Small Group Work: A Study of the iMBA Project

| 2 3 Business Plan –Report Executive Summary This business plan summarises the future course of action of London based Sports Trading company called ASD that it aims to undertake over the course of next three years. ASD’s product offerings include sports products like Skateboards, Inline Skates, Ice Hockey sticks and Tennis Rackets that are procured by it from a network of well-established suppliers such as Schneider GmbH.

ORGANISATIONAL
CONTEXT

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
COMPONENT 1.............................................................................................................................1
Group Peer Review Form............................................................................................................1
Business Plan –Report.................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16
COMPONENT 2...........................................................................................................................17
Individual reflective report........................................................................................................17
REFEREENCES............................................................................................................................21

COMPONENT 1
Group Peer Review Form
iMBA Group Coursework Report Form
Provide a brief answer to the following questions
1. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the way your small group worked together to
complete the Group Work?
While completing the group work, the team was highly diverse which gave easier division of
work based on specialisation and interests. One of the weakness was difficulty in getting
started.
2. What difficulties, if any, arose in your group? How were these addressed?
Meeting deadlines was difficult since a number of people were working at the same time.
Thus, time slots for all members were allotted to prevent confusion and chaos.
3. How well do you think you each member contributed as a group member? What was the
main roles played in the group?
Each member came along with different skillsets thus providing efficiency and diversity to
the project. The main roles played in the group were team leader, mediator, manager and
concluder.
4. What did the group learn more generally about how to work effectively in a team and what
would you all change in the future to improve the outcomes?
In general, as a group the members learned to delegate authority and work in a team even
when there is a presence of perceptual differences. To improve the outcomes, rotational
shifts can be put so as to enable each member to take on different roles throughout the
simulation.
Business Plan –Report
Executive Summary
This business plan summarises the future course of action of London based Sports
Trading company called ASD that it aims to undertake over the course of next three years. The
plan lays out the strategies related to expansion of market share as well as company’s profits.
ASD’s product offerings include sports products like Skateboards, Inline Skates, Ice Hockey
1

sticks and Tennis Rackets that are procured by it from a network of well-established suppliers
such as Schneider GmbH. The company aims to expand its products using Market Development
strategy as well as promote use of environment friendly products within the Sports Community.
Apart from this, one of the main strengths of ASD is its Return on Equity whereas it still lacks in
having a proper cost effective plan. It is prone to having defective goods procured from suppliers
and failure to respond to customer demands effectively. This can be resolved by undertaking
regular full quality checks and Market Research activities on a regular basis.
The Business
ASD is a UK based trading company which provides a wide array of sports equipment to
both athletes as well as other sports associated people. It is headquartered in London and has a
product-line including Skateboards, Inline Skates, Tennis Rackets and Ice Hockey Sticks called
Patel, Ames, Safia and Spa respectively. ASD provides best quality sports equipment to its
customers and supports them in attaining their specific goals in sports field. One of the unique
selling point of ASD’s products is that they are environment friendly. Apart from this, ASD also
respects talent and encourages such individuals to harness such opportunities regardless of their
background or financial health (Burns and Dewhurst, 2016). The Market Position of ASD is
quite strong as it ranks second within the Sports Equipment Industry of UK with a share of
5.88% in the industry as depicted by the Stock Exchange figures. This is corroborated by its
Financial Statements that indicate a strong corporate performance of ASD over a span of eight
years. Thus, indicating its competitive edge within the business as a seller of environmental
friendly sports products in the industry.
