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Strategic Business Simulator
(for Microsoft Windows 3.1 or higher)
INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL
Version 1.00
SHAREWARE VERSION
Etling & Robb Software
3515 Danvers Drive
Columbia, MO 65203
Copyright (C) 1992 Etling & Robb Software
All Rights Reserved.
Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.
Strategic Business Simulator software
Copyright (C) 1992 Etling & Robb Software.
All Rights Reserved.
This document Copyright (C) 1992 Etling & Robb Software.
All Rights Reserved.
Product Acknowledgements:
Software Engineering
Kent Etling
Ed Robb
Strategic Business Simulator - General Overview
The Strategic Business Simulator is a management decision making
game designed for classroom use by High School and College Students.
It can be used in conjunction with accounting, economics, finance,
management, and marketing courses.
You and the other participants will be acting as teams
of business executives making periodic high-level decisions.
These decisions will be similar to those which would be made
in actual business practice over a much longer time.
The game is actually a mathematical model of a business
economy, within which several firms compete for their share of
the market. The decision teams, consisting of three or more
individuals are each given a firm to operate. While each firm
produces a similar product, they are not perfect substitutes.
The basic problem involved in the exercise is that of choosing
a course of action under conditions of uncertainty. The
results of any decisions will depend not only on your
decisions alone, but also on those made by competitors. Thus,
an unwise decision might occur because of a rival firm's
action, rather than the unreasonableness of the decision
itself. For example, a cut in price will increase your share
of the market -- but only if other firms are not cutting
prices at the same time.
At the beginning of each quarter, each team makes decisions
for their firm choosing output levels, price, advertising
expenditures, etc. The computer then simulates the business
activity of each firm and prepares reports showing the results
during the quarter. These reports, which indicate the firm's
financial position, as well as other data, are then
transmitted to the teams. They are the only means by which
information is exchanged. This cycle is repeated as
frequently as time permits, thus allowing several years of
simulated business activity and the associated decision-making
experience to take place.
Requirements
A computer system capable of running Windows 3.1 or higher.
(VGA or EGA graphics and a Mouse are recommended.)
Windows 3.1 installed in your computer system.
Installing Strategic Business Simulator
Installing Strategic Business Simulator is a straightforward
process.
1. Start Windows.
2. Place the Strategic Business Simulator Installation Disk
#1 into a floppy drive of your computer.
3. Select the File:Run menu option of the Program Manager,
and type into the dialog box the following: A:\INSTALL
[return]
4. The installation program will prompt you for any
additional information.
(For Network Installation, see Appendix A.)
Using Strategic Business Simulator
The Strategic Business Simulator (SBS) software consists of
two individual programs, the Strategic Business Simulator -
Control Panel program and the Strategic Business Simulator -
Decision Entry program.
The Strategic Business Simulator - Control Panel program is to
be used by the Game Coordinator. The SBS - Control Panel
program allows the Game Coordinator to setup new games, change
company names and passwords, process a quarter of data, view
and print off the Quarterly Reports of the companies and the
Company Ranking Report.
The Strategic Business Simulator - Decision Entry program is
to be used by the game participants. The SBS - Decision Entry
program allows the game participants to enter their company's
management decisions each quarter.
Start the Strategic Business Simulator - Control Panel:
1. Open the program manager group window that contains the
Strategic Business Simulator software.
2. Double-click the Strategic Business Simulator - Control
Panel icon.
Note: Although the Strategic Business Simulator windows cannot be
resized, the Strategic Business Simulator can be reduced to an
icon. As an icon the Strategic Business Simulator can quickly be
recalled.
Initialize a New Game
To initialize a new Strategic Business Simulator game, the Game
Coordinator should choose File:New from the menu bar of the
Strategic Business Simulator - Control Panel program. First, you
will be asked for the name of the Industry. Second, you will be
prompted to choose the number of companies (or teams) that will be
entering decisions. This can be between 2 and 15 companies.
