The Impact of Business Simulators on Learning

This assignment delves into the effectiveness of business simulators as educational tools. It examines research studies that investigate how simulations influence student engagement, knowledge acquisition, and decision-making skills in a business context. The analysis considers various aspects, including the design features of simulators, pedagogical approaches, and the impact on different learning styles.

Cesim Global Challenge

Table of Contents
GROUP REPORT ...........................................................................................................................3
A - INTRODUCTION OF TEAM ..................................................................................................3
B - ANALYSIS AND REVIEW OF PRACTICE ROUND............................................................4
C – REVIEW, ANALYSIS AND REFLECTION OF ROUNDS...................................................5
D – STRATEGY EVALUATION...................................................................................................6
E – PERFORMANCE OF TEAM AND CRITICAL EVALUATION OF GLOBAL
SIMULATION CHALLENGE .......................................................................................................8
F – SIGNED LETTER OUTLINING ALLOCATION OF MARKS..............................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................12

GROUP REPORT
A - INTRODUCTION OF TEAM
Orange company is one of the most innovative and the leading company. It is the
maximum profit making telecommunication company which is based in United States. It has
around 256 million customers around the world and has employed staff of 95,000 in France and
59,000 in other areas. It has made the largest profit in business in comparison to other teams and
helped to reflect in-depth knowledge, understanding and skills in the simulation game's journey.
Company is having proud on its commitment, excellency and credibility with stakeholders
(Abbasi, 2016). It is trustworthy and most reliable brand in the manufacturing of the mobile
phones and always bring exclusive and innovative features first in the market than its
competitors. Company believes in the “destructive innovations” which means that their main
goal and focus is to make new technologies which will help to satisfy demands of the consumer
and will also help to stay on the top position in the global market.
Team of the Orange company is formed with the five diverse members, and its core value
is on the basis of five principles which helps to tie up everything and everyone together which
gives reflection of the team culture. Mr. Christine Albanel, with his effective and strong
leadership demonstrate the team spirit and effective team work in the Orange. He is promoted
and encouraged by every team member to be a team leader. He value, respect and treat every
member of the team equally and his influence always motivate effective team work.
Philippe Andres, is the most dedicated player in a team, he shows his analytical skills in
all the rounds. He is reliable and make utilisation of his efficiency and creativity in the business.
Christian Bombrun and Dharmesh Suraj Bali give demonstration of their flexibility and sincerity
in the team. Hard work and the team spirit is being showed by both of them in the business
simulation. Arnauld Blondet, can be described as the good example who listens carefully and
give effective contribution to the team. Another good team player is the Tania Aydenian, she is
one of the only female member in team. Her experience of working in multinational company is
being brought by her. Constructive and the rationale argument is being given by her, which helps
in adding new dimension in the group. Every member of the team work together and share their

experiences and views so as to make good telecommunication company with high profits
(Araújo and et. al., 2015).
(Source : Core values of Orange team, 2017)
Orange has created a “What UP” group messenger to communicate with each other rather
than from email and telephone. Group aim and meetings are being set up in every round so as to
discuss the various minutes, which will helps to increase the activities and group performance.
They use decision making process like Nominal group technique, Brainstorming, Didactic
interaction and Delphi technique. Orange make use of the brainstorming technique regarding all
the group decision, as this is the most effective and make involvement of everyone to generate
idea (Boughzala, 2014). Mandatory engagement and participation in the group meeting is set up
by the Orange and make final decision on the strategies so as to achieve mission of the company.
B - ANALYSIS AND REVIEW OF PRACTICE ROUND
To understand the working process of the business, various opportunities are being given
to a team to get involved in the simulation which is described s the practice rounds. Cesim global
challenge is type of business strategy which gives the alternative methods regarding the
coursework. In this Cesim simulations, there are seven practice rounds. In round 1,group
Illustration 1: Core values of Orange team, 2017

