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Business game Essay Reflection on Personal Performance in Business Strategy Game Business strategy games involving management process before confirming the decision to be made. Lesson learned taken from the business game, from the process and the content from the case (industry and situation condition of the business). Management Process Planning was the first process taken. Reading and understanding the relevant information was necessary and plays a significant role in planning process. Expectation was established in the planning, and followed stepping process until all aspects have been determined, including all distinctiveness in production (capacity, model, etc. ), transportation (shipping), labor, etc. Planning is critical, and it was indicated in the business strategy games, in which it required quite some time to achieve an agreement. Time was also a factor should be considered, and it drove the discussion on the planning to obtain the agreement. Organizing was also needed in the game to obtain optimal process. One opinion was listened and it organized the discussion and the direction of the process toward certain strategy. Other opinion was taking in to consideration, whether support or as devil advocacy to the strategy. The process also managed by organizing the flow of discussion to center on the strategy with already decided to be focused on. One person plays role as organizer at one time became a source person or follower in the other time. This approach of organizing made the progress of the discussion in the one focal point that describes the strategy taken which leads to the decision. When a member played the role as organizer, then the member did directing the process and content according to the chosen strategy, and also can happened that the strategy can be changed according to the expected result and considering assumption of strategy of the competitors. Some times in the process, one or more member can have their drive going down. In this situation other member did motivated the team to keep up the winning spirit. Controlling was also involved in the process, by focus on one thing and sacrifices in other thing, align with the strategy. These four processes of management were implemented in the process of gaining the final decision and in determining the content to be made (such as production/manufacturing, shipping, labor, price, etc. ), in which the final decision was made by consensus. The experience in the game gives the learning point in practicing of implementing management process, planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. Within a given time, group should be able to do planning (including crafting the strategy, and establish the goal), organizing the process (including agreed on the road map of the process, listening and expressing opinion, and adjusting to the characteristics of the group), directing (including do and accept direction, motivating others, make or initiate decision), and controlling (to be aligned with strategy). Management Functions Strategy plays a critical role in the process, and aim to make the company have differentiation that creates competitive edge compare with the competitors. Decisions are determined align with the chosen strategy. Strategy such as increasing market share and or increasing price to obtain more profit, and or have a low cost production by moving the manufacturing to the low cost location, and or lowering the labor cost, and or increasing the quality of the product, etc. , were became the issues discussed during the process. Any decision made in the process should be linked to the strategy and eventually to the expected result (goal). Marketing management initiatives plays important role in the process. Attention was put in the advertising or promotion program. The decision on the initiatives was made in relation with other initiatives, and initiative should be congruence to be able to reach expected impact. Operations management was also applied, in order to have efficient and low cost production, to be able to lower the price, or put emphasizing in better quality of product and therefore adjust the price to a higher number. Having different locations of manufacturing was also part of consideration in operation management, including the days needed for shipping, and inventory level. Financial management was critical. At the end of the day, the success of the strategy, whether the plan was achieved of not, was determined by facts and figures which was analyzed and interpreted in terms of financial. The situation or condition of the company was considering of profitable, safe or potentially bankrupt, and whether the strategy was effective or not was determined from numbers including financial ratios. Production plan and realization, exchange rate, labor cost, product sold or unsold, inventory level, price, etc. were contributed to the financial condition, and will be analyzed further for determining next strategy (for next run). Human Resource was also had major role in the decision process. Number of labor involved, salary and incentives, were several factors considered in human resource function. During the discussion it was also considered incentive factors as the factor that can boost the motivation of the employees, in which can increase the productivity and eventually proportionally can lower the cost. Experience in the business games told that the management functions will be more effective if it was take into consideration in integrated way. The strategy made was comprise of many functions of management, Working in Teams Team work was a factor that can smooth the progress of the practice toward a productive way. At one time one member took the role as leader, and expressed the idea or opinion which regarded as reference that was supported or argued by other members. The leader than guide or direct the process toward obtaining acceptable or best solution. Other member played role as follower, tried to understand point of view of the leader, and gave opinion to enrich the information for having the