BUSINESS SIMULATION WITH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PART B: REFLECTION ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Executive summary
The current report has focused on the performance development review on the working of team, and self-learning. Furthermore, the reflection report has also included various events that were identified in this business simulation project. The company has developed a vision and strategies. A performance review of the company is done by analyzing its competitors. Porter’s five forces is a useful tool for analyzing the relevant competitors of the industry. The local promotion will be increased by 5000 Euros so that it can create awareness. The shipping process will also be improved ion this year. Four essential strategies are cost leadership, differentiation, broad market, and narrow market. There are several management and marketing theories that I have learned during my MBA courses. This project has made me understood the application of another important model known as porter’s generic strategy. I have also attended workshops in which some entrepreneurs are explaining the better business plan.
Table of contents
Review of relevant theory / theories / concepts. 6
Review of industry practices. 8
Application of theory and practices. 8
Introduction
The current report is based on the performance development review on the working of team and self-learning. The concerned report will highlight the business simulation case study of a mobile company maned CRYSTAL CROWN created on a business simulation site. My teammates and I learned various theories in this report, along with some personal experience strategies. The summary of identified events and relevant ideas and concepts will be analyzed in this report. The application of theories and practices would be examined based on the overall performance of the team. The reflection on performance development will also incorporate industry practices. Mainly, there will be a comparison between the things learned by me in MBA courses and the things I knew during teamwork. Lastly, there will also be some recommendations based on the practice and research on this context. This will be helpful for me in the future for implementing the theories and concepts in other businesses.
Identified events
Various events were identified in this business simulation project. The company has developed vision and strategies. The company will manufacture phones that can be affordable for everyone. The company is also planning to secure the future of technology and support local communication so that all can communicate easily with modern technology. Based on the these, I have learned that it is essential to develop the best strategies so that maximum customers can be attracted through this. The company’s values also made me understand that customer taste should be provided immense respect so that their loyalty can be maintained. From the identified events, I also learned that it is essential to keep a healthy relationship with the customers and other retail stores to have high-profit margins. The target that is developed by the company is prolonging KPI at a minimum price, maintenance of the inventory of the company as per demand. Lastly, to motivate employees and their growth with education standards. Both long term goals and short-term goals are important factors of the business strategy. The company has focused on the cost leadership strategy. In addition to this, based on the corporate level strategy, that company maintains motivation by providing educational growth to the employees. They are also providing training related to marketing and sales to the employees frequently. A performance review of the company is done by analyzing its competitors. Porter’s five forces are a useful tool for analyzing the relevant competitors of the industry.
The current business simulation is based on a 5-year financial plan. Thus some of the events are identified. In 2019 and 2020, the business was on trial to ensure proper modification and inputs to the company. In 2021, the company will choose the Netherlands for internationalization. The company has also hired two mangers who are skilled and effective decisions are made. In 2022 the company will be expanding its business to Monaco and planning to enter the new market.
They have reduced the necessary education among employees. In 2023 it is expected that the company will make some unfortunate mistakes in the same country. It is to observe more differences and take more risks without any expansion. The company will set the target in this year about 0% non -targets. They also will include a 1.3% increase in employee motivation. In 2024 the main event will be to expand the business to china as china is the prominent backbone of technology, and customers will be very loyal to their customers. The local promotion will be increased by 5000 Euros so that it can create awareness. The shipping process will also be improved ion this year. Lastly, in the year 2025, the last year of the business stimulator project, the company chose to expand its business in the USA. The company took this decision as this is the most powerful and wealthy country.Along with this, USA is also economically very stable compared to others. The vents were being identified based on the thought process of my team members and me. In this type of business stimulator project, it is essential to enhance the thought process to get better results.
Based on the financial department analysis, the company has hired four members in the research and development department, which costs almost 40% of the journey’s expenses, which is equal to 1200 euros. The company is planning to reduce unwanted costs like hiring freelancers to observe significant results in the business. Through teamwork, I have learned that a proper changing technique provides huge expense to the company and takes a lot of time to recover. In my MBA course, it has been taught that the business’s expansion is required at the correct time. This helps in getting significant results from the place. My team has done the same thing. During the business simulator project, we have planned to expand one country for expansion at one time. Development is possible practically when appropriately skilled employees will be hired in the company. The employees should have a proper marketing background so that better results can be expected from the business.
