How to write the best Capsim final report for Great Results

The culmination of your experience in running the Capsim simulation assignment is coming up with a Capsim final report. In the report, you will detail all the experience, the lessons, and the analysis of the business strategies that you implemented while running the company as the CEO and the experience of working with others.

 

In the following article, you will have a sample Capsim final report through which you will learn all the details that go into the making of such a report, after which you can go forward and do your own report. This major and final project demonstrates your ability to synthesize and interpret the market segment for each of the products in your product portfolio and how well to adjust and make decisions in order to gain significant market share, generate revenue and profit, and win in the simulation.

Company Overview, mission, and vision

The company deals in the manufacture of sensors in the electronic sensor industry. We have market share in the five market segments, namely the traditional segment, the high tech segment, the low-end segment, and the size and performance segments.

The company’s vision and mission statement focus on delivering high-quality sensors that deliver on performance and deliver value to the customers in the business competitive environment. This way the company meets and exceeds customer expectations.

Company strategy analysis

In order to gain market share in the segments in the area of operation that the company was in, the company maintained its focus as the cost leader and the differentiation strategy. This was effectively spread out among the different departments in the company. That is the research and development area, the production unit, the marketing department, and the finance sector.

For the marketing department, the company increased the promotional and advertising budget to increase the level of awareness of the products. This also raises the awareness ratings for the products and creates anticipation from the consumers. The company tapped on this to increase survey ratings and increase the ease of entering and gaining market share in the different segments such as the high-end market and low-end segments. As for the sales budget, the company maximized the number of times and frequency that the salesforce department spent on selling each product. By increasing the sales budget the company was able to market and increase the visibility of the products much more efficiently.

For the production decisions, the company made numerous strides that would make sure the production was running efficiently with no compromise to the quality of the products. There was a boost in the automation of the plants to speed up manufacturing. Automation was also important as it enabled the company to save costs that would have otherwise been spent on hiring additional employees. Apart from keeping costs low, this also meant that the workmanship was standard for all the sensors and it was easy to locate and correct any errors that arose from the production line.

In R&D, we tried to keep up with the changing needs of the customers for all the market segments in order to compete favorably in this highly competitive market. This means investing in the quality and improvement of the products to maintain high customer satisfaction

When it came to financial decisions we tried as much as possible to avert taking emergency loans but this was not the case as we had to take the loan during some rounds in order to keep afloat. This affected our performance in some of the rounds.

We analyzed in detail the company’s standing and strategies using the SWOT analysis to get a detailed idea of the performance and thought process of the company.

Company SWOT analysis.

Strengths

These are the strategies and key features of the company that make it stand out, thus giving it a competitive advantage over rival companies.

The company spent more money in order to hire high-level employees to reduce labor costs as well as lower turnover rates. This was coupled with increasing work satisfaction among the workers through fair and above-the-market compensation to make sure there are fewer turnover rates.

The company invested in training sessions to upgrade and improve employee skills. This had a positive impact on the overall quality of workmanship displayed by the employees. There were fewer rejects and the overall productivity index was raised.

Investing in TQM initiatives coupled with other complementary efforts across the company enabled the company to enhance its cost strategy in terms of low production costs and cheaper material costs.

Aggressive spending on marketing and advertisement made sure there was high customer awareness for our products in the market segments where the company was in operation. We were able to grow awareness up to 84% by increasing the promo budget and the sales budget and maintaining it between 2.0M $ and 1.7M$.

Weaknesses

These are some of the shortcomings of the strategies and execution of the plans laid out by the company. In the first steps of the simulation we had little to no knowledge of how to run the simulation. This cost us valuable time as well as resources as we tried to learn as quickly as possible in order to catch up. The end effect was that our score was affected in the first rounds.

We failed to invest more into the research and development. This led to mixed results. For example, we learned that the most superior products do not always translate to higher sales even in the nano and elite segment where we tried the broad differentiation strategy, banking on providing unique and high performing products We should have kept the budget modest even in this high-end segment.

