Sandbox simulation training, also known as sandbox training and sandbox deduction, is to lead students into a simulated competitive industry. The students are divided into groups to establish a number of simulation companies. Based on the intuitive sandbox teaching aids, actual combat exercises simulate the enterprises. Business management and market competition, improve strategic management capabilities and understand the true meaning of business decision-making while experiencing the success or failure of a simulated enterprise for 3-4 years. I will share the compiled itmc enterprise management sandbox with everyone. You are welcome to read it, for reference only!
What is sandbox simulation training
Sandbox simulation The training, also known as sand table training and sand table deduction, is to lead students into a simulated competitive industry. The students are divided into groups to establish a number of simulated companies. Based on the intuitive sand table teaching aids, practical exercises simulate the business management and market competition of the enterprise. After experiencing Improve strategic management capabilities and understand the true meaning of business decision-making by simulating the success or failure of an enterprise for 3-4 years. After each year's operation, the trainees take stock and summary of the company's performance for the year, reflect on the success or failure of decision-making, analyze strategic gains and losses, sort out management ideas, expose their own misunderstandings, and practice multiple adjustments and improvements to effectively improve their comprehensive management quality. .
Operation of sandbox simulation training
Sandbox simulation training completes experiential learning through actual combat simulation exercises. You can choose ten years to explore, or you can choose two days to experience it! The biggest feature of sandbox simulation training is "learning through participation", emphasizing "doing first and knowing later", and being student-centered to improve practical operations management level as the goal.
Every 6 students in the training class will set up a company and be assigned the roles of general manager, financial manager, sales manager, human resources manager, production manager, and R&D manager (different courses will change the role setting accordingly). ***Form 4-6 simulated companies that compete with each other and engage in three to four periods of business activities. During the two-day simulation training, trainees will experience various typical problems that often occur in business operations. They must work with colleagues to discover opportunities, analyze problems, make decisions and organize implementation.
Simulated operations are full of challenges. The management of each company will determine the company's market positioning and competitive strategy based on market information. Since each company chooses different competitive strategies and operational capabilities, the competitive situation will fluctuate. After a long time, the dust has finally settled, and the profits and losses are clear. Some are happy and some are sad?
Advantages of sandbox simulation training
Sandbox simulation training’s unique interactive, interesting and competitive characteristics , can maximize students' interest in learning, make students in a highly excited state during the training, make full use of a series of learning methods such as listening, speaking, learning, doing, and modifying, activate all the sensory functions that can be mobilized, and be more aware of the content they have learned. Form a deep memory and be able to quickly practice and apply the learned management ideas and methods in actual work. In sand table simulation training, students no longer gain empty and boring concepts and theories, but extremely valuable practical experience and in-depth understanding and insights.
What is ERP sandbox simulation?
ERP simulation sandbox is an experimental platform for role experience designed for ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning System), which represents advanced modern enterprise management and management technology. . The ERP simulation sandbox teaching aids mainly include: 6 sandbox surfaces, representing six competing simulated companies. The simulation sand table is divided into functional centers according to the functional departments of the manufacturing enterprise, including marketing and planning center, production center, logistics center and financial center. Each functional center covers all key aspects of enterprise operations: strategic planning, fund raising, marketing, product research and development, production organization, material procurement, equipment investment and transformation, financial accounting and management, etc. are the main design lines, integrating enterprise operations. The internal and external environment is abstracted into a series of rules. The trainees form six competing simulated enterprises, simulating the 5 to 6 years of operation of the enterprise. Through student participation-->sandbox carrier-->simulated management-->confrontation Drill?> Lecturer’s Comments--> A series of experimental links such as student insights. Its design ideas integrate theory and practice, role play and job experience, allowing trainees to analyze the market, formulate strategies, marketing planning, and organization. In a series of activities such as production and financial management, we can understand scientific management laws, cultivate team spirit, and comprehensively improve management capabilities. At the same time, I also have a practical experience in the management process of enterprise resources.
A brief discussion on the ITMC Enterprise Management Electronic Sandbox Management Strategy
[Abstract] As a national event, the ITMC Enterprise Management Electronic Sandbox Management Competition attracts people with its practicality, fun and fairness. More and more vocational colleges and universities are paying attention and participating.