discussion is being done and then the decisions are made that simulation will be played by every
team member. For instance in the demand section, team forecast that 19.3% is will be
contributed by USA market, 19.3 % from Asia and same from Europe. Team was not aware of
the relationship between market share and demand forecast so they have put similar values in
every country. As a result team made high market share and profit. In round 2, involvement of
the group decisions were there which helps in effective decision Team got familiarized with the
outlook of the market and the areas of the research and development. As a result, team was the
leader of the market with high returns on share and high profits.
In round 3, decisions are made regarding production planning, transfer pricing, logistic
planning and finance with the involvement of the group members and as a result, Orange team
was at third. In round 4, team looks at the various market outlooks like, demand, cost, finance
and social responsibility and as a result team was on the second number in terms of having profit
and assets. In round 5 of Cesim simulation, team analysed the demand which shows that the
situation of exploding handsets are settled but demand is exploding for growth rate in Europe,
USA and Asia. As a result of it, team of Orange was again on the leading position in the market
of different regions. In round 6, it has been analysed that the robust market growth rate will
decline in few years. According to the analytics of the Techno, it is realized that Tech 3 will be
''lemon'' in USA. As a result, team was there in top three in terms of assets and equities. In round
7, there was a demand of sales growth between 8 to 15% in all the markets, and the result was
that, the team of Orange was able to achieve it properly.
C – REVIEW, ANALYSIS AND REFLECTION OF ROUNDS
At the time of group meeting, various approaches regarding the marketing of the product
has been discussed by the team in the starting of the round 1. The strategy which has been made
was on the basis of vision and mission of the company. Strategy regarding the cost based pricing
has been followed by the team from round 1 to round 3 with the low promotions. Orange team
invest in the research and development and considered that shares will not be issued and
dividend will not be paid to the shareholders (Boughzala, Bououd and Michel, 2013). Market
report and the financial statements show that strategy of the team was not that effective as they
are unable to share in the market and the profit is surplus by team Orange (appendix 3). Market
capitalization by the team orange was lower in comparison to other team, it was $ 9297005 (K

USD) whereas it was more by other teams, and the return of shareholder was also low (Appendix
1).
Handset was sold by other teams on more affordable price then team orange. It also have
been realised that the team made low investment on the research and development which give
adverse effect on sales. By analysing the report, it is also analysed that Orange team should
invest more in Asia regarding new plants as the investment is already made by the competitors,
and it is the reason, team was not able to fulfil demand in Asia, and the transportation cost was
also high as compared to USA.
When the focus was there on different strategies from round 4 to 7, then it helps in giving
effective results. All the considered strategies give positive impact on the growth of the
company. Orange team make more profit by the round 6 (Appendix 4). Team had $ 1002977 (K
USD), market capitalization of the Orange team also increased to $ 21946209 (K USD), which
was highest between all teams by the end of round 7. Price of the share also got increased
(Appendix 2), which shows the good sign that the company is strong and had the high return on
the shareholder value. Orange team was the first one in gaining market share regarding 3 and 4
new technology, which reflects that the investment on the research and development give
effective results.
D – STRATEGY EVALUATION
A strategy can be defined as the direction or the way which is used by the company in the
achievement of objectives and goals in the changing environment by making use of limited
competences and resources so as to satisfy stakeholders. Various strategies has been used by the
different teams, by having a look on the overall challenge different strategies can be evaluated by
different groups (Çemrek and Yenilmez, 2017). Team Orange being the competition winner,
strategy which is being used and applied helps in giving competitive advantages. Team Orange
was very careful from starting while making a choice of strategy, although there were some
mistakes and errors in some of the decision which give impact on profit.
Before the selection of the strategy, market condition is being looked, which can have
demand for price, product, production cost or external environment (PEST). PEST analysis has
been done in order to have outlook of external factors :
PEST

 Political : Political intervention is there in all three markets of USA, Asia and Europe. In
round 2 government of USA and China are hitting on another regarding high tax on each
other country's imported goods. Strategy which is used here is investment in new plants
of Asia and USA so as to decrease exportation (Costa and et. al., 2014). Economic : Global economy ups and downs plays role in unstable interest and price
exchange rate. In round 3, high oil cost in china has made 15% increase in the
transportation which will impact outsourcing cost and production. Social : There is a different social behaviour in all the three regions. Customers of Asia is
concerned with purchasing price of handset, while features of handset are being
considered by customers of Europe and USA (Kikot, Costa and Fernandes, 2014).
 Technology : Things which are being done is influenced by the change in technology.
For example, technology outbreak help USA and Europe to assist Tech 4.
Production
Team Orange aims to meet demand of the market, so it has been assured that the needed
capacity is being utilized fully in each round so as to avoid under produced and waste ( Efrat and
et. al., 2010). In round 5, contract manufacturing is involved in USA in tech 4 to make surety in
meeting market demands.
Investment and Marketing
Wise investment has been made in, in-house development and research and in new plants
to meed demand. For marketing, strategy regarding promotion is used through different channels
to make sure the availability of product with right audience (Strategic Management: Formulation
and Implementation. 2014).
Transportation and Finance
We ensure that effective logistic is being used regarding modern technology which will
minimize and reduce cost and will save time. For instance, tech 2 which is of high demand in
Asia, it is ensured that it should get satisfied for tech 2 before any other region. For the financing
, it has been assured by team that limit should be there in taking funds from outside (Çemrek and
Yenilmez, 2017). In house funding is used and when team Orange wants to raise funds, long
term loans and selling of share is being done.

