Module Handbook 2020/21

Integrated Business Management Simulation

Semester 2

UMSDMK-15-3
Module Leader Name: Susan Barnard
Aims of the Handbook
The information in the handbook can also be found in a number of other electronic or paper
sources and the document provides links to the definitive data sources wherever possible.

Please note that the electronic version of the handbook will be kept up to date and you will
be notified of any significant changes. If you have taken a hard copy of any information
please remember to refer back to the electronic version to ensure that you are working with
the most up to date information.

Contents
Page
1. Module leader contact information 3

2. Module specific information 3

- The function of the Integrated Business Management Simulation 3

- Module Learning Outcomes 4

- Learning and Teaching Strategy 4

- Team Allocation Process 5

- How To Do Well in this Module 5

3. Seminar and Preparation Tasks 7

4. Lecture and Seminar Programme and Readings 8-10

5. Assignment Brief 11

- Team Grade 11

- Team and Individual Responsibility 11

6. Submission details 12

7. Additional information and reading strategies 13

8. Communication 14

9. Advice and support 14

10. Appendices I to VII (includes marking criteria) 15-28

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1. Module leader contact information
Your module leader is:
Dr Susan Barnard

Email: Susan2.Barnard@uwe.ac.uk
Office: 6X224
Tel: 0117 32 87104

External examiners from other institutions are appointed to each module to act
independently and work with the module team in the management of threshold academic
standards. The external examiner appointed to this module can be found at
http://www2.uwe.ac.uk/services/Marketing/about-us/cas/Extnl_Exam_Allocation_to_Mods.pdf

2. Module specific information

The Function of the Integrated Business Management Simulation Module

This module draws together strands of learning from the module and your undergraduate
programme of study more widely through an integrative, problem-based project, in the form
of a business simulation. The key elements of this are:

• Participating as part of a team in a business project that requires the application of

learning from across the your programme of study.

• Implementing and evaluating project decisions and their consequent strategic

implementation.

• Reflecting on project and team processes as well as outcomes, and to develop

resilience to cope with unexpected challenges in managing within a team context.

You will need to put all of your learning to the test through participating in teams of 4-5
students to run a ‘virtual’ airline company in this Integrated Business Simulation. You will be
competing with a maximum of 11 other teams in an ‘industry group’. The actual number of
teams will depend on the number of students in a tutorial group. This simulation will run
across the whole semester, with on-line decisions being made each week and entered into a
log-book via BlackBoard during your tutorial. At the end of the semester, you’ll draw
together material for a PowerPoint presentation with notes and submit this on-line. This will
be a group submission.

The company you will be ‘inheriting’ in the simulation is a regional airline carrier that
currently operates in multiple cities within a region but has the option to expand into new
markets and regions, including international and resort routes. You and your team will
practice managing all aspects of running this business, making a wide range of decisions in

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marketing, operations, management, human resource development, finance, and asset
management. The simulation will require you to design and implement a strategy, make
decisions in a team environment and deal with the uncertainties of change caused by
‘critical events’ that will challenge your team’s performance.

As this is an ‘integrative’ business simulation, you will draw on learning not just from this
module, but from other modules taken during your degree at UWE, for example Strategic
Management and Managing Organisational Change. Further, the simulation provides a link
to your Personal and Professional Development (PPD) with a particular focus on Personal
Resilience, Self-Awareness and working in teams. This is assessed formally through
Component B of the assessment strategy.

The Module Specification (UMSDMK-15-3) can be found here:

https://info.uwe.ac.uk/modules/specification.asp?
urn=2142088&file=Integrated_Business_Management_Simulation_v2.pdf

Module Learning Outcomes

As outlined in the Module Specification, the Learning Outcomes for this Module are that on
successful completion of this module you will be able to:

 Integrate learning from a range of different disciplines (underpinned by prior

programme learning) to holistically explore complex organisational situations
(Component A).

 Effectively engage in practice-based learning through the application of a range of

theoretical approaches, analytical techniques and tools to develop and implement
strategic recommendations for achieving project objectives (Component A).

 Understand, critically evaluate different conceptual frameworks of individual change.

(Component A & B)

 Systematically understand the interrelationship of organisation theory and

organisational practice. (Component A).

 Reflect critically on the ethical dilemmas, challenges of organisational change and

working in a team (Component A & B).

 Explore the concept of personal resilience and develop reflexive self-awareness

(Component B).

 Identify the need for personal change to achieve their preferred futures (Component
B).

Learning and Teaching Strategy

This module is delivered over one semester. It is essential that you follow the schedule set
out in the ‘Lecture and Seminar Programme and Readings’ section (pp. 8-10). The basic
pattern is a lecture each week (recorded and available via BlackBoard) and a two-hour live

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seminar that you are expected to attend via BlackBoard Collaborate. The seminar will not be
recorded.

As you will see from reading through this handbook, a key element of your assessment is
linked to success achieved through preparing for and participating in the simulation each
week. The seminars are an exceptionally important part of this module. You will spend most
of your time on team related activities geared towards understanding the data and making
informed decisions for the simulation as part of an experiential learning process. Your tutor
will be available to help guide you (but not to make the decisions for you!) and to actively
support your independent learning.

Working together with others enables you to develop and practice the essential analytical
and critical thinking skills required to do well. The process of analysis, critical thinking,
evaluating evidence and forming judgements is not something you can just ‘learn and
remember,’ since this simulation presents you with a dynamic environment in which you are
forced to confront new situations in each decision period.

You will need to develop your skills in working within a virtual team and in confronting the
challenges of teamwork, engage actively with notions of organisational citizenship. In
addition, you will be expected to reflect on both the simulation outcomes and the team
process to promote wider learning from the integrative project experience, linking it directly
to your PPD activities.

