Takeovers are an optional feature in MikesBikes-Advanced that Smartsims can enable at your request. Once enabled, students have the option of entering a takeover bid under the “Investments” menu within the simulation. This menu shows all of the firms in the industry, differentiated by those who are available for purchase and those who are already owned. Of those that are available to purchase, the screen will provide an approximate minimum bid.

Takeover bids are processed at rollover time. If the bid is over valuation and there are no other higher offers it will be automatically accepted, except in the following circumstances:

1. As a result of the purchase the parent company’s total market share would be greater than 50% (statutory protection against oligopolistic behavior); or

2. The parent company does not have enough cash to cover their bid.

If the bid is successful the owned company will still operate as they have done previously, except that financial decisions will now be controlled by the parent company. It can be an interesting process. Although the child company may feel hostile toward the new parent company, these firms are usually in need of the extra capital as well as much needed advice. If both firms can perform better together, the rewards will be seen in both their Shareholder Values increasing.

Note: At any time the parent company can decide to sell the company back to the market. As such, firms can include an exit strategy as part of their investment once the owned company has increased in value.

If you would like to enable takeovers in your simulation, please email us (instructors only).

– Ian McPherson

Welcome Camille Canuto!

The newest addition to our Auckland Office will be graduating from The University of Auckland this May with a double major in Employment Relations & Organization Studies and Film, TV and Media Studies. She has previously worked in a customer service environment for nearly four years.

Camille has gained experience with MikesBikes-Advanced while completing her MGMT 300 paper (Management in Dynamic Contexts) at the University of Auckland. One of the many things she learned while using MikesBikes besides the importance of teamwork and thinking critically, is the ability to adapt and accept change. She believes that there are concepts that cannot be taught in class just by discussing theories alone. Considering the eye opening experience she has had with MikesBikes, she is eager for others to benefit from using Smartsims and gain experience in a safe, cultivating environment.

“At some of the top universities in the world … you are in a room with 200 or 300 people and someone is lecturing. I think institutions that continue to do that in 10 years are going to be in trouble” states Salman Khan, the creator of Khan Academy. “Teaching methods will need to change if they continue to charge thousands for learning that is available free on the Internet. Those institutions that will thrive, according to Salman Khan, are those “that can articulate what is special about what happens when the human beings get together.”¹

With a focus on the value of face to face interactions between an Instructor and the student, Salman Khan believes that those institutions who bring students into a room and “create simulations or projects or team things for them to work on, I think they are going to do very well.”²

“As a parent, yes, it’s nice to know that my kid can quote Shakespeare or know calculus. But the real thing I want my kids to have is this ability to take ownership over their own learning. To say, what’s my goal and what are the resources at my disposal and how can I put them together to reach my goal. Anyone who can do that is going to do very, very well.”³

A trend towards “flipped classrooms” has resulted from this need and Salman Khan believes this will improve student engagement and learning outcomes within existing tertiary institutions. Flipped classrooms use videos/lectures to pre-teach ideas and concepts before class, then using lessons for classroom activities such as simulations, collaborative work and individual tutoring.⁴

Photo Credit: University of Washington

While this is not a new method, it is a recent adaption to a years old method. This approach allows students to take responsibility for their own learning process through studying the course material outside of class by reviewing readings, pre-recorded video lectures or research assignments. Actual class time is spent briefly reviewing content and checking for Students then work on problems/simulations/in-class activities while the instructor circulates, allowing the teacher to correct misunderstandings on the spot. Through this the teachers can learn what topics cause issue for their students allowing for deeper, richer and active learning experiences for students.⁵

You can find more information on Flipped-Classrooms here and the Kiwi Education summit here.

June 8^th marked the start of this year’s Junior Achievement Business Week where High-School students from around the United States travelled to Johnson & Wales University in Denver to experience all aspects of business. This year the organizers sought to cultivate student’s business acumen through coaching from industry leaders accompanied by activities that put these ideas into action. As such, MikesBikes-Intro was a natural fit.

The 80 students were split into teams and tasked with developing a strategy for their virtual bike manufacturing company. The challenge was ensuring students at a high-school level sufficiently understood business concepts to manage their own company. So an emphasis was put on team building, and networking between students and mentors which worked with great success.

A Junior Business Week Group and Their Mentor. Photo Credit: Junior Achievement

“MikesBikes-Intro was an engaging way to bring the business world to life. This simulation helped high school students learn and apply real concepts in operation management, R&D, debt, marketing, and more in one short week at our summer camp. On behalf of all Junior Achievement students; thank you for making Junior Achievement Business Week a meaningful and fun experience!”