decision. In one process it can happened that the role of leader was switch from one member to another member, and lead the discussion toward the decision. Working in team in the business games demonstrated by listening to other opinions or ideas and, gave contribution to the group by doing analysis and expressing constructive argument and idea or opinion to the group. In the process of making group decision, group tried to obtain consensus, with all group members support the decision. Experience and Lesson Taken to Working Place In leading unit in the working place, it is important to have clear goals for the unit, which are determined in the process of performance planning that usually take place at the beginning of the year. The goals comprises of organization (unit) objective, and individual objective which should be clear and measurable (refer to SMART Goals principle) and cascaded from top to bottom, means that the goals are aligned from executive or manager position to staff position. Having a clear goals or expectations will make all employees within the unit know exactly what are expected to be achieved and will make the monitoring of performance become more effective, and eventually it will make the evaluation of the achievement more effective. Leader should be able to define the goals, which reflected what the unit wants to be, particularly for the respective year. For the unit, strategy than decided to define what is the best way to achieve the goals or answering how to get there. Leader should be able to determine the strategy, which should consider of having different way of doing rather than just following the same thing. Strategy should have put into consideration opportunities and obstacles that can potentially will be faced along the year. For the unit performance, flow of work, service level agreement, number of employee, training and development program that will have impact to the quality of work, compensation practice, etc. should be considered in order to have effective strategy. Every people in the organization have potential, and leader should put effort to unleash the potential of the individual and support them to perform in their work. Many initiatives of improvement or programs come from the people in the unit that can give positive impact to the unit. Motivation is needed to keep the work spirit not fall to the lower level. Leader should do coaching to ensure people in the unit understand and on track, make sure that people move to the same direction with same strategy. Every function of management can be implemented to achieve optimum result. Managing the operation implemented to ensure effectiveness and efficiency of work. Human resource management will help in ensuring what unit do are align with the business. Financial management can be implement whether in business or support function, for instance to measure Return on Investment of certain initiatives. As member of management team, we should contribute in a positive way by giving opinion and ideas, or doing what has been decided productively. Discussion should be conducted in conducive way, listen what other people say and express opinion to reach to the decision. When decision has been made, member should follow and committed to perform the decision in effectively. Success of the unit is also determined by the competency, performance, and contribution of the members. To have an optimum result, member should be able to look the purpose as unit purpose not individual purpose. This principle can create synergy between members in the team and can contribute more to the performance of the team. The business strategy games provide inspiration that can be applied in the working situation. Having competitors that can affect the result of one group convey the message that in establishing standard, one unit should not look into inside factors, but should also consider outside factors. The capability of the unit can be seen differently and will lead to different goals and strategy. Strategy can be different if the external condition is supportive and indicates opportunity and will be different if the external conditions are not accommodating. Macro and micro analysis can be conducted to have a more comprehensive analysis for obtaining effective and right decision. Read more: http://www. ukessays. com/essays/business/reflection-on-personal-performance-in-business-strategy-game-business-essay. php#ixzz2leirR8KT BUSINESS SIMULATION GAMES INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION PAPER On 10 November 2010 afternoon, Our Can group get a chance to get the materials business simulation games, the first time we were a little confused and not understand what the content and intent or purpose of this program. Until then we get the opportunity to play an active role play in the game by forming a company in our Group Can. Listen Read phonetically Dictionary View detailed dictionary I am a member of cans group discussion 3, in this business game, we manage the company named CHAMP. We chose the name CHAMP for our company becouse we hopes that companies will become a leader or a winner in this Business Simulation Game. Growth of our company in this game very interesting and gave many valuable lessons. Our company was ranked second on the game in first year, after making changes in the manufacturing and marketing strategy; we became the first winner in the game in the second year. In the third year we make changes in the shipping, manufacturing also marketing strategy again to maintain its position as champion, but in the fact that our ranking dropped to be number 3. In the fourth year we wanted to get back into champions. We did totally change the strategy in all sections and mainly to increase product awareness, we contracted with many famous artists paid a high price for promotion. But the results we slumped to the lowest ranking (sixth). This surprised us and made us confused to find out where our biggest mistakes in managing the company. Listen Read phonetically Dictionary View detailed dictionary noun camp compound Did not want to continue to decline, in