Business Game
Code: 102350Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Business Administration and Management | OP | 4 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Teresa Obis Artal
- Email :
- teresa.obis@uab.cat
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
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
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.
Excel is used intensively to base decision making on available data.
Learning outcomes
- Capacity to adapt to changing environments.
- Capacity to continue future learning independently, acquiring further knowledge and exploring new areas of knowledge.
- Select and generate the information needed for each problem, analyse it and make decisions based on this information.
- Make decisions in situations of uncertainty and show an enterprising and innovative spirit.
- 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.
- Organise work, in terms of good time management and organisation and planning.
- Demonstrate initiative and work independently when required.
- 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.
- Assess the main marketing concepts and tools.
- Assess the importance of long-term commercial relationships with clients (relationship marketing).
- Identify the differences in the marketing applied to different economic sectors or types of organisations.
- Understand the importance of strategic marketing as a source of competitive advantages for the organisation.
- Perform an analysis of the market and of competitive structures, and determine a strategic diagnosis for the company.
- Formulate and design different strategies of growth and differentiation.
- Establish strategies of innovation and development of new products.
- Recognise the different directions a company can adopt.
- Identify the different elements making up a marketing plan, and draw up a marketing plan.
- Translate strategic goals into specific marketing-mix programmes.
- Apply the concepts of strategic marketing to achieve market-oriented organisation.
- Evaluate the major concepts and tools of communication (offline and online).
- Identify the different elements that make up a communication plan and develop a communication plan.
- Translating strategic objectives into concrete programs of communication.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- 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.
- Propose projects and actions in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights, diversity and democratic values.
Contents
- 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
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practical classes, information analysis and decision making | 17 | 0.68 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 |
| Tutorials and follow-up of the work to be done and the cases to prepare | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 |
| Related readings, preparation of cases and practices, study and elaboration of schemes | 69 | 2.76 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 |
| Theoretical lectures, discussion of cases and presentation of works | 32.5 | 1.3 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 |
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 studied in other subjects of the degree are analyzed.
Class attendance is mandatory, from the first class, since available information analysis and decisions are made in the class. 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.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Markstrat Test | 20% | 1 | 0.04 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 |
| Creation of a dashboard | 10% | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 |
| Results presentation | 15% | 2.5 | 0.1 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 |
| Final report of the group | 15% | 2.5 | 0.1 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 |
| Simulation results | 40% | 8.5 | 0.34 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 |
* Individual test on the Markstrat Manual (20%),
* 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
Attendance will be computed as follows: present = 2 points, Delay or Excused absence = 1, Unexcused absence = 0 points.
* 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.
This subject does not offer the option for comprehensive evaluation.
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
At virtual campus will be informed of the procedure, place, date, and time of the review of exams by 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 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 have achieved an average grade in the subject between 3.5 and 4.9.
The retake exam date 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
The completion of assessment activities is subject to the provisions set out in this course guide and in the "Policy of the School of Economics and Business on the Detection of Irregularities during Assessment Activities", which regulates the conditions under which assessment tasks are conducted and the procedures applicable in cases where indications of irregularities are detected. Students are encouraged to consult the policy.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technologies
For this course, the restricted use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, text correction, or translations. Students must clearly identify which parts have been generated using this technology, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these tools have influenced the process and the final outcome of the activity. Lack of transparency in the use of AI in an assessable activity will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in partial or total penalization of the grade for the activity, or more severe sanctions in serious cases.
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
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 51 | Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 51 | Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |