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Detailed description of LABAM's simulators and the Courses which fit with them Labams'
simulations
develop the skills that only experience can provide.
LABAMS
is a decision-making lab, that is, an Internet-based virtual environment
where participants can take decisions in nine different scenarios and respond
to the consequences of those decisions. The sequence of results and new decisions
provides a rich planned learning experience. The automatic processing features
of Labam's allow professors to directly intervene in the prior organization of
each simulation and the processing of results without having to depend on
systems engineering specialists.
Seven of the scenarios
have been specifically designed to develop decision-making skills for a wide range of
staff jobs, while two simulated scenarios SimCEO and Simserv,were designed
to integrate staff skills into a coherent general management whole. In the following sections each of the simulated scenarios is described together with the learning objectives which have guided their design. There are also recommended courses for use. SIMPRO: OPERATIONS
Simulated
scenario
Objectives 1. The central objective is to accumulate experience in production
management. decisions about controlling
inventories and assigning workers to machines. 2. Basic to making such decisions effectively is an understanding of
fundamental concepts, ideas and
analytical tools of production management,
such as incremental analysis, production scheduling, and economic lot size
inventory models. 3. An understanding of these concepts, ideas, and tools can be gained
more effectively
by the student if he or she is first
exposed to them in the classroom and/or by studying Chapters 3 to 5
of Simpro’s Manual, and
then using the opportunity to apply those techniques to a specific
production problem. 4.
Participants also gain experience in independent decision-making over a
very short time period but which may have large
cumulated long range effects. 5.
Simpro will demonstrate that a cost advantage can be attained
through management alone, instead of solely through technology. Background
The Fourth
and last edition of the “Guide to Simulations/ Games for
education and training” (R.E. Horn, A. Cleaves, Eds.) listed a total of
21 simulations in its chapter dedicated to Production, Logistic and
Operations. Only three of these were computerised, although one of them
was a collection of computer-augmented cases
in Operations Research. The remaining two, Prosim and Unitex,
served as the basis to
develop Simpro. The idea for Prosim was developed by
Prof. Paul Greenlaw and Prof. Michael Hottestein of Pennsylvania
State University. The idea for Unitex was developed by
Prof. Howard E. Johnson of the University of Texas at Austin.
Originally both programmes were written
in Fortran IV for CDC and IBM mainframe computers and required
extensive participation of systems engineers to run properly which the
Guide acknowledged by admoninishing that a special prerequisite was
“Working knowledge of Fortran”. Both simulations were modified, corrected, and their output
extended to provide for more competitive comparison between managements of
simulated companies.
Programmes were rewritten in Microsoft’s Fortran 77 and all
control cards and parameters automated so that persons without knowledge
of Fortran could interpret
and process de simulation. The current version of Simpro is fully Windows
compatible. Some
recommended courses: Production Management, Operations
Management, Production Programming and Control-Inventory, Production
Scheduling, Mantainance Engineering and Quality Control 122-page Manual
SIMSERV – Management of Services
Simulated
scenario: •Simserv
simulates non industrial companies such as hotels or hospitals. •Participants
receive the management of one of three hotels of different sizes and
backgrounds, in a resort or
one of three hospitals in a community. In both cases participants
receive financial information and a ten year history of the
community where they are to operate. •
Hospitals or hotels have just been bought by new shareholders.. The new
managers are faced with the task of managing organizations which could
compete or collaborate. •The
analysis of the environment as well as the determination of potential
margins, will open the opportunity to set growth or contraction strategies
through the capacity of beds and ancillary services.
•The
main decisions, which represent a yearly plan, are expressed in guest days
or patient days which in turn will require the estimation of the work
force necessary to service
them using various forecasting methods and the financial consequences of
different bed rates. •The
winning management team in Simserv will be that which achieves the largest
increment in capital over the first year, showing profits but without hurting the community. Objectives: 1.
To illustrate the management process in
service organizations conveying the dynamic interdependence of
policies and decisions. 2.
To demonstrate that many concepts and tools applicable to industrial
organizations cannot be applied to services, and that in particular,
Marketing is a line instead
of a staff function. . 3.
To teach in an applied setting modern
quantitative tools such as
forecasting, break even analysis, trade-off analysis, general sensitivity
analysis and the use of
financial ratios to services. 4.
To produce decision making
experiences under real life conditions of time limitations and competitive
pressures. Background
Simserv
is the third edition of the original Hospital Game. It
has a long history, as games go. The
original structure was conceived by Professor P. J. Feldstein of the University of
Michigan, and then further developed as an exercise
under the title "Simulated Hospital Administration and Planning
Exercise" by James H. Gardner and J. Michael Griem of the Health Economics
Analysis Program
of the
National Center for
Health Services
and Mental Health
Administration, HEW.