Third, there will be a series of prompts which will allow you to
enter a company name and a decision entry password for each
company. Fifth, you will be asked to enter a Strategic Business
Simulator - Control Panel password for the game data file. This
password will allow you to open the file from within the Strategic
Business Simulator - Control Panel program. Sixth, you will be
prompted to enter a file name for saving game data. The default
file extension for the game data is SBS.
After a new game is initialized, the Game Coordinator will probably
want to print off quarter 0 of the Quarterly Reports and distribute
them to their respective companies. This can be accomplished by
choosing the View Quarterly Reports button. When the Quarterly
Reports are displayed, choose File:Print to print the reports to
the default printer. When you have completed viewing the Quarterly
Reports, simply choose File:Exit.
After printing off the Quarterly Reports, you can quit the
Strategic Business Simulator - Control Panel program by choosing
File:Exit.
Before the companies can begin entering their management decisions,
the Game Coordinator should privately disclose to each company
their decision entry passwords.
Start the Strategic Business Simulator - Decision Entry program:
1. Open the program manager group window that contains the
Strategic Business Simulator software.
2. Double-click the Strategic Business Simulator - Decision
Entry program icon.
Enter Company Decisions
After starting the Strategic Business Simulator - Decision Entry
program, a SBS game data file must be opened by choosing File:Open.
After opening a SBS game data file, simply choose a company and
enter the decision entry password for that company.
The decision entry window will appear when the correct
password is entered. This window is where the company's management
decisions are entered. To move between data entry fields, simply
press the [TAB] key. When the Recalculate Values button is
pressed, the data entry fields are checked for valid decisions and
some calculated fields are updated such as unit cost. To save the
decisions and end the decision entry window, choose the Save Values
and Quit button.
From the decision entry window, you may also view your company's
current Quarterly Report or the Company Ranking Report by choosing
the appropriate button.
After all the companies have entered their decisions for the
current quarter, the Strategic Business Simulator - Decision Entry
program can be closed by choosing File:Exit.
Process a Quarter of Data
After all companies have entered their decisions for a quarter,
the Game Coordinator should run the Strategic Business Simulator -
Control Panel and choose to open the SBS game data file that is to
be processed by choosing File:Open. Then the Game Coordinator
should select the Process a Quarter of Data button. The Strategic
Business Simulator will automatically check to make sure all of the
companies have entered their decisions and notify you of the ones
that have not.
After processing a quarter of data, the Game Coordinator should
view, print off, and distribute the Quarterly Reports of the
companies. To determine which company is performing the best,
select the View Company Ranking Report button. After the companies
have analyzed their company's Quarterly Report, the companies are
ready to enter the next quarter of management decisions. This
procedure is repeated until the desired number of quarters have
been played. The maximum number of quarters that can be played is
16 (shareware version is limited to 3).
APPENDIX A
Installing Strategic Business Simulator on a local area network
Why use Strategic Business Simulator on a local area network?
If you install the Strategic Business Simulator on a network
server, your computer's hard disk is free for other uses.
Also, using the Strategic Business Simulator on a local area
network (LAN) allows all or many of the teams to be entering
their company's management decisions at the same time.
Installing Strategic Business Simulator on a local area network
You can use the Strategic Business Simulator Install program
to setup a shared copy of the game on a LAN, but some
additional steps must be taken to ensure that everything runs
correctly. It's probably best to have a network administrator
install and configure the software on a LAN.
To Install Strategic Business Simulator on a server:
1. Make sure all file and directory permissions are enabled
in your networking program before you begin. Refer to
your networking documentation for information about
setting permissions.
2. Create a directory on the network server drive where you
want to install the Strategic Business Simulator
software: \SBS.
3. Use the Strategic Business Simulator Install program to
setup the software on your network server. When the
installation program asks where you want to install the
files, type the path of the new Strategic Business
Simulator directory on your server.
To Install Strategic Business Simulator on a workstation:
1. Ensure that Windows is installed and the user account
has access to the Strategic Business Simulator shared
directory on the network server. (Read and Write access
is required for this shared directory.)
2. Start Windows and create a Strategic Business Simulator
group in the Program Manager, then add SBS-Control Panel
(SBS.EXE) and SBS-Decision Entry (SBSDEC.EXE) to the
group.