How can we operate the electronic sand table well and achieve good business results? The article first briefly introduces the surface of the sand table; then analyzes the overall idea of ??operating the sand table, emphasizing the importance of equity in operating the sand table; secondly, it discusses product research and development, production line buying and selling, respectively. , advertising and market expansion strategies focus on three specific business strategies; finally, a summary is made. It has good reference significance for sand table operators.
[Keywords]ITMC; sand table; strategy
[About the author] Kang Yuanhua, Lecturer and Economist, Business School, Nanning Vocational and Technical College, Nanning, Guangxi, 530008; Zhang Junrong, Nanning Vocational and Technical College Lecturer of the Business School of the College, Nanning, Guangxi, 530008
ITMC Business Management Electronic Sandbox is a simulated and practical game confrontation teaching software developed by Zhongjiao Changxiang (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. This teaching software is very useful for improving students' It plays a great role in decision-making ability, analysis and problem-solving ability, teamwork spirit and innovative thinking ability. From 2008 to 2010, using this set of software as a platform, the Teaching Steering Committee for Business Administration in Higher Vocational Colleges of the Ministry of Education has successfully hosted three National College Student Business Management Sandbox Simulation Competitions. In 2010, participating colleges across the country have With more than 600 schools, it is currently the largest major competition event for economics and management majors in higher vocational education in my country. Therefore, this article discusses ITMC business management sandbox management strategies, hoping to have certain reference significance for participating colleges and their participating teams.
1. Introduction to ITMC Enterprise Management Electronic Sandbox
ITMC Enterprise Management Electronic Sandbox is highly confrontational. Each team is composed of four students, who respectively play the role of corporate president, financial director, marketing director and operations director, simulating the company's operation of a virtual productive enterprise with 100 million assets. From the aspects of market analysis, decision-making, production operations, financial accounting, etc., the company can maintain continuous growth and ultimately achieve success in the fierce competition.
Judging from the initial layout of the electronic sandbox, it mainly includes the following parts:
(1) Products and raw materials
It includes 4 types of products, namely P1, P2, P3, P4. From P1 to P4, it represents the upgrading of products. Among them, P1 is the lowest-end product, and P4 is a brand-new product. P1 products have been produced at the beginning of the period and do not require research and development. If a company wants to produce new products, it must conduct product research and development, pay research and development expenses, and then it can be put into production after the research and development is completed.
There are also 4 categories of raw materials, namely R1, R2, R3 and R4 (purchasing each raw material requires 1M ① funds). Judging from the raw material composition of each type of product, there is the following relationship: 1P1=1R1; P2=R1 R2; P3=2R2 R3; P4=2R4 R2 R3. Judging from the raw material composition of the product, the production cost of the product is different, with P1 being the lowest and P4 being the highest.
There are 4 P1 products and 4 R1 raw materials in the finished product warehouse at the beginning of the period.
(2) Factory buildings and equipment
There are three factories, namely factory A, B and C. Among them, Factory A is a self-owned factory that can install 4 production lines. At the beginning of the period, it already had 3 manual lines and 1 semi-automatic line. Factory B can install 3 production lines, and Factory C can install 1 production line. If necessary, both B and C factories need to be rented or purchased. The factory situation is shown in Table 1:
There are 4 types of production lines: manual line, semi-automatic line, fully automatic line and flexible line.
Each production line can only have one product online at the same time. Processing fees need to be paid when the product goes online. Different production lines have different production efficiencies, but the processing fees that need to be paid are also different, as shown in Table 2:
(3) Financing
Financing methods include short-term loans, long-term loans, private financing and discounts. From the perspective of financing costs, short-term loans are the lowest, but have a shorter term. The principal and interest are repaid in one year, and the interest is calculated at 5%. The term of the long-term loan is 6 years, and the interest is paid annually at 10% of the loan amount. The term of private financing is 1 year and the interest is 15%. There is a long-term loan of 40M at the beginning of the period, with 20M due each in the fourth and fifth years. In addition, when funds are urgently needed and there are undue accounts receivable, discounting can be carried out. For every 7M of funds discounted, you can only get 6M. In addition, 1M is used as the discount fee, so in comparison, discount is the most expensive financing method.
(4) Product research and development, market development and certification
If you want to produce new products such as P2, P3, and P4, you must first develop the product. Only after the research and development is completed can it be put into production. Product research and development takes 6 quarters, and can only be developed once per quarter. The total research and development costs are P2, 6M, P3, 12M, and P4, 18M.