We also learned that the low-end segment customers do not really care much about innovation but rather bank on products that are effective and which have been tried and tested over time so there is no need to spend a lot on resources on R&D in the low-end and traditional segment

Initially, we were not able to utilize important resources such as the sales forecast which would have guided us in making production adjustments to some of the products. For example, the sales forecast showed that customer demand would increase over a certain period in the future, and in order to meet that demand, companies should increase the plant capacity and produce enough products to satisfy the needs of all the customers. Unfortunately, we missed out on some of these opportunities.

Opportunities

There was an opportunity to expand from the traditional market and expand into the highly profitable performance and size segments of the industry where the consumers are keen on spending on highly innovative products with great quality and unique style and design features.

With the ease of access to the market, there is an opportunity to produce sensors that are highly innovative and appeal to the market that is driven by high quality and search for unique style features and designs. This means that there is an area in the high-end market that needs a company to fulfill these needs.

Given the size of the traditional segment, the company sees an opportunity of tapping into this field which has a high number of consumers for products as compared to the other segments.

With the industry reports and the sales forecast, the company is able to make informed and data-backed strategies on production factors so as to meet the customer demand and satisfaction by producing adequate sensors that cater to the various industry segments and market share.

Threats

These are the outside forces that threatened the business and over which the company had little or no control. They are

• High level of competition from rival companies. Because of many entrants into the sensor industry seeking to take command or at least control a significant portion of the market share, there are fewer profits to go around for the many companies who are forced o share the limited available opportunities. This was a strong issue for the company as we were not aware of the cutthroat competition that we would be facing. Even with good products and strategies, it was still not enough to avoid stiff competition.
• In order to dominate key market segments as per our strategy, there was a need to increase our presence in those segments which were previously very little. In the first rounds of the simulation, our products weren’t positioned favourably to dominate a huge section of the market share to other better-positioned products from rival companies. This in turn cost the company customers and revenue in the long run.
• Low-priced products flooding the market. Free access of other entrants to the market had unintended consequences for the company. In our initial rounds where the company set out to be the cost leader by maintaining factors of production lower especially in the traditional low-end segment by increasing automation and using cheap materials, we quickly learned that that initial strategy alone would not work because there were various other rival companies with even much lower prices than ours and this would be detrimental to the performance of the company.

Ethical, social, and legal Challenges.

During the process of running the global company, there were various challenges that arose from different areas.

• Ethical challenges. As with any business, especially this industry that is very much technology-reliant, there are ethical challenges that arise with the improvisation of technology. For example, in order to run the company plants more efficiently, there have to be more levels of automation to increase the production capacity of the plants and also reduce poor workmanship in the case of lack of automation. This means that the company had to reduce the number of employees even if they were qualified and needed the job. This puts the company into an ethical dilemma and in this case, it was unavoidable because, in order to perform well and beat the competition, automation at the expense of employees was inevitable. Another ethical dilemma was the amount of compensation that is acceptable. Even as the company seeks to cut and lower costs, it was important to nut cut it from the employees’ remuneration.
• Social and Legal Challenges. When it came to social and legal challenges, the company always included and divulged all legal expectations to the involved stakeholders to avoid any legal challenges this means paying for overtime for employees working in extra shifts, safety practices across the entire company, and legally accepted standards of remuneration. When it came to social challenges, the company tried to meet the needs of all its customers and placed a premium on customer satisfaction by making sure that the promotional and marketing messages used a language that was open and honest and that did not have any hidden surprises. This was crucial in order to attain customer loyalty across all the segments and increase the customer survey points which ultimately

Global considerations

In order for the company to attain its footing and be a leader in the sensor industry, it has to align its strategy with the mission and vision that it has set. In order to achieve this milestone, there are key lessons and considerations that can be implemented from the previous financial years and the lessons from those participation rounds. These considerations are

