’ if you want.  To practice, from the Main link above, click on the ‘Play Simulation’ link.  This takes you to the simulation login page.  From there, click on ‘Play as Individual’ and choose whatever screen ID you would like.  You may practice as many times as you like to get a feel for the simulation, how it works, and what strategies might work the best.

•             After watching the videos and gaining an understanding of the simulation, I would like to complete the simulation through the class login.  This ensure all students face the same environment.  To login for your graded simulation, follow the ‘Play Simulation’ link form the main page.  Then choose ‘Play as part of a class’.  The login name will be your UNL email address, as shown in Canvas.  For example, mine would be mbarlow3@unl.edu.  Please see the Excel document titled ‘Class Login’ – the email address listed is your username, and the password is shown in the file.

•             Build an initial strategy.  The simulation allows you to set several variables:  price charges, number of employees (both sales/marketing and engineering), employee compensation, and financing (you can request VC funds or attempt to go public).  Think about how you want to set these parameters at the start.  As time passes in the simulation and your results are being shown, be prepared to make changes to your initial strategy as the environment warrants.  For example, it takes up to 4 quarters to make sales, so keep that in mind as you start (don’t run out of money to quickly).  Make sure you are looking at not only your sales/ and profit/loss statements, but your cash flow, product, HR, and competitor information as well.

•             You are only allowed to run the simulation logged into the class session 1 time.  If you run multiple attempts while logged in, your 1st attempt will be the one that counts for your grade.  If you run more than one time while logged into the class, you will also lose points off of your grade. If

you want to practice and develop your strategy, please do so through the ‘Play as an Individual’ link.  If you are confused about how to do this, please let me know. 

Write-Up Requirements:

•             You must include your name, Course Number, Section and Date in your write-up

•             Minimum of 750 words (not including your name/section/date or repeating the questions listed below – if you do this, I will not count those words towards the required minimum).

•             Times New Roman, 12-point Font, 1-inch margins, single or double-spaced

•             Proper grammar and spelling (your assignment will be run through a plagiarism filter).

Write-Up Instructions:

I want you to reflect on your growth strategies and how those strategies worked out in terms of firm performance.  Please be specific as to your strategy choices and how they worked out.  You do not need to repeat the questions in your write up.

 

•             What was your initial thoughts on how to proceed?  What specific decisions did you make regarding pricing, employees, compensation, and financing?

•             How did your strategy work at the beginning of the simulation? 

•             Did you decide to change your strategy?  Specifically, what did you change?  Did you need to obtain further financing?  If so, how much did you get?  What did you give up obtaining it?

•             How did your updated strategy work?  Did performance improve?

•             Overall, how was your performance?  Did you survive and grow your organization?  Did you go public?  How many employees did you have?  What was your final valuation? 

•             Did you run the simulation more than once?  How did this help you deliver a better strategy?

 

Grading Policy

Grades will be assigned based on both your write-up and your performance on the graded simulation run.  Your grade will be based on the following:

•             Spelling, grammar, and formatting:          10 points max

•             Thoughtfulness of your reflection:           40 points max

•             Performance versus the class:  25 points max

 

Notes of Performance Comparisons

We will compare each student’s performance on the following metrics:  Cumulative Net Income, Unit Sales, and Market Value.  These will be ranked from 1 to 45, with 1 being the highest performing and 45 being the lowest.  I will then average the ranking based on the 3 metrics.  The 25 points will be awarded as follows:

 

Top 5 Average Rank        25 points

6th -10th Average Rank 20 points

11th – 15th Average Rank            15 points

16th – 20th Average Rank            12.5 points

21st Rank or Higher         10 points