Markets and Competitors
Every Market is inclusive of a definite set of participants who operate in a similar
manner yet are easily distinguishable from one another. With such similarities, competition is
inevitable within any given business environment and is essential for all the industry players as it
helps them to grow and remain profitable over longer period of time. In this context, Market of
ASD is highly competitive in nature. This is clearly evident by merely looking at the number of
businesses established within the industry where approximately 8 companies are operational
including ASD itself (Shelton, 2017). For the purpose of analysing the market and its relevant
competition prevalent currently, the BCG Matrix has been extracted from ‘Market Research’ tab
of Edumundo Simulation’s ‘Results’ Section and illustrated as under:
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Figure 1: BCG Matrix, Market Analysis
Based on the BCG Matrix provided above, the market analysis of ASD’s products states
that its three products viz. Tennis Racket, Inline Skates and Ice Hockey Stick are denoted by
Question Mark. This means that these require a much closer consideration. For them, the market
is rapidly advancing one in terms of competition (Thébaud, 2015). It also means that these three
product lines of the organisation have the potential to improve and become stars, specifically,
Tennis Racket as it ranks higher than others in that particular segment of the BCG Matrix.
Whereas for ASD’s Skateboard Product-line named Patel, the market is still low although the
market is slowly moving one in terms of competition. One can also take Ice Hockey Stick to be a
weaker component as it is marginally able to make its way in ‘Question mark’ segment of the
matrix.
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Based on this analysis, it can be said that the market is highly competitive. However, the
market may be agile for products related to Tennis, Ice Hockey and Skating while Skateboarding
still remains a slow-moving market under the overall Sports Equipment Industry.
Sales and Marketing
Sales can be defined as the activity of exchanging a product or service manufactured by a
business entity for a definite amount of money by the customer so as to fulfil their particular
need or desire (Gately and Cunningham, 2014). In the context of ASD, the following demand
and supply existed for its product lines viz. Patel, Ames, Safia and Spa that relate to Skateboard,
Inline Skates, Tennis Racket and Ice Hockey Stick respectively while the sales figures show the
amount of goods sold in order to meet the customer demand:
Figure 1: ASD Sales
The above illustration is extracted from the Sales and Inventory Section of ‘Results’ Tab
present in the Edumundo Simulation. It shows that the sales of ASD are quite substantial in the
market for all of its products. The supplying power of the company is also larger than the actual
demand, thus, indicating that ASD has the capability to meet additional demand of customers, in
case such a situation arises in the market.
On the other hand, Marketing can be described as those activities that are undertaken by a
particular organisation in order to promote buying or selling of a particular product or service. In
the context of Marketing decisions of ASD, it can be said that currently, for the promotion of its
products, the company’s Communication Mix includes both Commercial as well as Social Media
Campaign activities (Wallace and Webber, 2017). ASD is undertaking paid presentation and
promotion method for its products whereas social media campaigns include utilisation of such
online platforms for launching any new product or promoting an existing one which are
Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. For the purpose of marketing communication, ASD’s
management has established a budget of £3,500 per product-line. For the purpose of enhancing
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its market share and fight competition effectively, ASD must undertake STP analysis so as to get
a better picture regarding its customer base. This has been explained as under: Segmentation: As the name suggests, this step of STP Analysis includes the division of
prospective customers into groups of people that share a common set of traits or
characteristics. Essentially, these have been enumerated and analysed as under:
o Geographical: Based on the location of customers, ASD needs to divide its market
so as to know which regions showcase higher demand for its product. This will
enable the business to identify its regional demand in an effective manner which
can further be used for strategy formulation purposes for distinct geographical
markets (Camilleri, 2018).
o Demographical: Segmenting the customers based on Demographics includes
dividing the client base on the basis of age, population, gender and income among
others. For instance, ASD can divide its market based on gender wherein
customers aged between 13 to 30 with an income level of less than £1,000 but
more than £450 per month. Target: This step includes the process of selecting potential customers that exhibit similar
characteristics and are most likely to buy the product offerings of the organisation. In
context of ASD, the target market includes both professional and non-professional
athletes as well as sports lovers, specifically involved in Skateboarding, Ice Hockey,
Skating and Tennis.
 Position: This can be defined as the process of positioning company’s brand from
customer’s perspective. In order to become the premium choice of customers, ASD needs
to ensure that its existing as well as prospective customers have a good image,
specifically, one which shows environment friendliness (Schlegelmilch, 2016).