Team Allocation Process

During Seminar 1 you will be asked to form a team of 5 members and notify the tutor by
the end of the session. In some circumstances teams of 4 will be permitted. Any student
who has not notified the tutor of their team membership may be randomly allocated into a
team. You are advised to bear in mind the simulation requirements when choosing your
team (see Airline Student Manual for detail – available on BlackBoard).

How To Do Well in this Module

The objective is to develop your capacity to integrate learning in order to analyse complex
management problems from an organisational perspective and to reflect this in you PPD
portfolio. To this end, to do well in the Component A assessment high quality presentation
submissions will offer evaluation and synthesis across a broad spectrum of learning,
demonstrating a seamless integration across disciplinary areas such as marketing, finance
and accounting, management, human resource management, strategy and operations, as
well as ethical and social issues. They will however also be the product of good team
working. In Component B you are required to reflect on your Personal Resilience and Self-
Awareness as well as your experience of the simulation, how this might translate to the
workplace and how this has assisted you in linking theory and practice. It is therefore
essential that you attend your weekly seminars as a team and engage with the simulation
process.

Do not overlook the importance of the team in contributing to success in the simulation –
there will be the opportunity to reflect on this in your PPD portfolio. When thinking about
how to form your own team, you will want to consider both skill sets and interpersonal

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dynamics. Your team will function much like a consulting team for which a diversity of
functional skills and perspectives will undoubtedly be an asset. Shared goals and familiar
work styles may present their own advantages.

Given the task at hand, you will need to determine how best to compose your own team -
the combination of skills, knowledge, abilities, and work styles you think are important; how
you plan to assemble or recruit people with these skills; and what, sometimes difficult,
trade-offs you may have to make. The Airline Student Manual provides some guidance
on team formation and this is available via BlackBoard. As the manual notes, Airline is a
sophisticated interactive simulation and should not be taken lightly by your team. Success in
the game, both in terms of the learning experience and company performance, is directly
related to the degree of organization and cooperation among company (team) members.
Game results are directly correlated to well-thought-out analysis and planning in the
decision process. An early and complete familiarisation with the contents of the
Airline Student Manual will increase the chances of success.

Getting off to a good start is critically important in managing a firm or participating in a

simulation. Your team should be organised as soon as it is formed. Specific duties should be
assigned with each person to be held accountable for his or her responsibilities. It is
recommended that you assign a "lead" person to head up the team, perhaps with the title of
CEO. This position should be assigned on a rotating basis to give everyone an
opportunity to take a leadership role. Please refer to the Airline Student Manual for
suggestions on roles of the team members in the functional areas of Finance, Marketing,
Human Resources and Operations.

Good performance in your team and thoroughly engaging with the simulation should help
you prepare a high quality presentation submission. As a guide, higher levels of
achievement will demonstrate much fuller integration across the simulation.

In summary, to do well your team needs to:

1. Know and Understand the data. This means that you must review the simulation
results for your company and the industry and understand the outcomes of decisions
you and others have made. You will be expected to understand the discipline specific
material to cope with basic decision-making - such as financial analyses, scheduling
or marketing decisions from your prior learning. The amount of data generated by
the simulation may often look formidable. However, sharing activities across the
team and using each other for support (as well as knowing the intricacies of how to
operate the simulation – such as exporting data into Excel spreadsheets) can help
you.

2. Practice Applying your knowledge to the simulation. This involves attending and
taking an active role in your team decisions during the seminars. The skills and
insights you develop in the seminar will directly relate to your experience in the
simulation and enhance your learning to help you produce a better-informed
presentation submission.

3. Develop your ability to Analyse and Evaluate. Skills of analysis and evaluation
involve thinking in a structured and critical way. You will be expected to apply this
way of thinking to the theoretical material with which you have engaged in your prior

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 learning, as noted above, to help you address the problems of change faced by your
company and indeed by your team.

4. As you reflect on the decision and the performance outcomes each week in the
simulation, you should develop a Decision Log that will demonstrate an increasing
integration and Synthesising of your analysis and evaluation. The highest level of
learning will demonstrate the culmination of this synthesis in the presentation.

3. Seminar Preparation and Tasks

To get the most out of the Airline Simulation you are expected to review the simulation output
and to attend each seminar where you will participate in the team decision-making process.

At various points in the semester your team is required to submit documents to a Team Log
Book via BlackBoard. Copies of the document examples and templates are contained in the
Appendices to this Handbook. In summary:

1. Team Constitution. Invariably, and perhaps especially among friends, tension is likely
to build during the team simulation experience. Experience shows the best way to help
you manage any such conflict is by spending time to create a sound understanding of
the parameters by which you wish to manage your working relationships in the team.
In Seminars 1 and 2 you will spend time on developing the ground rules for your
team and at the end of Seminar 3 you will submit a copy of your team’s Constitution,
signed by all team members to your company decision file on BlackBoard.

2. Passenger Bill of Rights. As you begin developing your view of what your company
stands for, you should produce a short bullet point list of how your vision translates into
service levels for your passengers. This is not mandatory, but is advised.

3. Decision Logs. For each Airline Decision (other than the Practice Decision) your team
is required to complete a Decision Log and submit this, signed by all team
members. Decision Logs are due in the week following the decisions, so
Seminar 4 onwards. The Decision Log is intended to help you identify key issues and
capture key decisions as you progress through the simulation. The purpose is to
provide you with a record you can then draw on in developing your presentation. If you
decide to alter the core thrust of your strategy or any major policies after you have
developed your strategic plan, these should be recorded in your decision log.

