Capsim Case Study

1. The people side of leadership

• Adage

“There is no such thing as a stupid idea” –

"A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle." - Japanese Proverb

Every individual has their own way of looking at things. No one person’s ideas need to agree with the other. There is no such this as a stupid idea. We at Ferris, made sure everyone’s opinion is respected and taken into consideration. I learned that working in team of people with the same goal is important so every one helps one other to move forward to achieve the same goal. Encourage each one to share their understanding of the matter no matter how little the understand is.

• Example

The strength of our team was its group members .We made sure each of the team members shared our views and expectations of the Capsim journey. We also shared the knowledge we acquired from the practice rounds and what each of our strategies were, how did we perform and how each of us think we can do differently to get better results. We made sure we worked as a team and valued every team member’s ideas and suggestion’s. We had no major decision disputes between teammates because we believed in valuing every person’s ideas and helping each other learn along the process. We incorporated friendly debates about our chosen ideas to spark creative side of each individual. Our CEO did a great job is maintaining competitive harmony between our team members.

•

Application

I am confident that I will be able to use this experience to be a better team player in my coming years’.

I have learned the value of team contribution, which is the foundation of being a successful leader. This simulation was a great practice for the future when we will be placed in-group settings and put under strict

deadlines.

2. The strategic side of leadership

• Adage

“If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else”- Lawrence J. Peter

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars” – Les Brown

Setting the right goal is the most important step towards success. Think of what you want to do/be in a certain period of time. What expectation you have. Aim to achieve more than you think you can but be realistic at the same time. Know the difference between an optimistic goal and an unrealistic goal. The goal should be your guiding map throughout your journey. When you don’t know which direction you are heading, make sure to look at the goal you set in the start of your journey.

• Example

In the simulation, by the end of the 8th year, we had a total market share of 17.39% combined of all our 4 products. Our goal is to introduce 2 new products and raise the combined market share of all our old and new products to 22%. This is a realistic goal we set based on the analysis on our previous product sales.

• Application

Before the simulation, I had very little idea of what is the importance of setting goals and most importantly what it takes to stick to your goals and work around it to achieve your goals. I learned that setting objectives is very difficult but critically important to accomplish our goals.

3. The analytical-details side of leadership

• Adage

“For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour” -Mary Kay Ash

“When we give ourselves permission to fail, we, at the same time, give ourselves permission to excel.” - Eloise Ristad

It is very important to not get carried away by the mistakes you made. You analyze why the situation has arisen but not dwell into it and forget what you set out for.

• Example

Ferris’s performance at year 3 was the least desirable. We had the lowest market shares. We were not making any profits and we had a lot of inventories in hand. When we analyzed the data to see where our strategies’ were not being implemented well, we noticed that we overlooked the importance of marketing our products and making it accessible to consumers. We compared our sales and promotions budget to our competitors and noticed that we were the company investing the least on marketing. That explained why our products were not selling despite producing more efficient product compared to our competitors.
After the analysis, we came up with a decision to invest more on our marketing budget. In year 4, after the implementation of our new market strategy, our market share increased considerably and our sales improved.

Application

During the simulation, we failed multiple times but every time we failed, we always got back stronger. The lesson I learned is that to never let your failure determine your success. Just because you failed once doesn’t’ mean you are never going to succeed. This experience is going to help me overcome my roadblocks in coming years and keep me motivated irrespective of the success or failure of my work.

PART 2

The value of a good team communication & respect I think is one of the top things that would of great help during my MBA program. Most of our subjects are based around team projects, it is important to find teammates that understand your style of work and not be over powering with their decisions.

The second important lesson is to accept your failures. There is going to be times when you do not know the subject too well or you are having a hard time grasping the concepts. I think the idea is to keep going and not worry too much about your failures, rather try to think of it as an opportunity to improve and analyze where you went wrong and what can you do differently.

REFERENCES:

Adages’
http://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/103342-ten-great-quotes-on-team-building/
http://www.quotegarden.com/goals.html
http://www.quoteland.com/topic/Success-Failure-Quotes/137/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ekaterinawalter/2013/12/30/30-powerful-quotes-on-failure/