– Emily Milian (Manager of High School Events)

Dedicated to inspiring and preparing the young to succeed in a complex world economy, Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization with a dedicated volunteer network leveraged for the implementation and execution of school programs which focus on three key areas: entrepreneurship, financial literacy and work readiness. Junior Achievement encourages students to think entrepreneurially, tap into their creativity and capitalize on opportunities in their many forms. The goal for Junior Achievement is to teach concepts through experiential learning, allowing young people to put their new knowledge and skills into practice in a safe environment.

More information on Junior Achievement’s Business Week can be found here.

On March 21st and 22nd 2014, the University of Waterloo hosted their annual two-day Science and Business conference dubbed Fusion! Each year, Fusion aims to expose their delegates to industry leaders through interactive breakout sessions, employer expositions, and competitive networking events all the while exploring a common theme. This year’s theme, “Anticipate. Adapt. Achieve.”, revolved around staying ahead of the competition by anticipating change and adapting strategies to achieve success.

 

To follow our theme of staying ahead and to add greater value to our delegates, Fusion introduced theFusion Challenge! New this year, the Fusion Challenge allowed our delegates to network with their peers, speakers, and sponsors through an interactive competition. Teams of five delegates and one speaker/sponsor acted as a manufacturing company to develop and execute a business strategy through the course of three “years” with the goal of generating the most profit. The top 3 teams were awarded cash prizes and the opportunity to participate in Smartsims’ Mikes Bikes World Championships.

Many delegates loved the opportunity to work with a speaker or sponsor in a friendly yet competitive environment. At the same time, many speakers and sponsors loved the opportunity to make a personal connection with our delegates. Fusion speaker and President of Pivotry Consulting Group Inc., Wayne Wang noted, “it was an overall great experience and Carl Cao did a great job holding things together. I hope Carl Cao keeps the Fusion Challenge. It was very unique and deserves to come back in my books!” Many other speakers and sponsors felt that the Fusion Challenge will be the key component in expanding the Fusion brand.

For more information about our conference or for ways to get involved, please contact Carl Cao at carl@fusionconference.ca.

2013’s MikesBikes World Championship was an exciting event for all those participating, including those of us here at Smartsims. There were over 80 teams competing for a place in the final round. Placing fourth in the final round of the competition was College of Staten Island’s team, Luxury Bertels. Their achievement featured on the CSI website and we were pleased to read their complimentary feedback:

“This simulation is perhaps the greatest and most effective tool in learning how to run and manage a full scale business”

Their Professor, Heidi Bertels, is strong advocate for getting students “noses out of the books” and having them actually apply business concepts.
After the 2012 World Champs, Jodi Cataline (Professor at Drexel University) also had kind words to sayabout our MikesBikes simulation:

“Students love MikesBikes. They compete against other teams within Drexel, and they get really into the competition. They also love that it’s not a professor lecturing to them about operations management or strategy; they get their hands dirty, learn by trial and error, and put the new knowledge they recently gained from lectures and textbooks to the test.”

In today’s society, internet access is becoming increasingly available in many mediums ranging from SmartPhones, Personal Computers, iPads, and Laptops; and as a result, technology adoption rates are increasing rapidly throughout the world. Consequently, many education providers, who we would classify as ‘innovators and early adopters’, are beginning to see a shift in their cultural views towards teaching, coaching and mentoring to a culture in which traditional methods of education are beginning to become outdated. Traditional methods still have their place, but as an article from article from EducationBusinessUK.net suggests few people would assert that a teacher standing in front of a class is the only effective way of helping learn¹. As such, there is an increasing trend in Tertiary Education providers moving away from traditional classrooms in favour of an integrated approach using electronic education tools such as Online Lectures, iTunesU, Gaming and Simulations. There are many advocates for gaming/simulation, some of which are Michael Gove, the British Secretary of State for Education, who has previously stated “Games and interactive software can help pupils acquire complicated skills and rigorous knowledge in an engaging and enjoyable way.”²

Universities around the world are using the most recent technology to provide their students/users with a whole new learning experience. Khan Academy, a massive not-for-profit online education provider, runs courses and lectures ranging from subjects about computer programming basics to art history. In 2011 Khan Academy reported having approximately 39 million page views and 3.5 million unique users per month³. Apple has also ‘jumped on the e-learning bandwagon’ with their iTunes U app, which gives students and professors a new space to experience university by giving access to university courses, lab demonstrations, sports highlights, campus tours and special lectures from highly regarded universities from around the world⁴. In February 2013, Apple announced that iTunes U had over one billion downloads. In addition to these, we see many of Universities modifying their courses to utilise the genesis of business simulations⁵.

