MANAGER: A SIMULATION GAME - 3rd Edition
Jerald Smith and Peggy Golden

Note: This simulation is being converted for the web and is not available at this time. We recommend Biz Sim, a simulation that we have written as the Manager replacement. Please check it out at the following website (click on this link): http://home.att.net/%7Esimulations/BizSim.htm

A business simulation game designed for students enrolled in a management course or management development program. It provides student players with simulated real world experience in managerial decision making and enables them to see the relevance of the principles being taught in the course. The game is simple enough to learn in about an hour and yet includes all of the variables a student needs to know to understand the major concepts of an introductory business/management course or organizational training. An additional benefit for students is that they will experience how the various functional areas of business mesh together and affect each other.

Click here for an Overview of the Simulation
Corrections in Student Manual, first printing
Questions and Suggestions from Users
Using the Windows Software
Click here to view student disk input errors.

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THE COMPANY

The company that the student team takes over has been in business only one year and has been making modest profits. The current president wishes to pursue other business interests and has hired the student team assume the management of the firm. The company is short on working capital and is operating close to its production capacity. Thus, the first major decisions by the team will involve capital procurement and enlargement of the manufacturing facility.

OBJECTIVES

Maximization of profit is a key objective of the game, but other objectives are of importance also. These include:

1. Maintaining a prudent cash position
2. Keeping a reasonable inventory on hand
3. Maintaining a fair share of the market
4. Utilizing plant capacity
5. Being a good citizen in the community
6. Keeping the price of the common stock at reasonable levels


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F(requently) A(sked) Q(uestions)

What decisions are made?

In playing the game, students acting as management teams make a variety of decisions that will have an impact on their company's operations. The decisions that each team must make include
the price of the product

What do you need to run Manager: A Simulation?

The game administrator is provided with a floppy disk that includes an Instructor's Manual, which explains how to play the game and provides suggestions for grading the performance of student teams.

Changes in the third edition include:

1. New incidents have been added.
2. International aspects have been added to an incident.
3. The instructor has the ability to arrange the incidents in any order.
4. Quality management has been added as a budget item.
5. The product (an AM/FM portable radio with cassette player) has been enhanced to include a compact disk (CD) player.
6. Teams are now able to invest any excess cash that may accumulate, with three different choices of investment instruments.
7. Market research studies have been expanded and are now easier to purchase.
8. The student manual has been rearranged to follow the order of decisions on the decision form.
9. The traditional functions of management have been followed in the student manual, with separate chapters on planning, organizing, decision making, and controlling.
10. A floppy disk has been furnished in case the instructor wants student teams to enter their decisions on disk rather than on a paper decision form.
11. Spreadsheet overlays have been furnished to the instructor to allow student teams to prepare a pro forma cash analysis and other analyses.

How realistic is a business game?

Unfortunately, no business simulation duplicates real life. This simulation, however, attempts to build a game model that is as close as possible to actual conditions. It is hoped that student teams will approach the gaming process as a challenge to use their knowledge to operate a business successfully.

What is the environment of the simulation?

The firm in which the student team will be operating is one of several in the portable stereo industry, each is marketing an AM/FM radio with CD/cassette player. Most of the firms in the industry sell through wholesalers, discount houses, and electronic specialty shops. All are relatively small firms with annual sales of $3.5 to $4 million.

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SPREADSHEET PROGRAMS

A spreadsheet program is included with the software that allows students to plan decisions, cash flow, income and expense analysis, and breakeven analysis. Formats include Excel, Lotus 123, and Quatro Pro.

A FINAL NOTE FOR INSTRUCTORS:

We have posted two additional peer review forms for your use. They were send to us by Professor Larry Siebers at Utah State University.
 

·  Click here for the mid-semester Executive Review form
  Click here for the final Executive Review form


Instructors who would like to order a desk copy of the student manual should contact their Houghton Mifflin representative. Their names are listed at http://www.hmco.com/college/pubrep.html

An adoption copy of Manager may also be ordered from the Houghton Mifflin Catalog:
http://www.hmco.com/ColCat/main.html

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TECHNICAL HELP WITH SOFTWARE

For help with the Windows version, call the Technical Support team at Houghton Mifflin 1-800-732-3223. Or Email:  support@hmco.com     Their hours are 9-5 Monday through Friday.
 

Instructors may also contact the authors for additional information (no student calls please!)
Jerald Smith Office: 954-462-5220     Email: simulations@att.net
Peggy Golden simulation contact: 954-762-5220 E-mail: floridapg@yahoo.com 

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KNOWN ERRORS or TEXT TYPOS and SUGGESTED ACTION:

As usual in a first printing, a few typos and outright errors surface. The following are corrections to the student manual:

Larry Siebers of Utah State has suggested the following clarification fo Incident C Alternative #1:
"Instruct the advertising agency to keep the claims factual- a "tell it like it is" policy."

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QUESTIONS and SUGGESTIONS FROM USERS

1. A student could not complete entry of decisions due to an error shown on the screen "Error 70 in line 3060." What is happening?
The "Write Protect" tab is in the open position and will not allow the data to be stored to the disk. Change the tab to the closed position and re-enter the decisions. This error has been trapped and the appropriate corrective action has been added to the disk. The student disk "Mg-Entry.exe" program dated 2-11-99 has this fix.

2. From Bill Biggs at Beaver University in Pennsylvania: "How do you change or add company names after quarter 1 (Windows version) when using student disks?"

This (beta) windows version is not as friendly in this respect as the DOS version in which the instructor can change or add names at any time. (The Windows author assumed that teams would enter the company name the first quarter.)
Having said that, the instructor must change to the DOS mode, change to the A: drive and insert each student disk. If you do a directory on the disk you will note the decisions are stored on a file titled "Teamx.IQ" where x is the team #, I is the Industry designation, and Q is the quarter #. Type EDIT to pull up the DOS edit program, and open the LAST decision file. So, if you are in quarter 4 it would be named something like
Team4.A4. Once this file is opened, you will note the last item is "YOUR COMPANY NAME."
Replace that line with the new name and save, then close the file. Each company disk must be done this way. Sorry, but that is if for this beta version.

3. Larry Siebers of Utah State has suggested the following clarification fo Incident C Alternative #1:
"Instruct the advertising agency to keep the claims factual- a "tell it like it is" policy." a GOOD suggeston.
Thanks, Larry.

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Revised 4-2007 js