Advanced Strategic Marketing/Capstone in Marketing



TARGET COURSES

Integrative business courses at the MBA and EMBA level.


CONTENT

Marketing, product development, human resource management, financial analysis, accounting, manufacturing, quality management, as well as traditional and web sales channels. The participants also deal with changes in the economic and political environment, reflected through shifting regional demand, exchange rates and tariffs.


TIME FRAME

8 decision rounds, with each round taking 4 to 4 1/2 hours per student to complete.


This simulation places a heavy emphasis on the development of a formal strategic planning mindset within a complex international corporate environment. An OST (objective-strategy-tactics) template is embedded in the software which forces the students to explicitly perform strategic analysis, strategy specification, tactical execution, and real-time control. Because the strategic planning template is used every quarter in this simulation, students get to see how their plans build from one quarter to the next. This cyclic process aids students in retaining both the concepts and the methods of strategic planning.

Storyline:
You are about to start a new company that will enter the international microcomputer business. As the executive team, you will provide the seed capital to start up your business. You can use this money to build a factory, open sales offices, and design brands. You will invest 1,000,000 in each of the first four quarters. An additional 5,000,000 will become available in quarter 5 from venture capitalists, for a total of 9,000,000. Your executive team has the next 2 years to get the company off the ground. Within this time frame, you should become a self-sufficient firm, earning substantial profits from your operations.

Grading:
Grading is based on the balanced scorecard that measures profitability, customer satisfaction, market share in the targeted market segments, asset management, manufacturing productivity, human resource management, preparedness for the future and wealth.

Students can play against their peers.