The Airline Manual suggests you make notes of the rationale of key decisions (and any
disagreements) in areas such as significant changes in fares, aircraft purchases or
routes, major shifts in advertising, promotion, or training budgets, major changes in
employee compensation or training, as well as your team’s stance on the Critical
Incidents (special decisions) that you will face. In particular you are expected to reflect
on the implications of each Critical Incident for change in your organisation.

4. Strategic Plan. To help guide your overall approach to running your company, each
team is required to develop a simple outline plan (see Appendix IV) and to submit this
to your seminar tutor in Seminar 5.

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 Lecture and Seminar rogramme and Readings (Semester II February 2021)
UWE Date: Week Lecture/ LECTURE TOPIC
Week Beginning Seminar and Lecturer Seminar, Simulation Activity and Reading
Number Monday Number
30 8 February 1 Introduction, Orientation Session
Simulation Create a ‘Team Constitution’ (see Appendix I)
Context,
Teams and Reading:
Assessment Katzenbach, J. R. & Smith, D. K. (2005). The discipline of teams. Harvard Business Review, July-
(Sue Barnard) August, 162-171.
Airline Student Manual
Complete 10 question progress quiz on-line in Airline

31 15 February 2 How the Practice Decision Round

Simulation Create a ‘Passenger Bill of Rights’ (optional)
Works Begin to develop an outline Strategic Plan (for submission in Seminar 5) that contains the
(Sue Barnard) Purpose/Mission and Generic Strategy and that will guide your decision making as you
implement your strategy

Reading:
Collins, J. C., & Porras, J. I. (1996). Building your company’s vision. Harvard Business Review. 74(5):
65-77.
Kaplan, R.S., & Norton, D. R. (2005). The balanced scorecard: measures that drive performance.
Harvard Business Review, 83(7/8), 172-180.
32 22 February 3 Managing Decision 1: make all decisions
Your Weekly Submit Team Constitution to BlackBoard
Decisions Reading:
(Sue Barnard) Eisenhardt, K.M. (1999). Strategy as strategic decision-making. Sloan Management Review, Spring:
65-72.
33 1 March 4 Finance Decision 2: make all decisions
Refresher Complete the Airline Decision 1 Log and submit it to BlackBoard during your tutorial.
(Jackie Barker)

34 8 March 5 Personal Decision 3: make all decisions

Resilience Submit your Decision 2 Log to BlackBoard during your tutorial.
Submit your Strategic Plan to BlackBoard during your tutorial.

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 UWE Date: Week Lecture/ LECTURE TOPIC
Week Beginning Seminar and Lecturer Seminar, Simulation Activity and Reading
Number Monday Number
Critical Incident 1

35 15 March 6 Self- First hour – Component B: Personal Resilience followed by

Awareness Decision 4: make all decisions
Submit your Decision 3 Log to BlackBoard during your tutorial
Critical Incident 2

36 22 March 7 Employability: First hour – Component B: Becoming more Self-Aware followed by

Career Decision 5: make all decisions
Resilience and Submit your Decision 4 Log to BlackBoard during your tutorial
Self- Critical Incident 3
Awareness
(Kate Dwyer)

STUDENT VACATION 29 MARCH TO 9 APRIL

39 12 April 8 No lecture Decision 6: make all decisions

Submit your Decision 5 Log to BlackBoard during your tutorial
Critical Incident 4

40 19 April 9 Drop in Q&A Component B Assessment Support

session Decision 7 make all decisions
(Sue Barnard) Submit your Decision 6 Log to BlackBoard during your tutorial
Critical Incident 5

41 26 April 10 What we Can Decision 8 make all decisions

Learn from Submit your Decision 7 Log to BlackBoard during your tutorial
the Simulation Critical Incident 6
(Sue Barnard)
42 3 May 11 Component A Submit your Decision 8
Assessment
Support Component A Assessment Support
(Drop in Q&A

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 UWE Date: Week Lecture/ LECTURE TOPIC
Week Beginning Seminar and Lecturer Seminar, Simulation Activity and Reading
Number Monday Number
session)

2pm Submit PPD Portfolio to Blackboard at the latest before 2pm on 27 April. Note this is designated as the LATEST
date for submission - you may submit your portfolio at any time in the 2 weeks prior to 27 April.

2pm Upload PowerPoint slides to Blackboard at the latest before 2pm on 11 May. Note this is designated as the LATEST
date for submission - you may submit your presentation at any time in the 2 weeks prior to 11 May.

July 2021 Re-sit Assessment Period: July 2021

If you have failed Component A (the Presentation) you will be formally notified through your MyUWE by the Student
Administration Team after the Award Board in June. The Component A re-sit is a “Reflection under controlled conditions – exam 1
hour”. The guidelines for this will be available on Blackboard after the Assessment Period has ended.

If you have failed Component B (the Portfolio) you will be formally notified through your MyUWE by the Student Administration
Team after the Award Board in June. The Component B re-sit is a resubmission of your portfolio takng in to account the feedback
you have received. The guidelines for this will be available on Blackboard after the Assessment Period has ended.

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4. Assessment Brief
Component A
There is one formal assessment for Component A however you are required to submit an
outline plan of your direction for the simulation to your tutor in Seminar 5 as a Strategic Plan
and to provide weekly submissions of your Decision Logs in class. These documents will
provide your tutors with the ability to give formative feedback on your team’s progress. The
presentation is 75% of your final mark for the IBMS Module.

The presentation will draw on the learning you develop as a result of participating in the
simulation team. Details of the assessment criteria for the presentation are provided
in Appendix V (pp22-24) and should be followed closely. Lecture 11 is dedicated to a
Q&A session for tips on your Component A assessment. Seminar 11 will be focused on
Component A assessment support.