While undertaking marketing activities, ASD would be able to cater to its customer needs in
a much clearer and effective manner. Thus, guiding company management to select right
market segment so as to enable correct and efficient positioning of the product offerings in
the mind of its target market.
Management
Management is an important function of a business organisation. Failure to effectively
manage different functions of the business may cause an enterprise to incur losses or even shut
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down due to mismanagement. In order to manage ASD’s business activities in an effective
manner, it is important for the manager to carry out a comprehensive analysis of its resources.
For this purpose, VRIO Analysis has been employed so as to identify ASD’s current
competencies. This framework enables the manager to recognise various competencies based on
four critical touchpoints viz. Value (V), Rarity (R), Inimitability (I) and Organisation-Wide
Support (O) (Knott, 2015). Such an analysis has been discussed as under:
Resources V R I O
Cost Effectiveness ✔
Strong Market Presence ✔ ✔
Technological Development ✔ ✔ ✔
Return on Equity ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
The above table provides a Resource-Based View of ASD. By employing VRIO
Framework, the following competency of ASD has been ascertained: Valuable (V): The company is mostly excelling in four main areas viz. Cost
Effectiveness, Technological Development, Market Growth and Return On Equity. Thus,
these four resources have proven to be valuable for the business as they are contributing
greatly to the overall success of ASD in the Sports Equipment Market. Rarity (R): Cost Effectiveness is not rare for a business as it can be easily attained by
others if they are able to tweak their policies in a manner which results in cost
minimisation. However, other resources such as Technological Development, Strong
Market Presence and Return on Equity are rare as it is difficult to acquire these by ASD’s
Competitors.
 Inimitable (I): Strong Market Presence is not inimitable for ASD as it can be easily
attained by others once acquired. Since most of the differentiation is based on distinctive
features of the sports products. It is only sensible that every organisation has the potential
to acquire larger market share through effective strategy formulation (Xiaohui and Bin,
2015). Organised (O): Technological Development is not organised within the company. This is
mostly due to uncertainty surrounding the same. Since this resource is largely dependent
upon the market fluctuations and other external influences.
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Based on this analysis, the most important resource of ASD is Return on Equity (ROE) it
renders to its investors. This component is the most crucial determinant for any corporation’s
success as it helps the company to undertake those projects or opportunities that foster
sustainable growth. Thus, one of company’s strength is its ability to provide higher returns to
investors whereas the weakness is lack of proper cost allocation that results in weaker cost
effectiveness in the company.
Operations
Business efficiency is only possible when the management is able to perform all the
business activities in a proper manner. As a result, Operations in business context can be defined
as the execution of all those activities which help in the attainment of short-term as well as long-
term organisational objectives of a business. By employing the Ansoff Growth Matrix, ASD will
be able to critically analyse their strategies so as to align them in an effective manner. This has
been carried out as under:
 Market penetration: When an enterprise enters the current market with its existing
product offerings, it is known as Market Penetration (Shaw, 2016). In the context of
ASD, this strategy can be undertaken by the company in order to expand its market share
by taking a part of its competitors. Here, the risk is low to grow the business.
 Product development: As the name suggest, under this growth strategy ASD may
develop a new product so as to serve its customers present in the current market
effectively. It is a riskier option to undertake than Market Penetration.
 Market development: When an enterprise enters a new market with its existing product
offerings, it is known as Market Development (Yin, 2016). In the context of ASD, it can
improve its existing products based on the needs of the targeted customer segment.
 Diversification: Under this growth strategy, ASD may undertake a growth strategy
wherein new product offering is introduced to new market. It is one of the riskiest
methods to implement from business expansion perspective (Howson, 2016).
By analysing the four growth strategies indicated by the Ansoff Growth Matrix, it can be
said that the most suitable option for ASD is to undertake Market Development. This can be
easily done by segmenting the market based on geographical and demographic statistics.