Business Simulations have proven to provide an engaging interface where instructors are given the opportunity to work alongside their students’ and foster their understanding of fundamental business concepts. Smartsims business simulations encourage students to engage in their learning by giving them control of their own simulated business experience. As a result, students often find themselves immersed in the simulation, applying key concepts of business and strategy as they manage their own simulated organisation. According to a recent article written by Kineo.com⁶, e-learning boasts several benefits for both students and instructors:

• With traditional methods of education, students are often limited to predetermined hours of in-class engagement. However, with the advent of online education systems this is no longer the case. Online education and business simulations are not bound by geography or time, therefore allowing users to have the full flexibility to further their learning in an engaging manner outside of the classroom or lecture hall. This leaves normal contact time between students and instructor for engrossing discussions or learning new theories and concepts.
• Depending on how a business simulation or electronic learning system is integrated into a course, information can benefit from faster delivery cycle times than traditional education methods. Often is the case with classroom style education, information dissemination is often restricted to the availability of classrooms and instructors.

Kineo’s article also cites an article written by Fletcher and Tobias, published in the journal ‘Training and Retraining’ in 2000, commissioned by the American Psychological Society, to state the benefits online education can have on the learning process; “Learners learn more using computer-based instruction than they do with conventional ways of teaching, as measured by higher post-treatment test scores”⁷. Business Simulations allow students to truly engage in their learning process by applying the business concepts they have learnt in class to a simulated business environment. The biggest advantage of a business simulation is that students learn by doing.

Overall, technology has presented some challenges to the education system which many tertiary education providers and third parties have attempted to take on. Consequently, e-learning has presented many opportunities for students and instructors alike. The only question remains, where will technology lead us to next?

– Brook McFarlane

A big hearty welcome to Brook McFarlane!

 

Brook joins us having graduated from the University of Auckland with a strong focus on Marketing, Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Backing these credentials is a history of excellent customer service and business acumen.

Like Danny Master (Account Manager here at Smartsims), Brook gained intimate experience with MikesBikes-Advanced whilst completing his MGMT 301 (Management in Action) paper. After spending six months working with the simulation at University, Brook has become a strong advocate for the simulation and the value that can be gained from participation.

Brook is dedicated to learning and comes from a family of strong academics. As such, he is consistently searching for the best method to co-create unique experiences and value with both professors and students.

We’ve been busy over the last couple of months making some key changes to our Music2Go Marketing Simulation. These will be put in place from January 2013.

We believe the following changes will make the simulation even more enjoyable for all students:

Improved Market Research: We have condensed select existing Market Research reports into fewer more detailed reports:

• All Product Details (added Estimated Lost Sales for all firms) – students should really buy this every period as this is the minimum information set you need to see what your competitors are doing.
• Pricing Overview – shows Sales Units, Price Index, Retail Price, Wholesale Price, Production Cost, and Gross Margin for all firms / products.
• Distribution Coverage and Sales Promotion – Distribution Index, Sales Promotion Rating, and Promotion Mix Effectiveness for all firms / products.
• Retail Performance and Stores Stocking – Distribution Index, Retail Margin, Total Retailer Margin, and Number of Stores Stocking for all firms / products.

Free Industry Market Research Reports: We have found that some students have been reluctant to buy Market Research, even with our encouragement. So what we have done is provide a few of the fundamental reports free under the Market Research menu. These contain the data which remains the unchanged over the simulation, and will be required for students to do well:

• Some Product Details
• Segment Size and Price Range
• Segment Media Advertising Preferences
• Segment Distribution Preferences
• Segment Product Development Preferences (New Report)

Base Budget Upper Limit: There will be a $50m base budget maximum. This has been put into place to reduces the advantage that lead firms have, and force them to plan more carefully if they want to maintain multiple products.

Increased Demand: We have increased the demand in all segments to make it easier for struggling firms to maintain positive net marketing contribution. Also, there will be a greater initial distribution boost for new products, which will make it easier for these firms to compete with established products.

Revised Players Manual / Quickstart Guide: We have updated the Music2Go documentation, including making students aware of the upper budget limit, and the upper limit Inventory Purchases.

If you have any questions on these updates, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

– Ian McPherson