Still
uncompleted,
their exercise
was distributed to
a few universities which then
modified it
according to
their needs. In
the School of Public
Health at
the University of
California, Berkeley, Donald
C. Holloway and
the author Jack Meredith extensively
modified and completed the exercise
for use
in courses relating
to the
Hospital Administration Program.
Further refinements
made at Florida
International University in
Miami and the University of
Cincinnati resulted in the first edition of the game in 1978. This
current edition has many new features that allows for easier processing Suggested courses: Management of Services, Hotel Management,
Hospital Management, Tourism Management,
Services Operations, Marketing of Services 33-page
Manual. SIMDEF – Financial Management Simdef strengthens abilities in managerial
accounting, production and
financial techniques because simulated decision making will require
repeated application of those techniques. In the case
of Finance,
decision-making will focus on the financial structure of the
simulated company and on resource allocation. In order to operate the
company the new management team will have to forecast, plan and control.
Through Simdef the new managers will acquire information about the
interdependence between different decision variables learning how to build
a solid decision making structure. A number of financial models have been
inserted in Simdef so that the simulated managers can build a
complete set of financial decisions in an economic environment full of cycles and uncertainties in which risk and return are
positively associated. Simulated scenario •Simdef
simulates a generic market, where an unbranded commodity such as sugar,
rice, fishmeal, minerals etc, is
traded showing significant quarterly fluctuations in price. None of the
competing companies is able to influence the price level, reducing the
marketing function and increasing the importance of both finance and
production. •As
with many real-life commodity companies, the simulated company has a very
large production facility which
requires great quantities of capital to operate within a context of rapid
depreciation •The
new management team receives the company with a moderate share price and
must purchase money in a relatively modern capital market using bank
loans, bonds, factoring invoices, selling
or purchasing negotiable securities and issuing or redeeming ordinary or
preferential stock in the stock market. If none of these sources of funds
is used, a loan shark will provide money at a very expensive interest
rate.. •Short
and long range plans must be drawn on the basis of one or more forecasting
studies and manager must chose quarterly amongst capital investment
projetcs. •The
central problem is how to purchase cheaply capital and allocating it
efficiently while maintaining a healthy financial structure. •The
best company will be that which obtains the highest share price in the
market, or the highest ROI, although the professor may select a
combination of indicators. Objectives 1.
Develop abilites in the application of the concepts and techniques of
Managerial Accounting, Production Administration and specially Financial
Management. 2.
Demonstrate that the modern financial executive must not only purchase
capital at low cost but also has to allocate capital efficiently. 3.
Discover the fundamental interdependence between the purchaser of capital
and the great user of capital: production. 4. Design
of a healthy and stable
financial structure. 5.
Acquisition of practice in smooth operations, planning forecasting and
controlling. . 6.
Analyzing in depth the interdependence
between several financial variables in a risky and uncertain environment. Background
Simdef
was developed on the basis of the Financial
Management Decision Game, designed originally by Prof. LeRoy Brooks of the
University of Delaware. The translation from Fortran IV-G to Fortran 77
allowed for extensive modifications and updating, including public
performance reports and a new programme that calculates financial ratios. Manual:
80 pages Recommended
Courses: Financial
Management, Business Economics, Managerial Accounting, Capital Budgeting,
Managerial Economics, Capital Markets. MARKLOG
Simulated scenario: •Simulates
the market for basic intermediate goods, the kind of market typical of
business-to-business industrial transactions, where an organic textile dye
competes with a chemical dye in a large textile market located several
thousand miles away, both with very stable
and equal prices and
technically perfect substitutes for each other. •Decision-making
at Marklog has a four-week horizon choosing between ten different
transportation modes, each with different costs, durations and risks to
dispatch and send dye shipments to wholesalers
and manufacturing customers. •Inventories
must be managed at the company’s local operation and also at the final
destination so as to provide a good level of service but, at the same
time, avoiding high costs of
working capital. •As
all B2B markets, Marklog’s market, made up of manufacturers and
wholesalers, is very
sensitive to service quality. Failed deliveries will affect the service
perceived from customers who will opt for the chemical substitute given
that price levels are exactly equivalent. •Marklog
demonstrates the contribution to profits of industrial marketing
management and specially, the logistics function as an extension of the
marketing function. The winning team is that which delivers shipments with
great punctuality while maintaining low inventories, which will be that
company with greater accumulated profits. Objectives
1.
Moving products correctly or incorrectly has an impact in profits. 2.