Through this, ASD would be able to cater to the needs of targeted customers of new markets
without incurring additional product development costs.
7

Financial Forecast
It is important for each and every organisation to anticipate future cash inflows as well as
outflows so as to prevent the risk of facing inadequate working capital related issues in the near
future. For this purpose, business managers may undertake Financial Forecasting method into
account which can be defined as that estimate of future financial outcomes that relate to income
earned and expenditures incurred by a business for a stipulated period of time. The following
forecasts have been made for ASD by first taking into account their historical figures that
effectively bifurcated based on its product lines:
Demand Forecast (number of units)
Year/Products Patel Ames Safia Spa
1 420 320 470 380
2 416 349 483 387
3 366 394 532 440
4 442 451 490 484
5 331 478 553 434
6 404 527 552 431
7 382 588 518 443
8 364 618 509 426
9 366 665 540 435
10 392 724 545 439
11 333 752 551 443
The above table shows a comprehensive breakdown of ASD’s products based on the
quantity demanded for each of them. Over the years, the quantity of products demanded by
ASD’s customers is highly fluctuating. It can be seen that the maximum units to be demanded by
the end of the 11th year relate to Inline Skates Product-line called Ames. While the least number
of quantity demanded is expected to be related to its Skateboard Product called Patel. Currently,
on an average, 390 skateboards are demanded by ASD’s customers. It is important for the
company to ensure that this is maintained in forthcoming years so as to ensure that ASD does not
run into loss for this particular product-line. As this would lead to a shrinkage in the company’s
overall market share. Thus, Inline Skates holds a lot of promising opportunity for ASD in the
forthcoming years and it should undertake research and development strategies to convert such
opportunities into a loyal customer base for itself.
Supply Forecast (number of units)
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Year/Products Patel Ames Safia Spa
1 0 0 0 0
2 500 500 500 500
3 584 651 517 613
4 718 657 500 523
5 626 526 490 239
6 575 348 500 320
7 421 350 500 400
8 439 550 550 450
9 473 558 595 464
10 493 583 637 483
11 508 608 677 501
The above table shows a supply forecast for ASD for Year 9, 10 and 11. A supply
forecast is one which talks about the quantity supplied based on the historical information
present with the business for a given period of time. Based on the forecasts for ASD’s products
viz. Patel, Ames, Safia and Spa, it can be said that the supply for them is expected to grow in the
next three years. By the end of 11th year, supply for its skateboard product line is expected to
grow by 15.72%, 9.54% for inline skates, 23.09% for its Tennis Rackets and 11.33% for its Ice
Hockey Sticks respectively. From this lookout, it is to ensure that no additional costs of
production are incurred by ASD, mainly caused due to over-production of a product line on the
part of business.
Sales Forecast (number of units)
Year/Products Patel(£) Ames(£) Safia(£) Spa(£)
1 0 0 0 0
2 416 349 483 387
3 366 394 517 440
4 442 451 490 484
5 331 478 490 239
6 404 348 500 320
7 382 350 500 400
8 364 550 509 426
9 407 580 556 455
10 431 626 594 483
11 453 672 629 512
Lastly, this table provides a sales forecasts for ASD’s products viz. Patel, Ames, Safia
and Spa. Sales for these products is forecasted to grow 24.45%, 22.2%, 23.58% and 20.19% by
the end of 11th year respectively. Thus, enabling the company to have a significant amount of
revenue growth in the forthcoming years.
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Based on these forecasts it can be concluded that for ASD to expand its market share as
well as remain competitive, the company must undertake research and development activities so
as to provide innovation amongst its product lines.