• Planning ahead financially. In order to avoid getting into unnecessary debts that hurt the performance of the company such as taking on emergency loans, the company shall invest more in financial responsibility. This means aligning the strategy with the budget early ahead to avoid getting into a crisis.
• For the company to continue producing high-quality products and deliver exceptional service, it shall invest more in the TQM initiatives. This means allocating more resources to the training and upskilling of the employees’ capabilities and workmanship. To this effect, more hours and resources shall be allocated for training purposes.
• In addition to training employees on best work practices, the company shall invest more in the acquisition of highly skilled employees. This will, in turn, translate to high-quality workmanship and high-quality products that meet and even surpass client expectations and needs.
• In order for the company to have a competitive edge over the major competitors and dominate in the industry, there is a need for diversification and expansion into the different market segments that is both the low-end and high-end markets. In order to dominate the market share of these segments, there is a need for proper planning and implementation of the strategy that is backed by extensive research of the reports and of the competitors in order to take note of what to do or not do differently.
• The company needs to increase the levels of innovation across all the segments. This ensures that the highly innovative products are better positioned to compete with the rival companies’ products and also score on the customer survey points which leads to an increase in the revenue for the company.
• The company shall strive to meet all the stakeholders’ and the shareholders expectations. This means diligently working to increase the revenue to meet those obligations. In order to do this, the company shall plan for its financial responsibilities so that the value of the stock price, the ROE which assures the shareholders of the company value continues to increase in terms of value.

Reflection from the Capsim Challenge

The overall experience during the entire challenge provided an exciting opportunity to put our hands on deck and have the ability to run a global company towards success and see how well it performs on the same level with other competitors. Some of the key lessons that we learned from the simulation were

• In as much as one of the measures of a company’s success is the measure of the profits and the revenue and income it generates from high sales, there are other equally crucial sectors that should not be ignored. For example, the treatment of the employees that run the plants which might be in terms of compensation levels, the value of the products to the customers, and making sure that they are getting value for their money.
• When investing in some measures it is important to be modest and keep the risks low, This means that for example, while investing in TQM initiatives is a great idea, the costs should not be such that it is not sustainable or does not create the value that is expected of such an investment. There should be a balance so as not to run into losses.
• Some of the challenges that we faced were in trying to control market share using the same strategy in the same rounds just because it worked during a particular round. This lack of reinventing and adapting to the new changes in the market as well as from the competitors caused us to lose some rounds to the rival companies.

During the simulation itself, there were unique challenges that we faced that are

• Communication. During the first few rounds of the simulation exercise, we learned that each member of the team had unique styles and different ways of communication. At first, during the initial stages, this was a challenge as we could not agree on some of the strategies or modes of operation for the company. However as time went by, members became free and open with each other. We encouraged each other to practice speaking up even when they are not sure about their plans or strategies. More importantly, we all adapted and learned to listen to each other calmly and without interrupting and then tabling all our ideas and plans and debating them soberly without attaching feelings but rather using data, rational strategies, and data to arrive at solutions. This helped all the members to become better communicators and listeners.
• Financial management. We observed that one of the challenges that we continued to face during the challenge was falling short and even losing some of the revenue in key market segments. This was mainly due to poor planning and allocation of the needed resources in time that would have enabled us to tap and gain the needed market share and revenue that would have put us well ahead in the game. Another issue that we had to deal with in the game rounds was proper management of money to avoid taking emergency loans. By taking emergency loans, we hurt the financial standing of the company because of the high-interest rates that were not really sustainable. What we should have done instead was sell some capacity for some of the products in our portfolio that were contributing the least to the company revenue and only maintain a small capacity in case there was a change in the market outlook in the future.
• Team motivation. It was hard to keep the team motivated when we were dealt with losses and defeat time after time, this was a big challenge because coming up with new strategies seemed like a very hard task. However because everyone in the team was championing the success of the company, we motivated each other and drew strength from the core values and principles that governed the running of the company. It was through these sessions that we were able to think clearly and make the necessary and much-needed changes.
• We quickly learned after we noticed a decline in revenue that changes in the production, marketing department, and the Research, and Development sector that there was an overhaul needed. This change of direction took up much of the time and needed resources but it proved to be crucial in the end.
• Because the simulation required for the team members to make decisions on all the important facets and aspects of a company, we were able to come up with experience in all those areas even though much of it was through trial to see which strategy works best. This was important because we gained a wholesum experience of what it takes to run a company from the different department and how one decision of a a single department or sector has the ability to change and impact teh overall performance of the whole company. For example, the financial management of the company has a ripple effect in the amount of money allocated for the Reasearch and development sector which in turn has an effect on the production and the quality and units produced, and how the products will align with the market needs. The budget also determines the level of promotions ans sales effort dedicated to the product and finally if it will build enough customer awareness and sell enough units to meet the required revenue or control a market share. The process then repeats itself again. So members of all these departments need to share the same vision and align with the plan in order to operate seamlessly as one unit.