There are benefits in focusing in the cost components of shipping a product from A to B. 3.
Profits can be gained from analysing the fit between current and future
demand. 4.
There is a “logistics mix” that must be found. 5.
A company that gets first to a market with a lower cost, has a greater
chance of surviving. 6. The
distribution function is a part of the marketing mix which holds veto
power over the rest of the mix. . Background Marklog was originally the Stanford Business Logistics Game. The original authors were Professors Karl M. Ruppenthal, D. Clay Whybark y Henry McKinnell from Stanford University, San Francisco, California. Dr. Whybark kept a copy of the original Fortran IV-G programmes which he delivered to be translated into Fortran 77. The scenario was extensively modified from staging the route between San Francisco and New York, and the cosmetics market to the today equally demanding logistics conditions that take place between the Western and Eastern coasts of South America, or, alternatively, Africa. This new scenario poses real challenges to the internationally inclined participant. Manual:
27 pages Recommended courses:
B2B Marketing, Business
Logistics, Distribution, Marketing of Services, International Marketing. SIMARK
Simulated scenario: •This
a positioning and marketing strategy simulation based on the minor
appliance market. The
economic environment features a marked life cycle and the emergence of a
copmpletely new techonology, making it ideal for strategic decisión
making. •Five
clearly defined segments, three distribution channels and a specialised
sales force allow decisión makers to use the “push” side of the
marketing mix. The “pull” components, advertising, positioning and
product development are also available. •Five
simulated companies, which are in effect marketing enterprises (or
marketing departments organised as profit centers)
participate with different backgrounds and past performances, each
marketing two branded products though they may market upto five products
overall. •Fifteen
market research studies can be ordered including perceptual maps, market
experiments, panels and ditribution studies, to assis in decisión making. •Each
decision simulates an annual marketing plan. •The
winning enterprise is that which accumulates during ten simulated years
the highest net profit contribution. Objetives 1.
Médium and short term marketing orientation. 2.
Focus on the practical application of
strategic markleting concepts and tools. 3. Management of a basi or complete line of products. 4.
Shows the difference between phyisical and perceptual product
attributs. 5.
Learning how to interpret fifteen market research studies and how to use
them to develop new products. 6.
Demonstrates the importance of the product life cycle. 7.
Breaks down advertising decisions into its basi elements. 8.
Use of the marketing mix as a strategic variable to obtain a spcific
position instead of and end in itself. BackgroundSimark
is based on Version 1 of
Markstrat, as published by The Scientific Press. This version was
developed by Prof. Jean Claude Lareche of INSEAD, Paris, France, who in
turn based his model on Prof. Ralph Days earlier simulation “Marketing
in Action”. Manual: 37 pages Recommended
Coursos: Strategic Marketing, Marketing Management, Product Management,
Sales management, Introduction to Market Research. SimCEO
Simulated scenario: •Simulates an industrial company
aseembling a consumer product for
three different markets. • Production is initially located in Area 1 from which sales are made in all
remaining areas, although management can open factories in them.
•Managers receive eight quarters of
operationals and accounting information from a rather complete management
information system. •All
functional decisions are simulated – production, finance, sales
and marketing and therefore
the main decisión making problem is of coordination and strategic
planning. •Thye winning management team is that which obtaines the
highest profits and the best stock price.
Objetives
1.
Long range planning manageerial perspective.. 2. Focus on the practical application of business plans. 3.
Shows how to integrate operating plans and results. 4.
Develops habilities to manage and reduce
time inested in decisión making through the sue of a web developed
information system. 5.
Teaches how to coordinate the diverse funcional components of management
and specifically how overempasizing one function over the others will not
produce adequate results. 6.
Shows the importance of balancing inventories, production and sales. 7.
Teaches the consequences of good and bad decisions. Background
SimCEO
was originally designed by Profs. Charles R. Scott y Alonzo Strickland
from the University of
Alabama. Dr. Scott´s son, a
profesor of Economics at Loyola College in Maryland continued using his
father’s simulation. The current version is an updated version. Manual: 67 pages Recomenddd
Courses: “Capstone” undergraduate coursses in Management,
Entrepeneurial Development, General Management. . BRANDSTRAT
Simulated scenario: • Brands of upto nine simulated
companies, protected by the current strict patent regultions, compete in a
global market geographically
segmented in five areas:
Europe, Latin America, United States,
United Kingdom and Asia. Production can be optionally located in
one of the five areas. •All managerial funciotns are simulated: production,
finance, sales, marketing, personnel and a complex distrobution channel. •Marketing decisiones are very detailed:
price fixing, advertising, promotion,
trade discounts, sales management and new product development.. •Paricipantes must use upto fifty market
research studies to make decisiones. These include concept testing,
perceptual mapping, experiments and several forms of conjoint analysis. Objetives 1.