the fifth year we try to flash back to learn the success stories in the first and second year, besides that we also study the companys strategy of competitors, then we create a new strategy and the results we were able to ride into fourth place. In the sixth year we try to make small changes to strategy in several sections and the results we rose again to number three. In the seventh year we do not make changes to our strategy and stay at rank 3. After doing business game above, there are many valuable lessons that I get. Those lessons were: About Management Process (Planning, Organizing, Directing, Controlling) In managing a company as a manager or owner of a business we must have: a. Planing ? Both long-term planning and short term, this really helps us to determine the strategy or action we should do in the near future or the preparation for long-term corporate strategy. b. Organization ? Complete, clear and transparent as one of the supporters because of the companys people are assets of a company†, the placement of people with appropriate knowledge and skills that will facilitate the acceleration of the process as well as the operations of a company. It also must be supported by a clear Job Description and detail-enter the respective functions of the organization. c. Directing ? In the governance of a company also must be supported by rules or standard operating systems or procedures are clear and understood by all line employees. we often call with company regulations, standard operating procedures etc. d. Controlling ? As a manager or owner in a company we still have to implement controls on employee performance, corporate governance, corporate operating costs and market conditions that support the smooth and that we manage the companys growth periodically. We can also be done with checking Monthly Report / Balance Sheet , hold on monthly meetings, etc. Listen Read phonetically Dictionary View detailed dictionary adjective inside deep indoor internal interior profound inland intrinsic cavernous thoughtful three-dimensional adverb deeply sound preposition in within on to inside under in the course of prefix endo- 2. About Management Function (Strategy, Marketing, Operations, Finance, Human Resources, etc. ) Strategy ? Corporate strategy should be set appropriately by considering several factors, including supporters of human capital, finance, market share and also that there are competitors in the same type of business with our company. In the governance of a business may take a few strategies such as for launching a new product needs some backup strategy, it is necessary whenever the initial strategy does not show results in maximum then we still have some alternative backup strategy, so it does not require a long time to take any action appropriate in market penetration. Marketing ? According to my opinion, the success rate of a company also backed with the full functionality of the marketing is true both in the company engaged in the services or products etc. Capable marketing, product master, around the existing market and marketing must knowing the strengths and weaknesses of competitors. Listen Operations ? Operational support from both system and service level aggrement factor in a process of corporate governance is very important. It also needs to be supported with the latest technology. Listen Read phonetically Dictionary View detailed dictionary verb hold conduct make organize provide establish arrange carry out throw take set up call launch institute stage put on bring about impose carry on incur exercise levy open put up effect float lay on negotiate afford touch off operate stage-manage generate phrase bring into being Finance ? A company can be said in good condition when to generate maximum profit. As a manager or the owners of a company we should be able to manage our capital versus operating costs required, the greater the profit earned by production costs that are not too large will show the healthy of a business. However, we also must consider the placement of funds and financial governance of our company, whether already in accordance with the budgeting or is not appropriate. In terms of business expansion or major factor that should we consider is the condition of our corporate finance, whether supportive or not, when lack of support but the potential or opportunities that we have a large, one financial source of our business is on loan from the Bank with a source of return and specific timeframe. Human Resources ? In addition to the above factors one important thing to note is that inadequate human resources that are reliable and have the skills to suit the needs of the company. A competent leader should be able to determine the amount of labor requirements and can put the right people-enter the respective divisions within an organization. 3. About Working In Teams To work as a reliable teamwork are some things we have to consider include: Get familiar with either all members of the team, it is useful to the division of tasks and towards solving problems that arise. We must be willing to hear opinions of all members of the team in making changes in strategy or action for operasinal company. Explore more information and opinion that reliable and resonable with the case or problem that we should solving as a good team work, eq. Browsing some data from internet or from any sourches. Putting the right people on the job or responsibilities in accordance with the characteristics of our team members are. Based on the experiences and lessons I got from the business game I have done, I plan to apply some advantages in my workplace. As the leader of my unit : A leader should have strong leadership and enough skills to manage the organization and the company. Planning, directing (also mentoring or choaching program) and controlling periodicly to all of my sub ordinate. Delegate some responsibilities to the deputy business with a fixed control function properly . Sharing knowledge to all sub-ordinate, sub-branch manager and exploring new knowledge, new technology and strategy for the success of Bank Mega Cluster Balikpapan