Our very first class was MBA 508, the Global Simulation Class. The Simulation has been done at NCSU for 47 semesters, and it changes every time. Basically, we were given the task of running an athletic shoe company with wholesale, internet and private label markets. All 10 teams started in year 10 with all the same stats and market share. Our group had to come up with a strategy that we thought would enhance our market share which producing a quality shoe.
My team (iDominate), decided to make a few big moves the first year:
- Building an additional production plant in Latin America
- Taking out a hefty loan
- increasing the quality of shoe in our Asia Pacific plant.
It paid off fairly well for us, but when we realized we had only built a 1 million dollar plant in LA and a competitor had built a 4 million dollar plant, we took drastic measures. We added another million to our AP plant and completely took ourselves out of the private label market. This put us in 2nd to last place, strongly competing with two of the top companies in the class so it forced us to change our strategy once again.
We started making small changes to break away from our competitors and gain a competitive advantage. After 4 years, we were back up in 4th place, and after 5 years our stock price had more than quadrupled. It was only a game, but I definitely learned a lot about business decisions especially financially.
This class was a great start to the semester! It eased us into the frameworks of everyday business decisions, and we had to deal with real problems and issues that come up in business every day. We also had to make a group presentation on our marketing strategies, regional differences, financial decisions, and what we may have done differently. This was our first (of many) presentations, so it gave us a good feel of how we presented and what we need to work on for future presentations in the MBA program!
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