Team Grade
Successful completion of the simulation and presentation will require contributions from all
team members and not just one or two individuals. Individuals are therefore expected to
contribute equally to the AIRLINE team in terms of their effort. Rewards are shared equally.

Team and Individual Responsibility

It is the team's responsibility to work with its members to ensure that everyone is
contributing adequately and to resolve conflicts. For this reason teams are required to create
and submit a copy of their ‘Team Constitution’ by the end of Seminar 3.

As in real organizations individuals may not perform satisfactorily or may not fit with the
“culture” or values of the other team members. In such cases individuals may be fired from
the team. This action is drastic, but occasionally necessary. Upon written petition of ALL
other team members, the tutor and module leader may authorise a team to “fire” an
individual. Your team must demonstrate in its written petition the proactive steps the team
has taken to address the problem and explain why firing is the only remaining viable option.
It is important to stress that the final decision to remove a member from a team sits with
the tutor and the module leader and not with the team.

Individuals that have been fired from a team will have the opportunity to solicit a new
position from another team within the industry. It is left to the discretion of other teams
whether they wish to hire that individual or not. No other team will be obligated to hire a
fired individual. If another team does not hire the individual, the individual will be required
to submit their own version of the PowerPoint presentation with notes. Given the complexity
and intensity of this project, an individual effort in this regard will be extremely challenging!

Component B
Component B is an individual assignment comprising a portfolio, the template for which is
provided at Appendix VI together with the assessment criteria. The assessment draws on
your experience more widely across your programme of study as well as the simulation
module and the lectures specifically associated with the component will be 5, 6 and 7 in the
schedule above. The portfolio represents 25% of your final mark for this module.

11
5. Submission details
Please note the submission deadlines are absolute and based on UWE server time, therefore
you are strongly advised to submit work well ahead of the deadline dates to avoid situations
where penalties could be incurred. Penalties are imposed if a submission is made up to 24
hours after the deadline, and the highest mark you can receive will be the minimum pass
mark (if the assessment is passed). After the 24 hours have passed, the work will not be
accepted for marking.

The PowerPoint presentation with notes submission (Component A) is worth 75% of

your final mark for the IBMS Module. To fulfil the requirements for the presentation your
team must:

(i) Submit ONE set of PowerPoint slides (including notes) by 2pm, Tuesday 11th
May 2021 via Blackboard.
(ii) Presentations must be a maximum of 25 content slides plus one cover slide
providing company name, student names and numbers of all team members, the
industry group and tutorial (T1-a /T2-b etc).
(iii) PowerPoint notes should be included under each of the content slides in bullet
point format to a maximum of 250 words per slide. It is not a requirement to
write 250 words, but that is the maximum you may write under each slide. If the
word count in the notes section exceeds 250 words anything after that point will
not be read by the marker.

You will receive informal feedback verbally through teaching sessions during semester –
ensure you listen carefully as a team. This is a team assessment and as such no individual
written feedback will be provided, however you will receive a team feedback sheet
highlighting areas of strength and areas for improvement. You will receive this up to 20
working days after the submission (excluding University closure days) in accordance with
University regulations. Outcomes that have not been confirmed by an examining board shall
be considered as unconfirmed.

The Personal and Professional Development Portfolio (Component B) is worth 25% of

your final mark for the IBMS Module. The portfolio comprises two parts with a maximum
word limit of 500 words each. Part I is structured as short reflective answers, each with an
individual word limit. Part II requires you to critically reflect on your strengths and
weaknesses around your self-awareness and personal resilience and consider how these
may impact your personal and professional development. The template for the portfolio can
be found at Appendix VI.

The portfolio is due to be submitted via BlackBoard before 2pm Tuesday 27th April 2021.

MyUWE is used to communicate unconfirmed marks and to submit work.

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6. Additional information and Reading Lists
Reading and Resources

Specific readings are provided for Component B and the Personal and Professional
Development element of the module. For Component A, students are required to engage in
critical analysis of the data generated in the simulation to make sense of the change factors at
work and to respond accordingly. As most of your time will be devoted to understanding data
and managing the decision making process, the reading is designed to be complementary to
your simulation experience. The main resource is the on-line Airline Simulation itself. For this
reason the reading list provided for this module is not extensive.

Airline Website
Once you have registered your team with your tutor (see ‘Team Allocation Process’ above) you
will be sent a link from the company Interpretive Simulations that operates the Airline
Simulation. The link will provide you with access to the on-line simulation. UWE has pre-paid
the fee for each student to participate in this simulation so there is no additional cost to you.
Through the website you will receive updates on critical incidents or challenges with which your
team will need to grapple at various points in the simulation. You must keep a record of your
team’s decisions (and decision processes) for the incidents, as you will be asked to respond to
ONE of these as part of your final presentation submission.

Airline Student Manual

A copy of the Student Manual for the Airline Simulation is available via BlackBoard. You are
advised to read this carefully as it contains a great deal of very useful information and guidance
on how to navigate the simulation. You are strongly advised to bring this to each seminar in
order to assist in your team’s decision making. In particular, your attention is drawn to a case
on pages 5-19 that provides an overview of the starting conditions for the simulation i.e. when
you take over the company from the existing management team. You should read this case so
you fully understand the dynamics at play and the changes likely to affect your firm. It maybe
useful to learn (or frequently refer to) the table summarising ‘Market Characteristics’.

Blackboard
As you begin to make decisions, you will be asked to use a variety of forms or documents to
record various activities. A copy of some of these is contained in this Handbook (from page
15 onwards). Copies of all lecture slides will also be available on Blackboard.

