Business Game
Code: 102350 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2501572 Business Administration and Management | OT | 4 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Teresa Obis Artal
- Email:
- teresa.obis@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- spanish (spa)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- Yes
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites, but it is recommended that students have completed the following subjects: Essentials of Marketing, Marketing Management and Strategic Management I and II.
Objectives and Contextualisation
Train students in making strategic marketing decisions through the use of a simulator or business game.
The students live the practical experience of developing a complete marketing strategy. Based on the analysis of the available information, the students make the corresponding decisions and the simulator allows to verify in real time the success or failure of the proposed strategy.
Competences
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Apply theoretical knowledge to improve relations with clients and suppliers, identifying the advantages and disadvantages of those relations for both sides: company and client or supplier.
- Capacity for adapting to changing environments.
- Capacity for independent learning in the future, gaining more profound knowledge of previous areas or learning new topics.
- Capacity for oral and written communication in Catalan, Spanish and English, which enables synthesis and oral and written presentation of the work carried out.
- Demonstrate initiative and work individually when the situation requires it.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the processes for the implementation of company strategies.
- Organise the work in terms of good time management, organisation and planning.
- Select and generate the information necessary for each problem, analyse it and take decisions based on that information.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- Take decisions in situations of uncertainty, demonstrating an entrepreneurial and innovative attitude.
- Transmit company, department or work objectives clearly.
- Work well in a team, being able to argue proposals and validate or reject the arguments of others in a reasoned manner.
Learning Outcomes
- A capacity of oral and written communication in Catalan, Spanish and English, which allows them to summarise and present the work conducted both orally and in writing.
- Apply the concepts of strategic marketing to achieve market-oriented organisation.
- Assess the importance of long-term commercial relationships with clients (relationship marketing).
- Assess the main marketing concepts and tools.
- Capacity to adapt to changing environments.
- Capacity to continue future learning independently, acquiring further knowledge and exploring new areas of knowledge.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Demonstrate initiative and work independently when required.
- Establish strategies of innovation and development of new products.
- Evaluate the major concepts and tools of communication (offline and online).
- Formulate and design different strategies of growth and differentiation.
- Identify the differences in the marketing applied to different economic sectors or types of organisations.
- Identify the different elements making up a marketing plan, and draw up a marketing plan.
- Identify the different elements that make up a communication plan and develop a communication plan.
- Make decisions in situations of uncertainty and show an enterprising and innovative spirit.
- Organise work, in terms of good time management and organisation and planning.
- Perform an analysis of the market and of competitive structures, and determine a strategic diagnosis for the company.
- Propose projects and actions in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights, diversity and democratic values.
- Recognise the different directions a company can adopt.
- Select and generate the information needed for each problem, analyse it and make decisions based on this information.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- Translate strategic goals into specific marketing-mix programmes.
- Translating strategic objectives into concrete programs of communication.
- Understand the importance of strategic marketing as a source of competitive advantages for the organisation.
- Work as part of a team and be able to argue own proposals and validate or refuse the arguments of others in a reasonable manner.
Content
- Formation of work groups and general description of the MARKSTRAT model. Delivery of initial information and comments on the mandatory readings.
- Previous decisions to familiarize yourself with the game.
- Decision making, from 1 to 9/10.
- Development of an information system to help decision-making.
- Oral and written presentation of the work done.
- Comparative analysis of the strategies followed by the different groups and conclusions
Methodology
It is a game of companies that revolves fundamentally around decisions of Marketing and Business Management (market research, pricing policy, advertising, positioning, segmentation, and product portfolio) studying the impact of these decisions through an analysis of accounting and market information. Groups of students are constituted and each of them manages a fictitious company. Companies enter into competition in the same market and, depending on the decisions made by each group, the positions, participation and economic results of each company are configured. In the end, a study of the obtained results is made and the decisions taken based on the theory and the concepts that have been studied in other subjects of the degree are analyzed.
Class assistance is mandatory. In the non-face-to-face format, attendance will be understood as being available on the proposed connections. You are part of the management committee of a company and you cannot miss the decisions made in each session.
The software used in this assignment is as follows:
Makstrat-2: A company game on which the assignment is based.
Excel: intensive use of this tool to analyze available information and improve decision-making.
Teams: teamwork and file transfer between students in a group and with the teacher managing the game.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Practical classes, information analysis and decision making | 17 | 0.68 | 7, 2, 5, 1, 6, 8, 24, 9, 11, 14, 13, 12, 16, 15, 18, 21, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 10, 4, 3 |
| Theoretical lectures, discussion of cases and presentation of works | 32.5 | 1.3 | 7, 2, 5, 1, 6, 8, 24, 9, 11, 14, 13, 12, 16, 15, 18, 21, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 10, 4, 3 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials and follow-up of the work to be done and the cases to prepare | 15 | 0.6 | 7, 2, 5, 1, 6, 8, 24, 9, 11, 14, 13, 12, 16, 15, 18, 21, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 10, 4, 3 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Related readings, preparation of cases and practices, study and elaboration of schemes | 69 | 2.76 | 7, 2, 5, 1, 6, 8, 24, 9, 11, 14, 13, 12, 16, 15, 18, 21, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 10, 4, 3 |
Assessment
* Individual test on the Markstrat Manual (20%),
Attendance will be computed as follows: present = 2 points, Delay or Excused absence = 1, Unexcused absence = 0 points.