Financial Requirements
Similar to financial forecasting, it is essential for the business management to keep track
of its costs that may impact the overall profitability, performance and operations in a substantial
manner. Determining one’s financial requirements enables one to know how to meet the demand,
supply and sales forecasted for the future time periods. In this context, certain costs have been
identified and presented below which is mainly based on the historical information available for
ASD:
Particulars Year 9 (£) Year 10 (£) Year 11 (£)
Acquisition of Products
from Suppliers 315634.62 319882.8 329201.46
Warehousing Costs 3632.59 3565.99 3454.84
General Administration
Costs 44349.82 45648.33 46976.49
Advertising 15504.19 16677.62 17478.46
Depreciation 1987.19 1750.17 1476.33
Product Research and
Development Expenses 10750 10750 10750
Other General Costs 13242.89 13510.75 13778.64
Remuneration to Staff 14055.33 9151.99 7177.67
Sales Costs 29028.72 27065.05 24097.5
Market Research 6132.52 6640.85 7063.59
Quality Costs 5181.56 5917.76 6673.35
Total 459499.42 460561.30 468128.32
As per the above table, the budgeted costs paint an overall picture regarding the estimated
costs which can be incurred by ASD in the next three years so as to meet their yearly demands,
supply and sales forecasts. It is important to note that these are not exhaustive and can differ in
reality. Based on the above figures, it is clearly evident that the cost of acquiring products from
respective suppliers such as Schneider GmbH is expected to grow in the upcoming years.
Overall, the budgeted costs are expected to grow by 1.06% which is not much. Thus, it can be
said that the company would be able to maintain its profitability in an effective manner if it is
able to control such budgeted costs or minimize its production to such limits.
Risk Assessment
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Risk Assessment is a detailed process which is used by a business manager to identify
any kind of hazards which may result in hindering the smooth operation of a particular process or
system within an enterprise (Li, 2014). Through this, the management is able to locate and
mitigate any potential risks which may cause problems either financially or non-financially in
current or future periods or both.
In the context of given case scenario, a risk assessment has been undertaken for ASD
which helps in providing a detailed understanding of hazard identified, specifically in terms of
the party that may be harmed due to it and likelihood of its actually materialising within the
organisation (Slovic, Fischhoff and Lichtenstein, 2016). Apart from this, it also showcases what
actions can help in its mitigation along with suitable feedback regarding the same. This is
illustrated as under:
Risk Assessment
S.
No.
Hazard
Identified Description
Who
might be
affected?
Probability
of
Occurrence Action Feedback
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1
Defect in
Sports
Equipment
Supplied
Receiving defected
goods from the
Suppliers can also
lead in increasing the
level of wastage.
Also, there sale may
cause serious injuries
to its users.
Customers
and ASD Less Likely
Conduct
thorough or
full Quality
Checks
before
delivering
the products
to their
respective
clients.
This action is
appropriate as
it will help the
company to
ensure that no
defect occurred
or is present
when the
equipment was
procured from
the supplier.
Thus, ensuring
excellent
customer
service and
loyalty for the
product sold by
ASD among
customers.
2 Inability to
identify and
respond to
customer
demand
Not responding
correctly to
constantly changing
customer demands
may cause problems
in the business which
may also cause loss
of market share for
ASD.
ASD and
Investors
Highly
Likely
Awareness
regarding
changing
sports
requirement
as well as
customer
needs is
crucial. For
this, ASD
must
undertake
This action is
appropriate as
it will help
ASD to stay
updated
regarding
current and
future market
trends. Thus,
enabling it to
expand its
customer base
12

aggressive
Research
and
Developme
nt activities.
in an effective
and sustainable
manner.
Business Canvas Model
A Business Canvas Model is a strategic management tool which facilitates the
visualisation as well as communication of a business idea or concept in an effective manner. This
tool includes a total of 9 activities or fundamental elements relating to a particular business or
product. Essentially, it can be divided into two vertical sections viz. internal and external
components of canvas. Here, the External section is concerned with the Customer related
Activities whereas the Internal Section is related with the Business Processes.