Key learning points from the simulation

The entire duration of the simulation provided great learning opportunities and some important lessons to be carried forward to the real business world. These lessons include;

• Effective business communication. We quickly learned that in order to achieve success in the running of the company, each member has to communicate and communicate effectively. Communication was important in relaying important information across the panel. Members could contribute their opinion and even voice objections in a respectful and open manner. The goal was to ensure that each team member was heard and that their opinion mattered and counted. Members were always reminded to use respectful and professional language as they would in a real-life professional setting
• Business etiquette. The company culture made sure that all the members were made aware of the rules of engagement and how to conduct themselves in a professional manner. There was a balance between being productive, creative, and having fun while running the simulation. In order to ensure that the business was growing as well as the members, some key company guides streamlined the whole process. Key among them include
  • Effective leadership. Since a leader has an impact on the overall performance of the team, it was important for the leader to align with the vision and mission of the company. Apart from that, the leader was a motivating factor to the rest of the team and it was important that they lead by example and align the employees with the goals.
  • Positive company culture. A good company culture fosters growth for the company as well as the team. People automatically feel compelled to deliver more and give their best because they feel valued and are a key part of the productivity of the company and they take the company’s success as their own.
  • Teamwork. Through collaborative work where members are encouraged to build on ideas and work together, the company effectively manages the output that the team brings in cumulatively. Teamwork is also important as it enables each team member’s strength to be complemented by the other members, creating more value for the company and the individual, therefore, making it a wholesome experience.
• Critical thinking. Throughout the simulation, the ability to adapt and come up with effective strategies was tested. In order to adapt to the market changes that were quickly shifting and changing, we had to come up with a combination of ways and tweak the strategies and plans to find out which ones were the most effective in a given business environment. This required the team to combine efforts and think critically to avoid making the errors that would result in the company losing.

Application for the lessons

The entire simulation offered a myriad of lessons that can be applied in the current business environment.

Enhanced communication skills. Because the simulation requires the members to collaborate and work with each other, communication skills are put to the test for every individual. One quickly realizes the importance of speaking up and acting cordially and professionally even if not all members are in agreement with your ideas.

Planning is very important when coming up with strategic decisions. In order to better understand and have an informed plan and solutions for any particular industry, it is important o pay attention to the industry conditions report. These give a sound opinion backed by data and key industry conditions and trends.

It is important to understand business principles. While the whole simulation process was a new and foreign concept, there are definitely key principles that should be adhered to when running a business. For example, for any strategy to succeed, allocating significant resources towards the strategy and the laid out plans while paying attention to the customer need and customer demand is crucial.

In case a strategy does not work or yield the required results, it is important to adapt and change as quickly as possible. Failure to do so will lead the company to continue losing valuable resources on strategies that do not work, which is very dangerous because the company might get into debt, which affects the competitive advantage of the company and affects other areas of the company such as the value of the stock price.

As you have observed, the Capsim final report sample gives you a detailed account of how to craft your own report. It shows you the key elements to include and show in your report, right from the strategies that you took and if they went well or not to the shift that led to the changes in the strategy. You should also include your personal experience of how it was running the simulation with other members o the team, your feelings about working with others to come up with a united strategy, and most importantly the lessons that you will take along with you and how they can be applied in a real-life business setting.

Because all these occurrences do not occur at the same time, you should be noting them down as they occur in a step-by-step process during the running of the simulation. This way you are able to give a full account in a detailed manner from one incident connecting with the other and how it all comes together to give a detailed experience of the assignment in the form of a final report.

In your own report, you should include the appendices and the reference section that shows the reader your figures that are in the form of charts or diagrams.

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