You are required to read some articles to support certain dimensions of your learning
(see Lecture and Seminar Programme and Readings). These readings are available
electronically, usually as pdfs, from the UWE Library.

Your module reading list can be accessed online, either directly through the link below or
through the module’s Blackboard page.

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https://rl.talis.com/3/uwe/lists/B175FD8A-8F43-A7C2-6CDC-B3711E95A3B0.html

A guide to referencing can be found at:

http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/studysupport/studyskills/referencing.aspx

7. Communication
Throughout semester you will receive regular communication from your module leaders and
also administrative staff. It is your responsibility to ensure that you read everything that you
are sent and act upon it where appropriate. The main communication channel used is
Blackboard for all the modules you are currently studying. Blackboard provides the main
communication channel for module specific information and these too should be checked
regularly for new content and announcements.

Please see http://info.uwe.ac.uk/myUWE/guidance/default.asp for further information on all

aspects of your myUWE portal.

8. Advice and support

There are a range of facilities and services available to go to for advice and support
depending on what the issue is. Remember - asking for help at the earliest possible stage
will help you in the long run. Your first point of call should always be your Academic
Personal Tutor, as they will be able to sign post you to the right services and will be able to
deal with specific matters relating to teaching and learning. If you are not able to contact
your Academic Personal Tutor for any reason go to an Information Point, details of which
can be found at http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/informationpoints.aspx.

Student Support Advisers are available and can also be contacted through the Information
Points, see http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/academicadvice/studentadvisers.aspx for
information on how they might be able to help. However, you are more than welcome to
talk to other members of UWE staff depending on who you feel most comfortable talking to.

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APPENDIX I: Example - Team Constitution

Sample 1: XXXX Company Team Contract

We will work diligently as a team to accomplish our collective task while using this experience to
discover how to become more effective team members and better communicators.

1. We will be present and on time to all scheduled meetings.

2. If we are unable attend a meeting or if we will be tardy (for emergency purposes only), we will give
our teammates proper notice and make arrangements to provide input on the work we missed.

3. We will each demonstrate personal accountability for our own behaviour, attitude, and quality of
work.

4. Individuals will complete their portion of the work in the time agreed upon by the group. We will ask
each other for assistance before the assignment is due, if needed.

5. We will respect the ideas/opinions of others. Brainstorming sessions will not be subject to criticism.

6. We will be committed to team goals.

7. We will provide constructive critiques when needed. We agree to focus on attacking the idea, not the
person. No disputes over personality conflicts.

8. We will participate in all steps involved in and leading up to our final task.

9. Before any idea is settled on, we will give everyone a chance to voice his/her opinion without
interruption.

10. We will function as a committee with no designated leader who holds final authority.

11. All decisions will be reached by majority vote.

12. Everyone must be willing to compromise if necessary, and support the team with a positive attitude
even if a team member has ideas the group fails to adopt.

13. The team will impose a “three strikes, you’re out” rule where each member will receive 2 verbal
warnings with the next warning resulting in petitioning the instructor for removal of the member. Any
member has the right to call someone out for violation of the contract.

14. At any time, a group member may request to amend the contract. Any proposed changes must be
made by a super-majority 3/4 vote.

Group Member Signatures

Name Sign Date
Xxx ____________________ XXXXXX
Xxx ____________________ XXXXXX

REMINDER: This is an example only. You need to develop your own team/company agreement.

15
 Example 2: XXXXX Team Contract

Purpose of the Team Contract: This contract has been designed to guide the conduct of
team members and has been developed utilizing the shared expectations of all team
members. If a group member consistently violates any part of this contract, a meeting will
be scheduled in which the causes/consequences of such violations will be discussed. As this
contract has been developed and voted upon as a team, it is binding unless a majority of
team members decide to revise it.

Revisiting Team Contract: This contract is a living document, and may be reviewed at
the beginning of each team meeting. If a team member feels that any part of this contract
should be adjusted, a full discussion will be conducted regarding the sections in question,
with all members being given a chance to speak. Following discussion, the team will vote on
whether or not to make changes to the contract.

Purpose and Objectives: This team has been formed to develop and implement a
strategy, diagnose problems in relation to other companies and make decisions across a
range of management, marketing, finance, accounting and social responsibility areas. Our
objective is to contribute to make tradeoffs between decisions that improve short-term
financial performance and decisions that strengthen our firm’s long-term competitive
position.

Expectations of Team Members:

 Attend all stated meetings when possible, and give timely notice with contribution when
unable to attend (timely notice being 24 hours except in the case of illness or emergency)
 Respect other members and their opinions
 Keep an open mind and attempt to learn from other team members
 Participate in the discussions at team meetings
 Have an understanding of what is taking place in the development of the project
 Take on an equal share of the work load
 Complete tasks on time every time and in a quality manner
 Come to team meetings prepared

Decision Making: Prior to forming a decision, the team will openly discuss all available
alternatives. Team decisions will be made using concensus; all members will hold equal
weight in team decisions regardless of designated roles. Once a decision has been made by
the team, it is final unless the team decides to re-evaluate the situation.

Communication: The team will communicate through various methods, with an emphasis
being placed on the following:
 Blackboard file exchange
 Email
 Phone

Team Meetings: The meetings will be used to discuss various aspects of the project and to
make important decisions as a team. All members are expected to attend team meetings
and actively participate. Team members may be excused from a meeting if unforeseen
circumstances arise and they inform other members in a timely manner. Each meeting

16
should have a facilitator; their job is to monitor the meeting process. There will also be an
appointed timekeeper to keep things moving along in a timely manner. A note taker will also
be designated for each meeting, and will post the notes on the file exchange in BlackBoard
within 24 hours of the meeting’s completion. Each of these roles will be decided upon at the
beginning of each meeting via consensus.