In the context of ASD, this tool has been utilised to provide a comprehensive picture
of company’s essential sources. This is important due to the fact that currently the business
has been facing cut-throat competition. As a result, the company has not been able to
perform as per its actual potential. In order to have a clear picture regarding its internal
and external strengths, the following business canvas model has been provided:
Business Canvas Model
ASD Sports Equipment Company
Key partners
 Sports
Equipme
nt
Supplier
such as
Schneider
GmbH
 Employe
es
Key activities
 Supplying
sports
products to
customers
 Conduct
promotional
activities
Value
propositions
 Environm
ent
friendly
Product
Offerings
 Premium
quality
Equipme
Customer
relationships
 Promote
Sport
opportunit
ies within
communit
y
 Customer
support
Customer
segments
 Athlete
s
 Sports
lover
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 Investors
 E-
Commerc
e
Platforms
nt services
 Customer
Value
Creation
 Loyalty
programs
 Social
Media
Platforms
for
continuous
interaction
Key resources
 Supply Chain
 Finance
 Workforce
 Online and
Offline Stores
Channels
 Offline
Stores
 Sport
academies
 E-
Commerce
Platforms.
Cost structure
 Cost of Warehousing
 Remuneration to Staff
 Market Research
 Delivery of products to customers
 Product Development
Revenue streams
 Online and Offline Sale of sports
equipment
14

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Burns, P. and Dewhurst, J. eds., 2016. Small business and entrepreneurship. Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Camilleri, M. A., 2018. Market segmentation, targeting and positioning. In Travel Marketing,
tourism economics and the airline product (pp. 69-83). Springer, Cham.
Cunningham, 2014)
Gately, C. and Cunningham, J., 2014. The contributions and disconnections between writing a
business plan and the start-up process for incubator technology entrepreneurs.
In Academic entrepreneurship: Creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem (pp. 197-241).
Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Howson, P., 2016. Commercial due diligence: the key to understanding value in an acquisition.
Routledge.
Knott, P. J., 2015. Does VRIO help managers evaluate a firm’s resources?. Management
Decision. 53(8). pp.1806-1822.
Li, W., 2014. Risk assessment of power systems: models, methods, and applications. John Wiley
& Sons.
Schlegelmilch, B. B., 2016. Segmenting Targeting and Positioning in Global Markets. In Global
Marketing Strategy(pp. 63-82). Springer, Cham.
Shaw, S., 2016. Airline marketing and management. Routledge.
Shelton, H., 2017. The secrets to writing a successful business plan: a pro shares a step-by-step
guide to creating a plan that gets results. Summit Valley Press.
Slovic, P., Fischhoff, B. and Lichtenstein, S., 2016. Response mode, framing and information-
processing effects in risk assessment. In The perception of risk (pp. 192-205).
Routledge.
Thébaud, S., 2015. Business as plan B: Institutional foundations of gender inequality in
entrepreneurship across 24 industrialized countries. Administrative Science Quarterly.
60(4). pp.671-711.
Wallace, M. and Webber, L., 2017. The disaster recovery handbook: A step-by-step plan to
ensure business continuity and protect vital operations, facilities, and assets. Amacom.
Xiaohui, W. and Bin, C., 2015. An Applied Research of VRIO Model Based on War Game
Thinking [J]. Research on Library Science. 5.
Yin, N., 2016. Application of AHP-Ansoff matrix analysis in business diversification: The case
of Evergrande Group. In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 44. p. 01006). EDP
Sciences.
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COMPONENT 2
Individual reflective report
Reflection refers to the accounting of own experience and thoughts in regards to a
particular event or situation (Magee and Nurse, 2014). It is an important practice that helps an
individual to understand a particular event in a critical manner by reflecting upon the learnings
gained by its occurrence. Not only this, Reflection is also helpful in identifying weak areas and
enables an individual to ascertain how they can improve upon them in the future.
