Business Communication - McGraw-Hill Books

ManagementInternational EditionBUSINESS STRATEGY GAME ONLINEBy Jr Arthur Thompson, University of Alabama—Tuscaloosa2005ISBN-13: 978-0-07-304563-4 / MHID: 0-07-304563-2(BSG Online Version 8.0)ISBN-13: 978-0-07-124507-4 / MHID: 0-07-124507-3[IE- BSG - For Adoption Only]BSG-Online has been expressly designed for today’s courses instrategic management or business strategy at the senior/MBAlevels. It makes a perfect accompaniment for any of the textsin the field or for an instructor’s own customized package ofcourse materials. We believe a simulation exercise is the singlemost powerful pedagogical device for hammering home the coreconcepts and analytical techniques that comprise the disciplineof business and competitive strategy. The Business StrategyGame has appeal from several perspectives:• It is designed to give students practice in utilizing the coreconcepts and analytical tools that are the foundation of coursesin strategic management. BSG-Online tightly connects to thematerial in all the leading strategy texts—you’ll have repeatedopportunity to link what is happening in BSG-Online to yourlectures and to the teaching points that you want to emphasizein assigned cases.• Competing companies have a wide degree of strategic latitude—there’sample room to put most any strategy into play:low-cost leadership, differentiation, best-cost, focused low-cost,focused differentiation, global strategies (mostly uniform worldwide)or “multi-regional” strategies (staking out a market positiontailored to competitive conditions in a particular geographicregion). BSG-Online is strategy neutral—most any strategy iscapable of producing good financial results, provided it is not“defeated” by the better-executed strategies of competitors orundermined by too many copycat strategies.• The Competitive Intelligence reports include strategic groupmaps and lists of competitive strengths and weaknesses. Datafor benchmarking costs is provided to all companies after eachdecision.• Decision variables include best practices training and TQM/Six Sigma quality control programs (topics covered in all theleading strategy texts).• BSG-Online delivers a genuine capstone experience—thesimulation is rich in terms of market setting, the authenticitywith which it parallels the real-world athletic footwear market,and its ability to integrate material from prior core courses inbusiness.• It mirrors the increasingly global nature of today’s competitivemarkets.• There are three product segments—branded footwear salesto footwear retailers, online sales at the company’s Web site,and producing private-label footwear for large footwear retailchains.• There are four geographic market segments — Europe-Africa,North America, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.• There is a built-in three-year Strategic Plan feature, whichstudents can use to plat strategy for longer than 1-year at a timeand which instructors (if they so desire) can require that studentscomplete as a regular part of the exercise.• BSG-Online is somewhat more sophisticated than our recently-introducedGLO-BUS simulation involving digital camerasbecause companies can operate up to four plants, there are 12market segments (as compared to 8 in GLO-BUS), finished goodsinventories have to be managed at four distribution centers, andplayers have to develop a sales forecast based on their competitivestrategy and the expected competitive efforts of rivals.International EditionGLO-BUSAn Online Business SimulationBy Arthur A Jr Thompson and Geogory J Stappenbeck of Universityof Alabama – Tuscaloosa2004 / 64 pagesISBN-13: 978-0-07-301739-6 / MHID: 0-07-301739-6ISBN-13: 978-0-07-124720-7 / MHID: 0-07-124720-3[IE Glo-Bus Download Code Card] - For Adoption onlyGLO-BUS has been expressly designed for today’s courses instrategic management, business strategy, and international businessat both the senior/MBA levels. It makes a perfect accompanimentfor any of the texts in the field or for an instructor’s owncustomized package of course materials. Competition-basedbusiness simulations are powerful “learn-by-doing” exercises forgiving students hands-on practice in applying core concepts andanalytical techniques and in crafting successful strategies.What makes GLO-BUS appealing?• It delivers a genuine capstone experience. The simulation isrich in terms of market setting, the authenticity with which itparallels the real-world digital camera market, and its ability tointegrate material from prior core courses in business.• It mirrors the increasingly global nature of today’s competitivemarkets.• There are two product segments (entry-level and multi-featureddigital cameras) and there are four geographic marketsegments—Europe-Africa, North America, Asia-Pacific, and LatinAmerica. Companies contend for leadership in one or more ofthe 8 market segments.• Companies start the simulation on equal global and financialfooting but have different beginning market shares in differentgeographic regions. This introduces a powerful competitivedynamic that sets GLO-BUS apart from other business simulations.• GLO-BUS is “country and region neutral” so that students inEurope or Latin America or Hong Kong or Australia or SouthAfrica do not see themselves as playing a United States simulationor managing a US-based company. GLO-BUS is just asappropriate for courses taught in Switzerland or Great Britainor Mexico or Singapore or South Africa or Australia or Brazilas in the United States.• Competing companies have a wide degree of strategic latitude.Most any strategy is capable of delivering good results,provided it is not “defeated” by even better strategies of competitorsor undermined by too many copycat strategies.• Instructors can choose any of three GLO-BUS versions for theircourse—GLO-BUS Basic (about 1½ hours per decision round),GLO-BUS Plus (about 1¾ hours per decision round), and GLO-BUS Total (about 2¼ hours per decision round). Instructors canhave students play anywhere from 4 to 10 rounds, with either1 or 2 practice rounds.• The quarterly decision update option of GLO-BUS Total introducesa “real-time” element into the exercise, since companyco-managers are able to act and react from quarter-to-quarterand then make more sweeping changes annually.117HED 2007 Management.indd 11710/5/2006 1:24:31 PM