Marketplace Simulation Game Analysis

The marketplace simulation game was an overall great experience in terms of understanding how

an organization works, what aspects should be considered while making decisions and how to

coordinate between various departments. It was an excellent platform for me to learn how

various functional departments in an organization work and how are they dependent on one

another. Working in a team and coping with various challenges collectively helped me

understand the importance of team work. I believe that the game has helped me to develop my

management and leadership skills. Working under time and budget constraints along with

pressure from competitors have helped to improve my time management skills and improved my

strategic thinking process.
In the game, I was the Vice President of Finance and Manufacturing. Though I was basically into

finance and manufacturing decision making, I learned several functions of other department as

well and understood that all the functional departments are integrated. In the Finance department,

I learnt about various sources of financing available to an organization during start up. Choosing

among various alternatives to fund our business initially is one of the major decisions to make

initially. As various sources involve different costs and risks associated with it, we must be extra

careful to choose the right mix of debt and equity funding. It is very important to minimize the

firm’s cost of capital in order to maximize profits and remain competitive in the market. Also,

maintaining positive cash flow balance is very crucial to any firm’s success. Hence, I learnt

about managing scarce resources and maintaining a positive cash flow which is very important to

any business.
It is also very important to choose various funding sources with minimum cost of

capital in order to be competitive in the long run. We should not only run after profitability but

also manager positive cash flows every time as profits will not help us pay our bills and wages in

the short run.

In the Manufacturing department, I learnt about various key concepts such as fixed operating

capacity and operating plant capacity. One of the key decision to make in the manufacturing

department is to select the plant location. Various factors such as shipping, manufacturing and

distribution costs must be considered before choosing a plant location as it can be a source of

competitive advantage later on. I also learnt about the total capacity of the firm. It includes both

fixed and operating plant capacity which is required to control the number of units produced in

the plant. We must be very careful when selecting the fixed and operating capacity of our firm as

it can result in over production or under production of goods. I learnt other concepts like

production scheduling, target and replenishment points which is very crucial in determining the

inventory level and handling them
properly.

There are many lessons that I learnt from this simulation game that I can take into the business

world. Though our group did not do that well in the game, we learnt a lot. Now I will be able to

talk to real world business people about various issues that arise in running a business

organization. Not only that, I learnt the basics of how a manufacturing firm runs and what

aspects are most important to it. The success of any firm depends on the efficient integration of

all the functional departments of the organization. Besides this, a right mix of advertising,

compensation package, operating efficiency and many other factors affect a firm’s overall

performance. And if I ever start my own firm, all these important concepts will help me to make

better decisions and raise the value of my firm.