Business Simulation - Team

If you know students who have taken this course before, you were probably expecting to complete an assignment called Food Cart. In its place will be a team project using a business simulation. Students will be assigned to teams of 5-6, with the intention that each student play the role of one of the functions of a company. Key roles involved in the simulation are CEO, Marketing VP, Production VP, Finance VP, and Research & Development VP. If your team has more people than there are functions, someone should be assigned to the role of Competitive Analysis VP. If not, that role can be shared or assigned to any willing member of the team. 

After one practice round that does not count towards grading, your team will make a series of decisions that will drive your results in the simulation over four live rounds. Before attempting to devise a team strategy, each student should complete 100% of the available individual training on the simulation platform (this aspect is graded separately). Grades will be determined by the team's improvement over time and by the performance relative to the rest of the industry. Peer evaluations will be required and may lead to individual grades being different than the team results. The platform tracks your activity and provides another data point with respect to individual effort. 

In addition to training available on the platform, your instructor will provide an overview of this assignment before you begin. The simulation is scheduled late in the semester to allow for all relevant content to be covered in class before you begin the decision-making process. 

The due date on the assignment reflects the timing of the last decision. Key dates with respect to this assignment are included in the detailed instructions below.

Each student must register for the simulation individually, at a cost of $25 each. If you anticipate having financial difficulties that would prevent you from registering, please contact the Dean of Students office as early in the semester as possible. There are funds available to assist in these cases, but they may be claimed quickly. This simulation represents the only paid materials for the course. We hope you will agree that $25 for a course is reasonable.

To register for the simulation and complete the training, follow the instructions in the "getting started" document below.

CapsimCore Getting Started .docx Download CapsimCore Getting Started .docx

Other detailed instructions, included the approach to grading, are found in the following document: Instructions for Simulation Assignment.docx Download Instructions for Simulation Assignment.docx

GRADING DETAILS is as FOLLOWS:

The grade is broken up into two aspects. 50% from the Number of stars and 50% from the relative cumulative profit.

The stars breakdown is as follows

18-20 stars = 100=50 pts
16-17 stars = 90=45 pts
14-15 stars = 80=40 pts
Below 14 stars = 70=35 pts

The other score is based on the team with the highest cumulative profit. Either their team's profit divide by the top team's profit or where they placed within the industry-whichever is higher

First place team-100 or 50 points
Second-94% or 47 points
Third-88% or 44 points
Fourth-82% or 41 points
Fifth-76% or 38 points
Sixth-70% or 35 points

So if a student participates the lowest they would score is 70 out of 100. 

After student fill out the peer evaluation then then faculty can adjust their individual score downward according to the following:

Depending on the average score they could lose additional points:
4 or above= 0 deductions
3-4= half a letter grade
2-3 = whole letter grade
2 or below= F or Zero points