To begin the MGT599 SLP sequence, you first need to first run the simulation using the Default Decisions. In other words, use the prices and R&D percentages that are already there (do not change any decisions made by Joe Thomas).

Capture or collect the results for each product (X5, X6, and X7) for each year that you run the simulation. Copy (using Excel, by hand, or some other method) the financial results and marketing results, as well as the information provided by your Advisor.

REQUIRED READING:

Read the following scenario carefully before you proceed:

SCENARIO

It is December 15, 2015. Joe Thomas, the VP of Marketing at Clipboard Tablet Co., is smugly patting himself on the back for how well he has done with pricing and product development on the three products, X5, X6, and X7.  Of course, Joe knows his strategy was not creative at all – i.e., he did not change any prices or R&D allocations over the four-year period (actually six years, counting 2010 and 2011). But he is certain that he really did not need to change anything anyway, and that his overall performance is proof of his good work.

Sally Smothers, the CEO of Clipboard Tablet Co., knows better, and she fires Joe (but why did she wait so long?).

You are hired to replace Joe. And now, here you are, on Dec. 15, 2015, as the V.P. of Marketing of the Clipboard Tablet Co. You are ready to move the company ahead into 2016. Your boss, Sally Smothers, expects you to make intelligent and informed product development and pricing decisions (after all, you are an MBA).

Session Long Project

Write a 6- to 7-page paper (not including cover and reference pages), using Sally’s instructions, which follow:

Sally asks you to review the past four to six years to see what was going on in terms of product development, sales, pricing, and performance. You collect all of the data and write a report (your report is due on Sally’s desk by January 2, 2016).

Using the default decisions (i.e., make no changes within the simulation), analyze Joe Thomas’s decisions and results, and then write the report that Sally is requesting. Access the simulation site and collect the data for each year (or you can download a copy of it – see below). Determine where you believe Joe went wrong, and propose a new strategy. Support your revised strategy using financial analysis and relevant business theories.

KEYS TO THE ASSIGNMENT:

The key aspects to this assignment that are required to be covered in your paper include:

1. A review of each product – X5, X6, and X7 – its life cycle, and how each product stacks up in terms of price and performance.
2. Financial review for each product – X5, X6, and X7 – sales, costs, profitability, prices, unit margins, etc.
3. Market review: New Sales, Repeat Sales, Market Saturation, etc.
4. Propose an alternate strategy: A general idea of how you might do better with these products: what pricing and R&D allocations, etc., you would have put in place over the last four years, 2012 – 2015. In short, what would you have done differently than Joe Thomas at each decision point? Be specific!

SLP Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated using the grading rubric.

TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS:

Please note the following tips and suggestions:

• Include a cover page and reference page, in addition to the 6-7 pages of written analysis described above.
• Use section headings as appropriate. Use graphs, charts, or figures strategically – but do not use these as “space fillers.” Include large tables or graphics in an Appendix instead.
• Cite and reference all sources that you use in your work, including those that you paraphrase. This means include citations and quotation marks for direct quotes, and citations for that information which you have “borrowed” or paraphrased from other sources.
• Follow TUI Guidelines for well-written papers.

NOTE: Throughout the SLP sequence, you will be asked to make business decisions under conditions of incomplete information and uncertainty. To do so effectively, you will need to make assumptions based on what you have learned throughout the MBA program as it relates to the ways in which markets operate. To this extent, you need to rely on models, financial analysis, and theories from such classes as Organization Behavior, Economics, Finance, Accounting, and Marketing. In addition, the simulation will give you some additional market information as you progress.

Be sure that you draw explicitly on concepts and theories from the courses you have taken throughout the MBA program. That means you must “think like an MBA” and use the various data you are given. You will have to crunch the numbers and present your data analysis professionally by creating some simple tables, charts, and graphs.