If you want to sell products in other markets, you must carry out market development, and the local market does not need to be developed. Regional, domestic, Asian and international markets all require market development, and the time required to develop the market varies. It takes 1 year for the regional market, 2 years for the domestic market, 3 years for the Asian market, and 4 years for the international market.
In addition, some orders have requirements for the qualifications of the company, such as whether it has obtained ISO9000 and ISO14000 certification. Only those with these certifications can obtain orders with corresponding conditions. ISO9000 certification takes 2 years and requires a maximum investment of 2M. ISO14000 certification takes 4 years and requires an investment of 4M.
2. The overall idea of ??ITMC Enterprise Management Sandbox Management
At present, the operating results of ITMC Enterprise Management Sandbox Competition are determined by the system score after the end of the sixth year of operation, and the system is based on the following The formula is used to calculate the score:
Score of each group = equity? (1 total score/100)
The total score is composed of the sum of the following scores.
Developed markets: regional 10 points, domestic 15 points, Asia 20 points, and international 25 points.
Complete ISO certification: ISO9000 plus 10 points, ISO14000 plus 15 points.
Currently owned production lines: manual 5 cents/piece, semi-automatic 10 cents/piece, fully automatic and flexible lines both 15 cents/piece.
Factories that currently have independent property rights: Factory A adds 15 points, Factory B adds 10 points, and Factory C adds 5 points.
Product development completed: 5 points added to P2, 10 points added to P3, and 15 points added to P4.
20 points will be added if the loan is not borrowed at high interest rates, and 20 points will be added if the loan is not discounted.
It can be seen from the scoring rules that the most important factor affecting the score is equity, and the level of equity every year also directly affects the amount of financing the company can obtain, thereby affecting the stability of operations and operating risks. . Therefore, the overall idea of ??sand table management should be based on how to improve interests.
How to improve equity? On the one hand, we must capture income; on the other hand, we must control costs and expenses.
In the ITMC business management sandbox, the most important thing to increase income is to obtain orders and sell products. For example, if you obtain a P2 order with a price of 8M, this item can increase the equity by 8-3=5M (where 3M is the cost of raw materials and production costs).
In the course of operations, items that reduce equity generally include the following categories:
(1) Advertising expenses.
(2) Product research and development expenses.
(3) Management expenses (4M management expenses are required every year).
(4) Market development and certification fees.
(5) Depreciation.
(6) Loan interest and discount fees.
Sale of the production line (see the residual value of the production line and how much it can be sold for. For example, if you buy a handmade line in the first year, the residual value is 2M, then only 1M is sold, and the equity is reduced by 1).
Others such as production line changes, payment of liquidated damages, etc. will reduce equity.
Therefore, the overall idea of ??ITMC business management sandbox management is to improve equity. Consider from two aspects, one is to obtain more and better orders; the other is to control costs.
3. Specific strategies for ITMC business management sandbox management
How to run a company sustainably and stably and achieve good results? The author proposes the following specific business strategies.
(1) Take the route of P1P2P3 combination strategy, focusing on P2P3
In competition competition, producing P1P2P3 combination is the most conventional business strategy. The basic idea is: adjust the production strategy according to changes in product demand and price every year, so as to obtain as many good orders as possible to maintain survival and develop. The specific strategies are as follows:
1. Product development strategy. The research and development of P2 began in the first quarter of the first year (can be put into production in the second quarter of the second year); the research and development of P3 began in the fourth quarter of the third year, and the production started in the first quarter of the fifth year. The research and development of P4 depends on the development situation. In order to save money and maintain rights and interests, the research and development of P4 can also be abandoned.
2. Production line buying and selling strategy. In the first quarter and second quarter of the first year, we sold two manual lines respectively, and in the second quarter we bought two fully automatic production lines for P2. In the fourth quarter, one more manual line will be sold (semi-automatic can be retained). In the first quarter of the second year, buy a fully automatic production P2. In the fourth year, factory B will be expanded and three fully automatic lines will be purchased to produce P3 (available for production in the first quarter of the fifth year, in conjunction with product research and development). In the fifth year, factory C will be expanded and a fully automatic or flexible line will be purchased to produce P3.
