Reflection Paper On Simulation

I believe that this simulation was a great tool in helping us as MBA candidates to see just how companies succeed and/or fail to achieve their growth targets in revenue and profitability. However, an organization heightens the probability of achieving profitable growth whenever it has a clear expansion strategy and a strong execution infrastructure. One without the other impairs the probability of success. I conclude that there are two main reasons for such: 1) inadequate consideration of opportunities within the core business, adjacent to the core business or within new customer sub-segments; 2) an organizational infrastructure that cannot support successful execution.

Despite the age and immensity of the Universe, we have not been visited nor been contacted by extraterrestrial beings because we are a part of a computer simulation. According to the Simulation Hypothesis, theory provided by Nick Bostrom, humans are unaware of being part of this computer generated simulation. The most compelling piece of evidence that supports this hypothesis is the fact to one can consider a sequence of possible situations which an increasing fraction of all people live in simulations becomes more accurate. (Bostrom 1)

The strategy I chose for the simulation is “Niche Cost Leader." First, with the key focus being value, this strategy will challenge me to keep costs at a minimum and force me to streamline overall costs to produce a valuable commodity that, in turn, will generate financial success that can be shared with internal and external stakeholders. Second, as the success of this strategy primarily relies on the existing product line being prosperous, I will be able to practice and hone my forecasting skills based on one product. Though I eventually will produce more than one product, most of the simulation will be conducting under making the primary product as successful as it can be, and reliable forecasts are

During the simulation I had the role of the CEO and as such relied heavily on my own personal understanding of what we have learned thus far, but also did some research to be able to better assess what would best work. Over the 96-weeks I have a COR rate of 0.17 percent change rate. Although I did not effectively manage change, I was able to learn what worked well and what didn’t. Additionally, learning from our failures is crucial for long term success. In no way will anyone be 100 percent effective in all of their endeavors. The key is to learn from it and

to convince him to invest the same amount in convertible debt or preferred stock where he can choose to

Once the exercise was over and as the individual points were displayed a lot of things became clearer. Having experienced the system and then debriefing later on, helped in filling a lot of gaps in information that seemed to exist during the simulation. With a better understanding of ‘the rules of the game’ and some of the strategies that did work, it is difficult to introspect now without a bias. As the saying goes – “Hindsight is wonderful. It's always very easy to second guess after the fact. “– Helen Reddy

If given the opportunity to re-do the simulation, our top priorities would be to manage the allotted time more efficiently in order to improve decision quality, provide resolution certitude and ensure that each team member is adequately informed and prepared prior to meeting. During the simulation, we were given a finite timeline in which to analyze and input decisions; however, we failed to create a sense of urgency within our group, which encumbered the decision-making process and consequently, led to rushed decisions as time ran out. A team member should have been appointed as a designated timekeeper for time monitoring purposes.

Since quarter one was the first quarter of this simulation, I was unaware of how difficult it was going to be to make all the different decisions. Firstly, I had to choose a Company name. Because I was selling computers, I thought that the name “Dev-Tech” was a perfect fit being that this simulation was about development and technology. Next, I had to choose a target segment. I knew going into this simulation that it would be better to invest in the more expensive goods as it would benefit me in the end. The segment that didn’t care about price was Mercedes, so that is the segment that I made my first priority.

"What I hear, I forget; what I see, I remember; what I do, I understand."

Over the past three weeks in the University of Phoenix Marketing Management class, I have completed three simulations based on real life marketing situations. The first simulation was titled, "Forecasting Market Demand." This simulation discussed the importance of determining the future demand for your product in the voice commanded software industry. The marketing team for the new Listensoft software needed to accurately forecast the production capacity of the new product and the pricing strategy. This task is especially difficult because human behavior is difficult to predict. Forecasting behavior "…is about generating numbers out of expectations, opinions, statements, prior patterns and a host of other subjective elements" (Forecasting

After having run through the simulation, what elements of that strategy would you have changed and/or what strategy do you intend to pursue in the group simulation?

After seeing what choices my assistant, Sarah, would have made I continued the simulation when I encountered my first obstacle. Harvey, my choice for Assessor and Advisor was running into a conflict with the other team members because he was not available to them as much as they would have liked. I met with the team members and explained that Harvey had been given the technological tools necessary so that web conferencing would be able to take place whenever

To achieve a high net income and be effective in fulfilling contracts in the simulation, it was important to have a strategy set in place. This requires a standard of control over how the business was going to operate and fulfill orders effectively. In order to gain a higher reputation to secure higher value contracts within the game, I worked to acquire specific contracts and purchasing materials to produce the items that would be shipped out to customers. I also found it important to have employees who were highly skilled within each area that they were employed in order to maximize the production process. By having higher skilled employees, I found it easier to continually fulfill contracts at a constant rate as and minimize slack between each area of production. I also found it highly important within the simulation to be able to adapt quickly to changing market and contact requirements because each required a different set of machines, number of materials and time to be produced. It was very important to understand the time constants in order to effectively produce and fulfill each contract within the time that was allotted. Having a diversified production process was also important so that the production process wasn’t constrained to producing one type of contract. Through the game, I learned the

The intent of clinical simulations is to provide a safe environment for students to practice and implement skills. This is a way in which to help prepare the student for the hospital setting. Enhanced confidence, clinical judgment, knowledge, and competence are factors that come from these situations. I gained further knowledge, but I did not experience the other skills during simulation. During the postpartum-hemorrhage and birthing simulation, I purposefully picked the scenarios that I felt most comfortable with. That entailed being the spouse of the woman in labor, the nursing assistant, and the patient’s family member. When embodying those roles, I felt at ease, because I was not the fixation; I was not the one in charge of the situation. During the preeclampsia simulation, I was “dubbed” the staff nurse. I was definitely out of my comfort zone. I was in the second group, and this allowed me to observe the first group. I learned and made alterations from the first group’s performance. Observing the first group helped, but my performance was poor. I made several mistakes and was embarrassed by the end result. I did not do well with the assessments, answering the patient’s questions appropriately, and when calling the doctor, I was not fully prepared. Despite all the mistakes and feelings of embarrassment, I learned. I am very thankful for the awareness of what things went wrong. With further practice and

My answers were not decisive which reflect my weak critical thinking skill. For example, when it comes to medication administration, in instances where things are not clear, it should always be referred to the doctor which in this case I belatedly remembered. Nurses should also make sure that they knew how to use all the equipment that is used in the nursing care. In a medical emergency situation, every second counts. In the simulation, epinephrine administration was delayed since the nurse did not know how to use the automatic injection. Over-all the simulation had a significant impact to my learning process.