Signed and Dated:

Team member name: ____________________________________ Date __________

Team member name: ____________________________________ Date __________
Team member name: ____________________________________ Date __________
Team member name: ____________________________________ Date __________

Addendum: Action steps to improve communications and effective decision-

making:

1. Each team member will prepare a section of the industry and company analysis to identify
trends and issues and to suggest some things that the company could do.
a. We will agree which themes/sections each person will have a specific responsibility for
b. Develop a 1-page bullet point of the industry trends, and company issues along with ideas
for addressing these
c. Post the document on Blackboard team page prior to class (by 8pm the evening before)
d. Read each person’s 1-page comments before class

2. Use class time effectively to ensure collaboration, communication and inclusivity:

a. Appoint a facilitator for each meeting. The facilitator should be different each time.
b. Limit discussion time to an agreed amount (e.g. 15-20 minutes). The facilitator’s job is to
keep this discussion on track.
c. Ensure decision entries are completed in the class meeting.
d. Once completed, no changes should be made (this means each person can then legitimately
focus on her other work/commitments without having to expect e-mails to make changes
etc)

REMINDER: This is an example only.

You need to develop your own agreement ie one meets the needs and requirements of your team
(company).

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APPENDIX II: Decision Log Template

Industry Number___ Decision Quarter ___ Company Name: ____________________________

State any major change in your overall strategy (e.g., long-term objectives) and how it differs from
the original. (For quarter 1, write a brief a statement about what you think your overall strategy will
be.)

State the major issues and/or problems to be discussed at the meeting:

State your decision on the Critical Incident presented to you in each of Quarters 3-8. Give the
rationale behind your decision and reflect on the implications of change for your company. Note any
dissenting views and how any such difference was handled.

List each MAJOR decision or change in previous operating policy you are going to make this quarter
and give the rationale behind the decision:

Members of the team present at this meeting on _____ day of _____________

1. ______________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________________
5. ______________________________________________________

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APPENDIX III: Passenger Bill of Rights

Airline Team Name: _________________________________________

Most airlines have either been pressured to create, or have created on their own, Passenger
Bill of Rights. This is usually a short list of the responsibilities the airline has to its
customers. The list should include everything from passenger rights when a passenger is
"bumped" or has a flight cancelled, to lost baggage. You may want to search the web sites
of airlines for some ideas. Essentially this helps position your company in the marketplace
and should help guide your decision-making. You may use a "bulleted list" to keep the
document from being too wordy. Keep the language concise and clear so that members of
the general public can understand it.

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APPENDIX IV: Guidelines for Strategic Plan

Purpose: To develop a comprehensive statement of your company’s performance

objectives, intended strategies to achieve those objectives, and policies you will
follow when executing the strategy. A strategy should enable you to answer the
following questions about your company: Where are we now? Where could we
go? What could we do? What is the best thing for us to do? How are we going to
do it? How are we going to measure our progress?

Due Date: The Strategic Plan should be developed over Decision 1 and 2 and submitted to
your team’s Log Book on BlackBoard in Seminar 5.

Format: The Strategic Plan should include the following elements and should be in
bullet point, chart or diagrammatic format only. You will refer back to your
plan as you implement your strategy and as you develop your assessed
presentation slides.

1. Vision and Mission Statement

You should create a vision and mission statement that capture the essence of what your
company stands for and how it intends to compete. You should include a values statement
in support of your vision and mission. A useful reading to help you with this is Collins, J. C.,
& Porras, J. I. (1996). Building your company’s vision. Harvard Business Review. 74(5): 65-
77. Remember, all of your objectives and strategies that you set out must align with the
overall direction you set for the company. Further, your responses to the Critical Incidents
and how your team manages these and responds to change should also reflect the values of
your organisation.

2. Generic Business Strategy

You must describe the generic business strategy (or strategies if they differ across industry
segments) by which you intend to achieve your vision and mission over the decision
quarters and explain why you have chosen that strategy.

In particular you should use the data generated from Decision Quarters 1 and 2 for your
company and the industry to justify your decisions. You should use data from the simulation
to help you understand:
o Who your customers are and what they value
o What the key trends in the industry are
o Who your competitors are and on what basis they compete
o How your company can compete against other firms in the industry
o What internal capabilities you have that makes you think you can achieve the
strategy you have outlined

3. Performance Objectives

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This section should contain a set of clear, measurable performance objectives you plan to
achieve over Decision Quarters 3-8 along with a discussion of the overall performance you
expect to achieve. You should refer to the reading by Kaplan, R.S., & Norton, D. R. (2005).
The balanced scorecard: measures that drive performance. Harvard Business Review,
83(7/8), 172-180. Performance objectives should be established to measure the main
elements of your balanced scorecard. Be creative in thinking about what measures you can
develop from the simulation data that are meaningful for your company. You will include a
section on your Balanced Scorecard performance in the presentation slides submission.

The Airline Manual suggests measures might be developed for a number of areas, such as
employee performance, social responsibility, and innovation. However, your team should
decide which measures are important for your strategy. Whatever measures you decide to
use, (i) be sure they are consistent with your overall business strategy and (ii) state the
objectives in such a way that they can be used to measure your progress and goal
attainment.

4. Functional Policies

Normally a strategic plan would provide detailed polices and plans for its functional area
strategies. However, to simplify matters for this simulation, you are only required to set out
your key policies. Policies set out the general guidelines in an area, for example, a policy
may be “Fly the first 200 pounds of cargo for a new customer, free of charge,” or “Pay
employees at 3% above the average industry wage.” They are useful as they offer you
guidance and consistency in making decisions and in responding to change.