Regarding the purchase and sale of production lines, due to the financial impact in the early stage and the depreciation in the later period, it is not appropriate to expand too fast. For example, if you buy 3 automatics in the first year, the purchase price of each automatic is 16M, and the final cost is 48M, you will inevitably need to borrow more, thereby bearing a heavier interest burden. At the same time, according to the rules, each production line will depreciate 5M in the third year, and the depreciation fee of 15M will also reduce the equity by 15M. Therefore, it is not advisable to over-expand in the early stage.
3. Advertising strategy. Advertising strategy is the most flexible and important strategy. How to maximize the advertising effect is the key to business success.
It is possible that a high advertising fee has been invested, but the ideal order cannot be obtained, which will cause the equity to decline rapidly and make the operation face difficulties. The author's opinion is that it is not advisable to put too much advertising on P1 products. The real operating difficulties will mainly occur in the third and fourth years. It is therefore important to maintain equity during this period. P1 has relatively more orders, and it only needs to be sold within the first three years, so P1's advertising costs can be reduced as much as possible. The price of P2 products is higher in the third year, and orders are very limited. Even if you invest in advertising, you may not be able to grab orders. Therefore, grabbing P2 in the third year is the focus, and you can increase advertising. For example, around 9M advertising is invested in the local market. The fee is also normal. After the fourth year, P2P3 advertising fees will be determined more based on competition conditions. If there are more bankruptcies, the advertising fees can be reduced.
In addition, when placing advertisements, it is not appropriate to allocate advertising costs equally among various markets. For example, if you invest 6, 6, 6, and ***18M in three markets respectively, you may not be able to get good orders. And if you throw 9, 2, or 7, you may get better results.
4. Market development and ISO certification. Failure to develop the market will mean losing some markets and it will be difficult for the company to develop. Therefore, market development is necessary. However, in order to maintain the early rights and interests, the time of market development can be flexibly controlled. In addition, according to the rules, the bank's loan limit is 2 times the equity of the previous year minus the loan limit, and the loan limit can only be an integer multiple of 20. Therefore, it is best to keep the equity as an integral multiple of 10. For example, you cannot get a loan with equity below 10, you can get a 20M loan with 10-19, you can get a 40M loan with 20-29, and so on. Therefore, in order to maintain the equity of an integral multiple of 10, it is sometimes necessary to give up the development of a certain market. For example: If the current equity is 32, in order to maintain the equity of 30, you can only open up 2 markets.
In addition, ISO certification can not only add points, but also some orders must have this certification to be eligible to obtain it, so ISO certification is also necessary. In order to reasonably allocate costs and maintain rights and interests, ISO9000 certification can be pushed to the second year.
(2) Take the route of P1P3 combination strategy
The basic idea of ????this strategy is: do not follow the popular route, do P3 from the beginning, and be preemptive, and you may achieve good development. However, this strategy has certain risks, that is, the number of P3 orders in the second and third years is relatively small. If several competitors adopt this strategy at the same time, the competition in P3 will be very fierce, and the companies that produce P2 will achieve good development.
1. Product development strategy. Start developing P3 in the first quarter of the first year (in order to maintain rights and interests, do not develop P2 and P4). If the development is very good in the first three years, you can consider developing P4 and produce P4 products in the fifth and sixth years to spread risks.
2. Production line buying and selling strategy. In the first and second quarters of the first year, the manual lines were sold and two fully automatic lines were purchased in the second quarter to produce P3. Sold handmade threads in the fourth quarter of the first year. In the first quarter of the second year, buy a fully automatic production P3. If development goes well in the second and third years, factory C can be expanded in the third year and a fully automatic production line for P3 can be purchased. And depending on the competition, consider producing P4, and expand factory B to produce P4 in the fourth or fifth year; if you do not produce P4, you can consider buying some fully automatic (or flexible lines) to produce P1 when expanding factory B.
3. Advertising strategy. Similarly, P1 products should not invest too high in advertising. For example, in the first year, only 3 or less advertising fees will be invested in the local market; in the second year, 2 or 1 will be invested in the local market (the regional market can be abandoned); in the third year, local, regional, and domestic advertising fees Place 1M ads. In the second year, the P3 product will invest less than 4M in advertising; if there are several companies competing at the same time, the advertising investment will be increased later. In addition, advertising placement must also consider factors such as the order volume and order price in each market.