Special Hire employee from another Bank (Manager or Marketing) to help me manage the company and make the vision 1000 of Bank Mega become reality (become the leader bank in Balikpapan – East Kalimantan Indonesia) As a member of my management team : Being more creative, proactive and always have new ideas to supporting the management team More details in targeting business opportunities and increase market share. Establishing a reliable team work with 2-way communication is effective and still value the opinions of other members of management team Read more: http://www. ukessays. com/essays/business/business-simulation-games-individual-reflection-paper-business-essay. php#ixzz2lej5YvdS REFLECTION PAPER – THE BUSINESS STRATEGY GAME About Management Processes From the Business Strategy Game, I learned that first important process for a company to determine its future business path was to set a strategic and realistic planning about what is the company goal, how long the goal will be achieved and how to achieve the goal among the competition. In setting the plan, company should define first what is their mission statement or strategic vision. This mission statement is a statement which indicates the purposes and activities of the company’s business/goals in brief, clear and focus words. Along with mission statement, company must clearly define its objectives quantitatively within certain period. From these quantitative objectives, company could set a realistic and attainable long term strategic planning to allocate budget and resources in the company. In strategic planning, company should define clearly its target market, financial objective and competitive position among the industry. This strategic planning will be the direction of the company in running its business. After setting the strategic planning, company should design an organization structure to manage the company effectively, by designating persons who will in charge in each roles and held responsibility in each area of the business in the company (marketing, finance, operation, sales and so on), especially the person who will be responsible as the leader of the company (as CEO). The role of CEO is very essential because he/she must lead company to the right direction in implementing company strategy to achieve company’s objectives. From the clear and effective organization structure, CEO and management will have clear legitimation and authority in directing all resources in the company to implement the company’s strategy. Finally, the company should closely and intensively controlling and monitoring the performance of the strategy during implementation to assess its progress against the pre-defined targets and ensure that all the company elements were doing their parts and responsibility in the right track. About Management Functions In a company, management should establish the right and important functions which will run the company operational activities, define what are the responsibilities of each functions and ensure that each functions performed in accordance with the company objectives. In order to give more value to the company in terms of profitability, management should work together to set a strategy in making company’s output (product or services) more competitive in the market by considering all aspects involved. As an example, to gain more profitability company could set pricing strategy to be higher or lower compare to market but before decided the price, company should consider other aspects such as costs, quality and resources needed in creation of the product or services. About Working in Teams In working as a team member in the company, it is very important to determine a clear designation about who will act as the leader and the follower. Because if there’s no clear designation, potentially will cause the resources in the company to move to the wrong direction and this will destruct company effort in achieving its objectives. As a leader, a person should show the ability to manage and to coach the entire team member to do their tasks properly, and he/she should has willingness to listen and appreciation to his/her followers insights at the same time. And as a follower, one should give respect to the leader and obey the leader decisions. But it is important too for the company to define what is the follower assignment and designation, because if it is not clearly defined, the follower couldn’t perform nor contributed optimally in attaining company’s objective process. What I plan to do in my work place from the experience and lessons I took from the BSG are : As the leader of my unit I will put more effort to be an effective and efficient leader of my unit and will put more awareness to all my team member that our jobs especially in designing the most efficient operational work flow in my company has essential impact in saving the company budget and optimizing company resources which will contributed in achieving the company’s objective especially in financial aspect and giving more value to the customer and shareholder. And furthermore I will spend more time and effort to evaluate designation and job description for each member of my team, to put the right person to the right job and responsibility. If the designation and job description were not fit or not clear to the team member, it will impact to the performance of the working unit itself because each team member do not know exactly what is their role in their working unit. As a member of my management team I will put more consideration and attention about financial impact of any decision that my management made. From the BSG, I see that all activities in each working unit must be contributed and affected to the company strategic planning especially in achieving financial goals. And I will put more respect to any member and any decision of my management team made, even though sometimes the decision seems to be hard to be implement, I will try to see it from wider perspective that the decision must be made deliberately and considered many important aspects which ending is to give more value for the company.