SM4022 –Globalisation, Innovation and Sustainability The Business Simulation – component assessme

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. Did you change the competitive strategy during the