4. Market development and ISO certification. Since the risk of only producing P3 is relatively higher, generally every market (regional, domestic, Asian, international) needs to be developed. However, considering that P3’s international market will only have P3 orders in the sixth year, the development of the international market can start one year later to maintain rights and interests. Similarly, ISO9000 certification can also start from the second year.
(3) Take the route of P1P4 combination strategy
The basic idea of ????this strategy is: surprise and strike later. It is very conservative in the early stage and develops very strongly in the later stage. On the surface, the risk of producing P4 is very high, because P4 will not have market demand until the fourth year, and the production cost is high. But in fact, the production of P4 can often avoid fierce competition and achieve unexpected results. The biggest advantage of producing P4 is that there is less competition, it can save advertising costs, and the market price will be higher in the future. And the operation of producing P4 is relatively simple, you only need to grasp a few points.
1. Product development strategy. Since P4 products will only have demand in the regional market in the fourth year, the R&D of P4 should not be carried out too early. Otherwise, due to the high R&D costs, it will inevitably have a great impact on equity. It is more appropriate to start R&D in the fourth quarter of the second year. Production is available in the first quarter of four years. In addition, since there is no need for product research and development in the early stage, funds are very saved. No or only a small amount of bank loan is required.
2. Production line buying and selling strategy. In the first year, there is no need to buy or sell production lines. The original 3 manual lines and 1 semi-automatic line are maintained to produce P1 products. Sell ??a manual line in the third quarter of the second year, sell another manual line and a semi-automatic line in the fourth quarter, sell another manual line in the first quarter of the third year, and purchase 4 fully automatic production lines in Factory A. P4. In the fourth year, 3 fully automatic lines are purchased in Factory B to produce P4, and in the fifth year, 1 flexible line is purchased in Factory C to produce P4 (or P1).
3. Advertising strategy. Only advertise for P1 products in the first three years. Since P1 has relatively more orders, it can usually be sold out in the first three years, so advertising costs can be relatively saved. If all P1 products are sold in the third year, starting from the fourth year, you only need to invest in P4 advertising. If there is no competition, each market only needs to invest 1M in advertising fees. 4. Market development and ISO certification. According to the characteristics of P4 product market order demand, ISO certification is not required until the fifth year, so ISO9000 certification can start from the third year. There was no demand for P4 products in the international market during the six-year operation period. Therefore, you can give up the development of the international market, save costs, and maintain your rights and interests.
Generally speaking, the P4 route is at its trough in the fourth year. In the fifth year, as demand increases and prices rise, it begins to gain momentum. If there is little competition, the company will often make rapid progress and be among the best by the end of the sixth year of operation. Even if there are late entrants, due to limited production capacity, the competitiveness is not strong, and it will have a very negative impact on the entrants themselves.
In addition, when applying various product mix strategies, you also need to pay attention to the purchase of raw materials to ensure that there will be no shortage of raw materials that will affect production. You must also make full use of rules to determine purchase quantities and reasonably allocate payment terms.
IV. Conclusion
ITMC business management sandbox has various business strategies, and the application of various strategies is carried out in a dynamic game environment, so there is no optimal fixed development. model. The several development strategies discussed above can only provide some inspiring reference opinions for sand table operators.
The author summarizes the above business strategies as follows:
1. The early stage should be relatively conservative and should not be expanded wildly. First of all, due to excessive purchases of production lines in the early stage, depreciation will begin in the third year, and a large amount of depreciation expenses will greatly reduce equity. Secondly, purchasing a large number of production lines in the early stage will cost too much money, which will inevitably increase bank loans. After the equity is reduced, the inability to repay the loan when it expires will lead to bankruptcy. Thirdly, purchasing too many production lines will lead to excess production capacity (products cannot be sold out), occupy funds, and lead to operational difficulties.
2. It is best to purchase the later production line in the first quarter of the year, so that the production line will be installed in the next year and no depreciation will be mentioned in that year. Therefore, you can consider purchasing the flexible wire in the first quarter of the fifth year, so that no depreciation is mentioned in the sixth year.
3. Later product research and development can be considered to start in the fourth quarter, so as to connect with the purchase of production lines. For example, if P3 is developed in the fourth quarter of the third year and a fully automatic line is purchased to produce P3 in the first quarter of the fourth year, then the product development and production line installation are completed and can be put into production immediately.
The above is the itmc enterprise management sandbox I provided for everyone. I hope it can be helpful to everyone.
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