4 DAY BUSINESS SIMULATION WORKSHOP
REPORT ON 4 DAY BUSINESS SIMULATION WORKSHOP CONDUCTED
AT SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT & COMMERCE, MRU
12th March- 15th March 2024
A 4-day Business Simulation workshop was conducted at School of Management & Commerce, MRU to provide students hands-on experience in a virtual business world where they create their own companies, bootstrap their funds and get it running in a competitive space. The game was called “Business Fundamentals- Carbon Fibre Bike Challenge” created and licensed by US Marketplace Simulations. It is about a bicycle industry that is introducing an economical version of carbon fibre using 3D manufacturing technology in certain geographic markets and target segments that the game defines. The game was divided in 4 quarters and thus the students had actually run their firms for a year. Each quarter the decisions became more complex, competition more intense and teams experienced more excitement and challenges to maintain their market position. A brief on the 4 quarters are:
Quarter1: Introduction to Business Fundamentals– organize your company and set your business in motion.
Quarter 2: Go Test the Market- Take all tactical decisions like employee compensation plans, production scheduling, advertising campaigns, pricing, sales and service personnel, cash flow, and profitability.
Quarter 3: Skilful Adjustments and Market Expansion– Review performance during the test market and adjust strategy and tactics. Do strategic analysis and SWOT.
Quarter 4: Invest in the Future– Review and revise your strategy in light of your assessment and the new Venture funding that is available.
There were 7 participating teams of 35 students who identified their target segments, geographic markets, created their own brands and took decisions ranging from designing their product, marketing, setting the price, scheduling the production, hiring workforce, managing cash flows and profitability etc. The students were actively engaged throughout these days from 10 am to 4 pm and also taking out time from their home to meet the game deadlines.
This simulation experience worked towards developing their analytical and critical thinking skills, develop leadership, teamwork, and interpersonal skills, promote better decision making by learning to manage a totally integrated company, and facilitate learning of important business concepts, principles, and ways of thinking. They also got to understand how performance is evaluated using the Balanced Scorecard tool which is a better parameter for a firm’s performance.
Out of the 7 participating teams one team of girls was from K L Mehta Dayanand College Faridabad who had shown keen interest to be part of this workshop and also seeking support from MRU IIC towards such other entrepreneurial activities, mentoring and funding start-ups in future.
Few team building exercises were also incorporated in this 4 day workshop for better coordination and focus in the game.
The resource person for this workshop was Dr Pragati Chauhan, Prof -SMC MRU & Simulation Coach and Dr Bindu Agrawal – Master Simulation Coach.