Long range perspective in an envinroment of globalised short and quick
product life cycles. 2.
Advanced application of concepts and tecnique of corporate strategy. 3.
Complete set of brand management decisions for up to three products. 4.
Brands can be positioned in different geographical segments with different
attributes. 5.
Develops habilities in the use and interpretation of fifty of the most
used market research studies. 6.
Demonstrates the importance of managing short product life cycles. 7.
Experience is accumulated in the development of complete Marketing Plans
coordinated with other mangement departments. Background Brandstrat
was developed by Randall Chapman at Queen’s University, Canada. This is
the fourth and final version of Brandmaps.. Recommended
courses: Advanced Marketing,
“Capstone” Strategu and Business Policy post gradua degrees., Brand Management, Market Research. Manual: 276
pages MACROSIM
Dr. John A. Carlson, Profesor of Economics at Purdue University, autor of
the manual of this simulator, wrote the simulator because he considered
necessary for stundents to experience economic environments in order to
understand how economies function. Dr.
Carlson said…. “....Students
are great skeptics. They want to know why bthey should learn what theee
teacher thinks they shoould learn. In a cour on economic theory, this
reactiuon can come not only from students who hav dicculty grasping the
material and need a rational for their lack of understanding but also from
students who find the theoretical arguments all very obvious. Granted the
assumptions, the conclusions follow logiccally. So what else is new?. People
not mathemiacl functions or geometrical relationships, run an economy. We
all know this. The economics theorist knows it too, and his theories are
developed from assumptions about human behavior within the confines of
environmental constraints. And
yet there is a gulf between the abstract woprlf of economic theory and the
real world of our own experiences, a gulf that can puzzle and frustrate
the beginning student.” This
manual and simulation is designed to help the student realice that the
gulf is bridgeable.” Macrosim was reprogrammed to Fortran 77. It is the only
“demonstration” simulation of the laboratory. Recommended courses: Introduction to Economics, Macroeconomics. Manual: 42
páginas ADSTRAT Designed
by Prof. Marshall D. Rice of York
University, Canada, Adstrat
is an interactive menu-driven simulation capable of acumulating experience
in advtersing decision-making. The simulation is the current update
version of the original AMCAAM, as published
by Dr. Rice with his thesis superviser from U. of Texas Austin Dr.
Joh n Leckenby in the Journal of Markeing Education (Fall 1988). The
simulator’s scenario has very
realistic fetures enabling participants to experience decision-making in
the field of communcation strategy. Objectives
1.
To illustrate the way in
which competitors’ decisions affect the outcome f decisions made by
mada by managers as well as the ways in which knowledge of
competitors’ past decisiones may help in making future decisions. 2.
To show on particular method of utilizing multiple intermediate criteria
of effectiveness in the selection of creative strategy and media, the
concept of creative media responsae values. 3.
To apply Bayesina analysis to the advertising budgeting decision. 4.
To emphasize the interaction of advterising with price in the determintio of sales results. 5.
To illustrate a procediure for the estimation of exposure distributions of
media schedules. 6.
To develop understanding of
the relationship between market share and net profit relative to different
advertising spending strategies. 7.
To demonstrate the manner in which carry-over effects can be utilized in
the planning of expenditures on advertising from one time period to the
next. 8.
To reveal the effect of media and copy decisions relative to appropriation
decisions on share, profit and sales results. 9.
To asses the aprticipants decision-making style and to meke this
definition of style explicit through resultas relative to those of
competiros’ decisions and results. Context
Three companies compete in the mass consumer
products market. The goal of each company is to develop an advertising
plan for “Drier” an anti-perspiran aerosol spray.
Participant use the analysis
software provided by Adstrat to help them decide how much should be spent,
what media schedule should be used, what creative strategy is best and
what price to charge. Decisions are then registered through Internet and
the output analyzes decisions and determines the best advertising strategy
of the three companies. This results allow decision-makers determine their
decisions in the next round. They quickly learn that the results for
a given company depend heaviliy on the decisions made by the other
two companies in a given indsutry. At the end of three time periods, a
winner is declared as the one that has the highest cumulative profit. The three companies begin in identical
advertising, market and financial positions.
Each company is staffed by up to four participants. Accordingly
there are as many “industries” of twelve pariticipants as there are
students to form an industry. Manual:
12 pages. Recommended courses: Marketing Strategy,
Consumer Marketing, Advertising Strategy. |
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