Please be aware that a strategy is not meant to lock you into pre-determined course of
action; it should merely reflect your intended strategy at a given point in time. If your
strategy or policies aren’t working as well as you would like, by all means change them! Just
be sure to keep track in your Decision Log of what you changed, and why, because you’ll be
addressing these changes in your final presentation slides submission.

21
APPENDIX V: Presentation Assessment Criteria
Integrated Business Management Simulation - Presentation Assessment Criteria

Module Code: UMSDMK-15-3 Airline Industry Group: _________ Name of team being assessed:________________________________________

Academic marking assessment: ________________________________________ Email: _____________________________@uwe.ac.uk

Component Fail (<4) D (4-4.99) C (5-5.99) B (6-6.99) A (7-10) Score X

weight =
Vision, Values and Direction. Reveals little Provides some Is able to articulate the Provides an Evaluates and
o Provides an overview of the knowledge of the description of the purpose of these evaluation of the synthesizes purpose of X2=
purpose of these purpose of these elements and provides purpose of these these elements and
company’s vision, values and
elements elements and relates to linkage to company elements relative to alignment to, or
sustainability/CSR stance and its company experience decision making; changes in, company’s
overall strategy and evaluates the examines issues of decision-making and
extent to which these have alignment or change strategy
adequately driven the firm’s
decision making

Industry Analysis. Reveals little Has some evidence of Has not covered all Has covered all Excellent - all
o Analyses industry structure using knowledge or these analyses but has analyses, has made analyses but one or components covered;
evidence of these severe weaknesses: logical errors, or could more is not fully applies appropriate X1=
appropriate theoretical tools drawn
analyses - missing have developed or developed or theory; makes full use
from prior learning including insight - listed without any explained analyses consistent of Airline data
into the basis of competition explanation more coherently
between the firms - lack of theoretical
o Uses Airline data to support framework
assertions

Analysis of Capabilities. Reveals little Has some evidence of Has not covered all Has covered all Excellent - all
o Analyses company's internal knowledge or these analyses but has analyses, has made analyses but one or components covered;
evidence of these severe weaknesses: logical errors, or could more is not fully applies appropriate X 2=
capabilities as they relate to
analyses - missing have developed or developed theory; makes full use
implementing chosen strategy - listed without any explained analyses of Airline data
(examines source of capabilities explanation more coherently
encompassing functional areas of - lack of theoretical
HR, Marketing, Operations; Finance framework
and Accounting)
o Uses Airline data to support
assertions

22
 Component Fail (<4) D (4-4.99) C (5-5.99) B (6-6.99) A (7-10) Score X
weight =

Performance Results. Little if any data Limited, incomplete Provides some Analysis of Analysis of performance
o Describes main firm performance provided on firm discussion of firm discussion of performance reveals uses a wide range of
performance performance. Visual performance relative to understanding of indicators, revealing X 0.5 =
over time and relative to others
presentations of data Balanced Scorecard. interdependencies sophisticated
(including but not limited to are missing data or are Visual presentations of between different understanding of the
comparing actual performance with flawed data illustrate most indicators in the interdependencies
Balanced Scorecard targets outlined key points clearly Balanced Scorecard. between different
in Strategic Plan, etc) Compares some indicators in the
o Visual presentation of data (e.g. use actual performance to Balanced Scorecard.
of any diagrams, charts, tables etc) targeted objectives. Has compared actual
clearly illustrate points made Visual presentations performance to targeted
of data illustrate objectives. Visual
points clearly presentations of data
effectively communicate
key points
Diagnosis of Performance Shows little Has attempted to Has either not covered Has covered main Excellent – main
o Provides an overall assessment of understanding of diagnose company main components of components of the components of
these components performance but the performance performance performance diagnosis
the relative success of the company
of the analysis is incomplete, diagnosis or could diagnosis but one or are covered. Reveals X2=
performance assumptions missing, have developed or more is not fully sophisticated
o Offers clear explanations of why diagnosis; little and analysis offers little explained analyses developed or understanding and
hit/missed main strategic objectives, evidence they insight; little use of more coherently; some consistent; is able to analysis of company’s
(including any managerial team have been theoretical perspectives attempt to draw on evaluate major issues performance; provides a
disagreements). considered drawn from across theoretical through theoretical synthesis in explanation,
student prior learning; perspectives from perspectives drawn reflecting sophisticated
may tend to be across student prior from across student use of theoretical
o Examines rationale for change over descriptive learning but limited prior learning perspectives drawn
time and evaluates the likely application from across student
impacts of change on the company prior learning
(including responses to or effects of
critical incidents)

Diagnosis of ONE Critical Incident Shows little Has identified one Has identified one Has covered all Excellent – all
o Briefly describes the selected critical understanding of critical incident, but critical incident but has components, but one components of the X2=
the critical incident efforts to detail not covered all the or more is not fully selected critical incident
incident
or fails to address selection, decision- components developed or is not are addressed. Reveals
o Evaluates decision-making leading to the critical incident making, dealing with satisfactorily or could consistent with the a clear decision-making
the selected course of action, the requirement disagreement within have developed further selected course of process, conflict
process applied to selection, dealing the team offer limited and offered better action. Reflection on resolution protocol and
with disagreement within the team insight explanation outcome reflection on outcome of
in relation to the critical incident and the decision outcome
outcome