* Results obtained by the group in the simulation (40%).
- The student who does not exceed 80% attendance will lose 50% of the grade obtained by his/her group in the simulation.
- The student who does not exceed 70% attendance will lose 100% of the grade obtained by his/her group in the simulation
* Final report of the group on the strategy and results of your company (15%).
* Presentation of some remarkable result that has occurred in the management of your company (15%)
* Elaboration of a dashboard that allows visualizing the most relevant management indicators (KPI) (10%)
A student is considered to be "Not evaluable" in the subject when informing the teacher that he/she leaves the subject before week 7 of the course.
Calendar of evaluation activities
The dates of the different evaluation tests (partial exams, exercises, delivery of works, ...) will be announced in the virtual campus at the beginning of the course and will be done within the weeks of teaching. There is no final exam on the subject.
"The dates of evaluation activities cannot be modified unless there is an exceptional and duly justified reason why an evaluation activity cannot be carried out. In this case, the degree coordinator will contact both the teaching staff and the affected student, and a new date will be scheduled within the same academic period to make up for the missed evaluation activity." Section 1 of Article 115. Calendar of evaluation activities (Academic Regulations UAB). Students of the Faculty of Economics and Business, who in accordance with the previous paragraph needto change an evaluation activity date must process the request by filling out an Application for exams' reschedule https://eformularis.uab.cat/group/deganat_feie/application-for-exams-reschedule
Grade revision process
In the virtual campus will be informed of the procedure, place, date and time of the review of exams in accordance with the regulations of the University.
Retake Process
"To be eligible to participate in the retake process, it is required for students to have been previously been evaluated for at least two-thirds of the total evaluation activities of the subject." Section 3 of Article 112 ter. The recovery (UAB Academic Regulations). Additionally, it is required that the student to have achieved an average grade of the subject between 3.5 and 4.9.
The date of the retake exam will be posted in the calendar of evaluation activities of the Faculty. Students who take this exam and pass will get a grade of 5 for the subject. If the student does not pass the retake, the grade will remain unchanged, and hence, the student will fail the course.
Irregularities in evaluation activities
In spite of other disciplinary measures deemed appropriate, and in accordance with current academic regulations, "in the case that the student makes any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation activity, it will be graded with a 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that can be instructed. In case of various irregularities occur in theevaluation of the same subject, the finalgrade of this subject will be 0". Section 10 of Article 116. Resultsof the evaluation. (UAB Academic Regulations).
In this sense, any delivery that is identified plagiarized by other colleagues or any other source entails a zero in that evaluation. In case of plagiarism between classmates, the zero will be as much for the plagiarist as for the one that facilitates the plagiarism.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creation of a dashboard | 10% | 2 | 0.08 | 7, 2, 5, 1, 6, 8, 24, 9, 11, 14, 13, 12, 16, 15, 18, 21, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 10, 4, 3 |
| Final report of the group | 15% | 2.5 | 0.1 | 7, 2, 5, 1, 6, 8, 24, 9, 11, 14, 13, 12, 16, 15, 18, 21, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 10, 4, 3 |
| Markstrat Test | 20% | 1 | 0.04 | 7, 2, 5, 1, 6, 8, 24, 9, 11, 14, 13, 12, 16, 15, 18, 21, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 10, 4, 3 |
| Results presentation | 15% | 2.5 | 0.1 | 7, 2, 5, 1, 6, 8, 24, 9, 11, 14, 13, 12, 16, 15, 18, 21, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 10, 4, 3 |
| Simulation results | 40% | 8.5 | 0.34 | 7, 2, 5, 1, 6, 8, 24, 9, 11, 14, 13, 12, 16, 15, 18, 21, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 10, 4, 3 |
Bibliography
BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Markstrat-2. Manual del Participante. Publicació Interna
Larréché, J. C. y Gatignon, M.: Markstrat-2, Marketing, Strategy Simulation, The Scientific Press, 1990
COMPLEMENTARY READING LIST:
UDIZ GERMAN: "Manual de Dirección Comercial i Marketing", Ed. Grudiz, (2019 - Última Edició)-Edició Electrònica.
ANTONIO MATEO SANZ, :"Dirección Comercial", Ed. Ommpress, (2019 - Última Edició)
PÉREZ Fabián i SCHEFER Raymon,:"Dirección Comercial Avanzada: Del Análisis a la Propuesta de Valor", Ed. Cengage (2015 - Última Edició) - Edició Electrònica
GRANT, R.M. (2014): Dirección estratégica. Madrid: Civitas.
GUERRAS, L.A.; NAVAS, J.E. (2015): La dirección estratégica de la empresa. Teoría y aplicaciones. Madrid: Thomson-Civitas.
Software
Markstrat - 2
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Teams