E – PERFORMANCE OF TEAM AND CRITICAL EVALUATION OF
GLOBAL SIMULATION CHALLENGE
Team formation was done with the 5 innovated and talented people who will face
challenge in the simulation game of the business. Contribution and collaboration of each member
should be there to compete with the different groups. Objectives cannot be achieved initially. So
for that importance of effective leadership is being identified and such leader is being selected
who has high acceptance in the group. As per Erten and Sözdinler, (2010), ability to lead people
so as to achieve goals should be there in leader. In this strategy of business, task is being
assigned to every member by the team leader, and together solution is made regarding demand,
conditions of market, logistic, R&D, finance and marketing. Tuckman model is used for the
development of the process which involves forming, storming, norming and performing. During
the business strategy development process, different ideas are being given by members of the
group.
Group members analyse that there is a shortage in the supply of handsets in the market.
According to Fitó-Bertran, Hernández-Lara and López, (2015), outsourcing strategy give
solution for increasing the cost efficiency and will also helps to fulfil the demand of the market.
In the initial rounds, team Orange was not be utilise their capacity fully, by which there is waste
in the capacity of production. However by the time, group utilise the maximisation of capacity.
Two production lines were there in round 7, and members of the group decided to produce tech 3
and tech 4 to maximise profit. The production decision was there on the plants of Asia and US. It
has been thought by the members of the group that tech 2 will be USP in market, so the large
fund provision for R&D is consumed by tech 4, tech 3 and tech 1. But there is some fault in the
R&D investment which can be done in more better way. Members of the group were confident
and knowledgable in terms of development of market.
Profit margin is being maintained by every round. Problem regarding the logistic is
identified by team. Although it has been suggested to develop new plant in the areas of Eastern
Europe by some team members. However it has been understood by the team members that there
is lack in capital investment. Production strategy was one of the bad side from the group
decisions and process. Tech 2 was one of the best product in the market of Asia, but it may be
not right as some developed countries like Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan have the
technology advancements.

To make conclusion regarding development of global simulation challenge, this project is
interesting because it makes the transfer of skills and knowledge among the members of the
team. Improvement can be done in it by collaboration and professional knowledge can be
absorbed for the decision making (Fitó-Bertran, Hernández-Lara and Serradell-López, 2014).
F – SIGNED LETTER OUTLINING ALLOCATION OF MARKS
Dear Management,
Firstly a thank you to give us an opportunity in gaining experience regarding the running
of the business in the competitive market with the help of Cesim global challenge. Though the
journey was long and challenging but the Cesim game has been completed by successfully. It is
possible only because of the strong team performance and great contribution of each member in
a team. Performance of the group was appreciated and team is number one among the
competitors in the game of the business simulation. Some main areas has been identified where a
contribution of ideas and knowledge is made by each member so as to make profitable
organisation, and various suggestions are also provided in regards with distribution of mark
among the members of the group.
Areas of contribution Suggested marks among members of group
Group meeting Presence of every group member was there,
and the ideas are equally shared by them.
Making of strategy Market condition is researched and analysed by
every member and everyone agrees to
implement suitable business strategy.
Time spent in cesim games 15 hours have been spent by all group
members in the game, so there is equal
contribution.
Decision making There is difficulty in taking right decision by
considering market change in every round. But
all the group members share various ideas help
in assisting future market. Group decisions are
there on the basis of future business and the

equal contribution of every group member is
appreciated.
Signature of the group members :

REFERENCES
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Kikot, T., and et. al., 2013. Simulation games as tools for integrative dynamic learning: The case
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Online
Strategic Management: Formulation and Implementation. 2014. [Online]. Available
through:<http://www.introduction-to-management.24xls.com/en224>. [Accessed on 6th
May 2017]

APPENDICES
Appendices 1 : Team Ratio for round 3

Appendices 2 : Team ratio from round 7
Appendices 3 : Income statement round 3