23
 Component Fail (<4) D (4-4.99) C (5-5.99) B (6-6.99) A (7-10) Score X
weight =

Future Plans Shows little Has attempted to Has either not covered Has covered all Excellent -all
o Briefly outlines plans for next 4 understanding of outline future plans but all components of the components of the components of the
these components; plans are vague and future plans or could future plans but one future plans are X 0.5 =
quarters.
little evidence they not well considered have developed or or more part is not covered. Reveals
o Describes the changes to firm's have been explained future plans fully developed or sophisticated
overall direction and policies and considered more coherently consistent understanding and
explains why analysis of what the
company should do next
to enhance performance
Achieves Standards of In the following areas the submission meets a professional level for business communication – up to two marks
Professional Presentation deduction for each area of weakness Deduction
Structure and Organization of the Presentation: given
o Strong opening or introduction with ‘Signposts’ (up to 8
marks):
o Clear flow and logical transitions between the points made
o Slides generally clear, free from error and informative
o Overall the team was able to communicate its message

Areas of Strength:

Areas for Improvement:

24
APPENDIX VI - Component B Assessment Template

Part I (500 word limit in total)

Short reflective answers

1. How has the simulation helped you in understanding the challenges of working in a
team. How do you think this might translate to the workplace? (300 words).

2. What do you understand by the concept of personal resilience? Give an example to

evidence your own capacity for resilience using your work or personal experience. (200
words).

Part II (500 word limit)

Critically reflect on your strengths and weaknesses around your self-awareness and personal
resilience. Consider how these may impact your personal and professional development and
your personal challenges. (Here you might consider your learning across your programme of
study).

25
 Descriptor
Assessment criteria/ Theory, Knowledge and Analysis and Self-Reflection Self-Evaluation and Coherent
weighting Understanding Argument
(33%)
Grading (33%) (33%)
level
70+ PASS Perceptive analysis and deep self- Excellent evidence of critical thinking and
Excellent Makes reference to relevant concepts and reflections which raises insightful issues well supported self-evaluations.
demonstrates a detailed and and creates a deeper understanding of the
comprehensive knowledge and self. Clear and detailed linkages made between
understanding of the theories and analysis and plans for personal
concepts used. Very good integration of theory and development.
examples from own experience,
Shows excellent evidence of reading connections are made between what a Strong development of personal strengths
widely. given theory says and how it connects to and weaknesses that are clearly warranted
the given example. through self-analysis.
Extensive reference to wide range of
relevant literature and media. Well chosen, interesting and highly
relevant examples from own practice
given.
60-69 PASS Draws on relevant concepts and Good evidence of self- analysis and self- Some evidence of critical thinking, sound
demonstrates a good knowledge and reflection, that creates insight and deeper judgement, clear reasoning and support
65-69%: understanding of theories and concepts – self-understanding. for self-evaluations.
Very good clearly stated and accurate – but some
areas could be stronger. Good integration of theory and examples – Clear linkages made between analysis and
not focussing on either one too much plans for personal development.
60-64%: Shows good evidence of reading, going Good number and quality of examples
Good beyond the more basic texts and sources. given from own practice. Development of personal strengths and
weaknesses that are clearly warranted
Reference to a good range of relevant through self-analysis.
literature and media.

50-59 PASS Broadly adequate knowledge of relevant
concepts. Description may be vague and
55-59% Competent may contain minor errors.
Clumsy - may use technical language, but
50-54% Adequate doesn’t show full understanding
Adequate evidence of reading.
Reasonable analysis in places, but
sometimes lapses into description of own
experiences or of theory rather than
analysis
Some linkage between theory and own
examples (some strong, some weak links)
Adequate number and quality examples.
Adequate evidence of judgment, with
some attempt at self-evaluation but
tendency towards description
Linkages made between analysis and
plans for personal development
Development of personal strengths and

26

Some reference to relevant literature and
media.
40-49 PASS Knowledge and understanding of theories
and concepts not evident
(generalised/incomplete/has errors).
Limited evidence of reading – core
text/lecture material only.
Few references to relevant literature and
media.
35-39 FAIL Very weak knowledge and understanding
of theories and concepts
(generalised/incomplete/has errors).
Little or no evidence of reading .
Few references to relevant literature and
media.
34 > FAIL Knowledge and understanding of theories
Weak and concepts is very weak or non-existent.
Little or no evidence of reading.
Very few or no references to relevant
literature and media.
Areas of Strength:
Limited analysis of the self, tending
toward description.
Little linkage between theory and own
examples (focussing on one at the
expense of the other).
Few examples or examples not relevant.
Weak or no analysis, tending toward
description.
Little or no linkage between theory and
own examples (focussing on one at the
expense of the other)
Poor or few examples
Little or no self- analysis which is heavily
descriptive.
No linkage between theory and personal
examples (Either: mostly example with
very little reference to theory, OR, theory-
based with very little reference to own
examples)
Very few, irrelevant or no examples.
weaknesses that are mainly warranted
through self-analysis.
Poor judgment, some unsupported
assertions. Largely descriptive.
Weak linkages made between analysis and
plans for personal development.
Personal strengths and weaknesses only
partly warranted through self-analysis.
Poor judgment, unsupported assertions.
Largely descriptive.
Few linkages identified between self-
analysis and plans for personal
development.
Personal strengths and weaknesses
unwarranted through self-analysis.
Unsupported assertions and value
judgments
No or limited linkages identified between
self-analysis and plans for personal
development.
No identification of personal strengths and
weaknesses.
27
Areas for Improvement:

APPENDIX VII - Personal Development Plan Template

Date to be
Development need / Learning Activities to be undertaken Resources Support available What do you need to do, by done by
Objective What are the options that you needed Who could help you with when? Specific dates
Choose one need and define could choose to meet the Cost? Time? this? What other support is What are the specific steps for each of the
what the need is clearly – need? (Courses? E learning? What other available? (e.g. web based that need to be taken in steps
make it specific Reading? Work experience? resources resources, University order?
Mentoring?) would be support, people where you
needed? work?)

28