Review of relevant theory / theories / concepts
While I was doing my MBA course, I was being taught various theories and concepts that can be implemented in business. My team and I have implemented some ideas which we found relevant in this case scenario. However, many new things were learned by me while implementing these theories practically. In this part, I will reflect my knowledge regarding the ideas that will be compared based on learnings from the course and implementing the practical project. I have been taught that business-level strategy can help gain a competitive advantage for the company. In addition to this, I also knew that this strategy helps provide a way to give value to the customer by exploring various core competencies. Four essential systems are cost leadership, differentiation, broad market, and narrow market. Based on this theory in my teamwork, we found that our company’s most relevant process would be to implement a cost leadership strategy. This teamwork made this concept clearer to me to use this wisely in other future projects.
Figure 1: business-level strategies
The above diagram helps us know the strategies that can be implemented in a company to gain a better competitive advantage. This project helped me in known that no one generic approach is better than another. If appropriately implemented, organisation can be successful in any strategy. Thus, based on the situation, the best system should be implemented in the organization. Another necessary process that is good for the company is the corporate level strategy. This project helped me understand the significant difference between two types of systems: one strategy is competitive.
In contrast, one is based on what competition can be done. The corporate level strategy helped me know which market should the company invest and win the game. Previously I thought that cost leadership strategy has lower returns; however, this teamwork made me see that it is not the case. To maintain above-average return and prove that most tropical-price organizations should focus on internal efficiencies in a continuous process.
I also developed knowledge about the relation between porters five forces and cost leadership strategy. One of the cost leadership’s defensive scheme is that it helps defend against porters five points in case of rivalry, suppliers, buyers, new entrants, and substitutes. The cost leadership strategy can be an effective process in gaining a competitive advantage in all these fields. However, whole implement this strategy in Crown mobile, I also knew that to focus n cist reduction, it is possible that we can overlook the demands and requirements of the customers. It is also possible that main rivals can successfully copy your approach. Thus, it is essential to focus on these risks before implementation. In the case of corporate-level strategy, the company s maintaining the employee motivation and the educational growth of the business into sales an of the marketing. Yearly Salary is provided to employees so that the motivation among the employees can be sustained. To improve the corporate strategy of the company Maslow’s hierarchy of the need is being implemented in the company. As per this theory it helps in motivating the employees based on the five -tier model based. The human needs are focused effectively through this theory. The basic need o the employees in an organisation is a physical survival. This opportunity provided to the employees help to motivate them and improve the production of the company. The safety of the employees is also taken care to keep the employees motivated. The esteem needs such as prestige, and feeling of accomplishment are also being implemented in the company as the best corporate level strategy.
In my MBA course, I have learned that porters five forces are a unique framework that helps analyze its competitive environment. Three points win a horizontal manner, and two parties are vertical. The threat of substitutes, the risk of rivals, and the threat of new entrants are horizontal forces; however, suppliers and buyers’ bargaining power are vertical forces. Doing the market research and knowing all the details of porters five pressure and implement it in the mobile crown groups is one of the best experiences I had in this teamwork. We found from the market research that there is a high threat of substituting a new entrant, whereas the suppliers and buyers’ bargaining power is moderate in this industry. There are several rivals of the crystal crown group in this industry; thus, it is also essential to have a proper business-level strategy and corporate strategy.
Review of industry practices
I have been taught in my MBA courses that industry practices have unique to this industry. It has been observed that in the manufacturing business, there are issues with the inventory valuation and the cost of goods sold. In the MBA course, it has been thought that these concepts are very uncommon in other types of entities. There are various challenges that mobile manufacturers face nowadays. Some of the issues are security, inventory management. From the teamwork, I have learned a lot regarding industry practices. This business simulation project helped me in gaining knowledge regarding the industry practices of Crown mobile company. The company has retained profit as a percentage of net turnover. In addition to the results of business simulation also includes market leader in the specific price segments. This project made us understood that in this industry, educating the level of staff is essential. The same things have been taught in the MBA course. Employee motivation is a crucial step in this industry to give their best in productivity and creation.
Application of theory and practices
There are several management and marketing theories that I have learned during my MBA courses. In addition to this, in teamwork, while developing a mobile manufacturing company in a business simulation project. The leading theory, which is being applied in this business simulation project is the porters five force model. This model helps identify the five competitive forces that exist in the industry and help in knowing their strength and weakness. I learned that the business has been effective in dynamics to compete effectively in the marketplace. These theories and concepts can be applied to various locations to charge customers with different processes in line with multiple differences, as this is a new business project. I also earnt that this concept is helpful in planning and dealing with buyers and suppliers. Thus, a significant relationship is being made between all the stakeholders of the business. I will be applying this concept in other future projects to get a better result. Through this teamwork, this concept has become more familiar to me. However, the limitations were made more apparent during this project. For instance, while implementing, sometimes we ignore other business factors, such as economic and environmental factors. This ignorance has become a significant issue in this limitation. All industry is not fit for this model; thus this model must be selected wisely to get the best results.