In this context, Gibbs Reflective model has been taken into account that enables in
understanding the concept of management and self-reflection in an effective manner. This model
was propounded by an American Sociologist and Psychologist Graham Gibbs in 1988 who
encouraged individuals to think systematically regarding a particular activity or event and the
experience they had due to its occurrence. This model is elaborative in nature and includes a
wide array of activities which help in creating awareness regarding own actions and better them
so as to perform better in the near future. I have applied this model to my own experience of
Simulation Test that I performed recently in my iMBA Course so as to analyse the learnings
made from the simulation.
Primary reflection (What?)
Description: I am a student of iMBA wherein a simulation game was conducted in my
class that required us to work on certain management related role under a specific business
environment (Kumari, 2016). I and my classmates were divided into a total of eight teams
wherein all of us undertook different roles during simulation. Our company was called ASD
wherein the product offerings included Skateboards, Inline Skates, Tennis Rackets and Ice
Hockey Sticks. Under this scenario, my role was that of Marketing Head who was responsible
for taking decisions regarding determination of budget regarding promotional activities and other
related areas. The main responsibility of my role was to ensure that the marketing budget does
not exceed competitor’s strategies and ensures that ASD is one of the top market players within
the Simulation environment. This role was something I had expected at the time of team
responsibilities being allocation within the group as I felt that I would be able to justify the role
of a Marketing Head in its entirety. I prioritised Sales performance based on the Supplier choice
and aligned it with the mission and vision of the company so as to ensure that the company is
16

able to achieve its objectives in an effective manner. Two of the most important marketing
communication activities included utilisation of Paid promotion and presentation of the product
offerings along with Social Media Campaigns held on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook
platforms. This enabled our company to provide maximum exposure for our products to the
targeted customers (Whitford and Prunckun, 2017). Apart from this, other team members also
undertook the roles of various functions such as Purchasing, Finance, Human Resource
Management, R&D and Operations among others. With the contribution of my team members,
we were able to become one of the top players in Simulation game with one of the biggest
market share of Sports Equipment Industry.
Feeling: While undertaking this simulation, a lot of nervousness was built up within the
class as it was something none of us had tried before. In addition to this, a large portion of my
course credit was dependent on this activity. Hence, getting it right in the first attempt built a lot
of pressure on me. However, once the simulation was explained and initiated, the rest of the
journey was quite exciting and memorable. Today, as I look back at the situation, I can see a lot
of learnings and experience which I gained working as an individual as well as a team member
during this Simulation. It helped me to understand how to work in a highly dynamic environment
wherein one’s decision may impact others in a critical manner. Thus, teaching me to be more
aware about my actions and decisions (Freshwater, Walsh and Esterhuizen, 2017). I think others
felt nervous yet excited too as most of them were new to this type of classroom activity. On
analysing the feeling of others regarding this particular event, it can be affirmed that everyone
gained a lot from this Simulation as it helped them to face different situations and challenges.
Apart from this, they also felt the need to strategize decisions economically and effectively so as
to not lose out on competition which, in this regards, were the other teams involved in the
Simulation. I am positive that this activity would impact how one thinks and acts in a business
environment. Thus, providing a lot of insights regarding strengths and weaknesses of oneself
which is crucial from personal and professional development perspective.
Secondary reflection (So what?)
Evaluation: Within the simulation game, the team members were provided with a certain
role or job to undertake. During the initial stages, there was less pressure to perform, as we all
were still getting used to its mechanisms. However, there was an intense competition which was
face across all the stages of Simulation. As a result, I was faced both positive and negative
17

experiences which helped me to recognise my limitations as well as strengths. In my own
experience, I was able to create a substantial demand for my products by undertaking
Commercial and Social Media Marketing activities. In addition to this, my team members were
cooperative and understanding, I did not feel hesitant while communicating any kind of
information at any stage of Simulation (Thomas, 2014). Talking about the negative experiences,
I would say that the budgetary formulation undertaken by me during this event was quite
unrealistic as it would not be possible to take both Social Media and Commercial promotion
activities within a budget of £14,000 for a fairly new start-up such as ASD. As this was a group
activity, others were expected to contribute equally and they did so too, especially through the
implementation of theoretical concepts such as PESTLE and Porter’s Analysis which helped in
completing this course in a corrective manner. Even with perceptual differences, the group was
able to work cohesively and provide effectively based upon their specialisation and skillset.