This project has made me understood the application of another important model known as porter’s generic strategy.Strategy is a significant part of any business plan. Effective use of competitive process helps in defining the industry niche. Among the four porter’s generic strategy cost leadership, this project is being applied to the Crown Mobile. I also learned that a combination of various strategies could provide the best chance to gain a competitive advantage. Besides this, the linkage between different competitive methods helps in resulting the firm performance and has been explored through the literature. This business simulation had given me the idea that minimizing the prince of the company’s products can increase the overall profit percentage. In addition to this, money can be utilized to enhance employees’ motivation. This can be done by paying high salaries to the employees.
We have implemented this in our business simulation project also to enhance employee motivation. The company will also be providing training to the employees to get the best results from the business. This strategy is best for gaining a competitive edge over all the competitors of Crystal Crown mobile. The company becomes successful by selling its mobile, which is affordable to most people. This project also made me understand that an effective supply chain is required to gain the best results. In relation to this, product are being supplied from foreign from the less expensive makes, this helps make way for the company to sell in the low process. The same thing is being applied to the Crystal Crown mobile company to increase its market share. I understood from the project that cost leadership is possible only by exploiting the smart business methods. Before implementing the cost leadership, we have researched the other three strategies also, however, we found this as the most effective one to be implemented in the project.
Discussion
I have reflected on professional development in the case of MBA theories and concepts implemented in the business simulation. In this part, I will be discussing the experience in teamwork during this business simulation project. Slowly and gradually, I have become more active in my group whole, making a proper business plan. I have organized some activities based on this project so that adequate time management can be done. During this teamwork I have studies more books related to management theories and concepts. I have also attended workshops in which some entrepreneurs are explaining a better business plan. This project has successfully developed my professional skills in handling teams and making a perfect business plan. I have received useful advice from the university, and they helped me to become more communicative. I have also developed some of the leadership skills while participating in this business plan. To know the theories such as porters five forces and porters’ generic model, I have undergone through a learning process that has helped me a lot. The concerned learning process helped me in knowing the concepts as well as becoming a better student.
I have understood that management helps me in revising with valuable and required theories and skills that can be used for my benefits. Besides, the theories and skills will also help the benefit of an organisation in which I will be working in the future. Self-confidence and self-mastery are essential steps of the learning process. With the reflection, I have understood the management theories so that practical management skills can be applied. I have also been able to realize that everything has come down for communication and implementing the leadership theories. I have involved the management skills in the teamwork and business simulation project. The support of my teachers, supervisor, and teammates was immense to organizing the activities. I have tried to apply sound management theories to become a better teammate and use my knowledge to get the best results from the project.
Recommendations for practice and research
Management theories and practice help in providing a clear and concise introduction to the theory and practice of management. It is recommended that communication skills can be improved. I will be joining some communication workshops and reading communication books to increase my communication skills. I will also work on my teamwork skills and respectful communication. In the context of research, this is recommended that some other management theories and concepts can be studied which can be implemented in the business plan. Financial planning has been done for the company; however, some economic ideas are not implemented.
The company did not focus more on the branding of the mobile produced by Crystal Crown. Branding is important for internationalization and doing promotions for the product. The customer taste and requirement should be frequently checked that products can be updated based on the needs. It is also important to research regarding fake and bad reviews of the company so that it can be checked, and results can be discussed effectively. It is also recommended that proper concentration be provided on the e commerce website to promote the products on the social media platform. In addition to this, the research can also be done about digitalization and and how it can be useful in the fields such as communication and feedbacks. The company should hire extremely talented, experienced and skilled employees so that they can train their interns regarding the future roles. In addition, the company can also train the employees about the management skills so that products can be sold to the customers in an effective manner.
Conclusion
I will sum up my overall learning through this business simulation. I have learned to implement the management theories and various communication modes. In addition to this I have also learned the leadership skills that has enhanced by management skills especially the self- confidence. I have also developed proper time management skills and conflict management. It is expected that the theories and concepts I implemented in this simulation project can be easily implemented in future projects in more effective way. In next time I will be applying the management theories in more effective manner.