Analysis: On analysing the overall situation, it can be said that the Simulation Game
helped me to learn new skills which largely included working as a team, resolving conflicts,
time-management and presentation of work in an effective manner. This certainly also enabled
me to have a small insight on how a company operates wherein its workforce takes both
individual as well as organisational objectives into consideration simultaneously assuring that no
clash of goals occurs at any given point of time. I also learned that I needed to become more
open about my ideas and support them assertively as they can be useful too. At some points I
was not able to coordinate with other team members due to lack of confidence. However, this
was resolved once I started to reap the results of the work in a favourable manner. This activity
also enabled me to coordinate work effectively. Due to the mistakes I and my team members
made, which was mostly related to approximation of activities from a financial perspective, I
would be able to become more meticulous in formulating effective business strategies in the face
of future adversities. It is appropriate to say that all the problems faced during the simulation
helped me and my team members to identify are strengths and weaknesses in an effective
manner.
Conclusion: Overall this event led to numerous conclusions. Firstly, I was able to learn a
lot about how a business operates and strategically decides on various functional decisions that
not only impact its performance within the business environment but also of its competitors.
Secondly, it enabled me and my team members to have a new positive experience wherein we
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were able to identify how we react in a particular situation arising due to the decisions that we
make. If I were to take this simulation test again, I would like to include each and every opinion
so as to remove conflicts and improve communication within the group as this was mostly
related to time slots which eventually resulted in barely meeting the deadlines within stipulated
time period.
Future Intentions (Now what?)
Action plan: In case of replaying this Simulation Game with the same team members, I
would like to provide a comprehensive allocation of time within the group to all the members so
as to ensure that there is no delay in meeting deadlines. This is due to the fact that less time for
one and more time for another leads to delay in overall completion of the task. As a result, there
is a creation of chaos, confusion and even disputes (Brownhill, 2014). Thus, I would like to
ensure that everyone gets an equal amount of time so as to eliminate the possibility of blaming
each other for mistakes and delays while performing a definite set of tasks. For instance, if I
were to play the same game for a high technology business, I would be able to take into account
Artificial Intelligence into account while formulating the business plan which is a crucial
component of such a business environment. I would also undertake the consultation of all
functional areas with Research and Development which would help in developing higher
reliability of the business plan formulated for ASD in such regards.
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REFEREENCES
Books and Journals
Brownhill, S., 2014. 10 ‘Reflecting on reflection’: Work-based reflective practice. Empowering
the Children’s and Young People’s Workforce: Practice based knowledge, skills and
understanding, p.157.
Freshwater, D., Walsh, E. and Esterhuizen, P., 2017. Models of effective and reflective teaching
and learning for best practice in clinical supervision. Clinical Supervision in Practice:
Some Questions, Answers and Guidelines for Professionals in Health and Social Care.
p.76.
Kumari, V., 2016. Effect of Reflective Teaching Training and Teaching Aptitude on Teaching
Skills among Elementary Teacher Trainees. Journal on Educational Psychology. 9(3).
pp.11-23.
Magee, J. and Nurse, S., 2014. Supporting the bereaved father in the NICU: A reflective case
study. Journal of Neonatal Nursing. 20(1). pp.20-23.
Thomas, V., 2014. Drawing on creative reflective practices in counselling research: an example
of using mental imagery to shed light on the research process. British Journal of
Guidance & Counselling. 42(1). pp.43-51.
Whitford, T. and Prunckun, H., 2017. Discreet, not covert: Reflections on teaching intelligence
analysis in a non-government setting. Salus Journal. 5(1). p.48.
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