NAME- RASHI BANSAL

ROLL NO. - PG20211013

COURSE- PGDM

BATCH- 2021-23

CAMPUS- LODHI ROAD

SUBJECT- SIMULATION

FISHBANK SIMULATION

Introduction

Fish Banks is a business simulation based on system dynamics, a pattern analysis approach

for complex and rapidly changing systems. Participants will pretend to be employees of a

fishing firm and work together to optimize the company's assets as part of the simulation.

The game will teach you important lessons about the management of renewable resources.

The learning points from the simulations may be used to a range of situations, including

corporate strategy, economics, decision-making, sustainability, resource management,

organizational development, teamwork, negotiation, and competitive intelligence.

Decisions taken

Although the intended goal of the game was to maximize profits and have the highest amount

of assets at the end of the 31 years, I used a focussed strategy in which I did not increase the

fleet size of my ship more than 14 for the simulation period. I decided this as a caution

towards sustainability and resource management. A large fleet size in the long run would lead

to a decrease in the market value of each ship as expected profit from each ship would

decline steeply due to a large fall in expected catch per ship.

Ship allocation was done on the basis of the expected catch per ship in the deep and coast. As

the expected catch increased, I moved more ships to the deep sea and vice versa. In the

starting years, I kept allocated more ships in the deep as the expected catch was high.

Year 18 onwards, expected catch started falling from 28 to 22 and 21 later, so I decreased the

ships in the sea from 9 to 5 and 4 later. The decision helped the fishes to increase and make

the allocation of boats in the deep sea profitable. The ships were again moved to the deep to

maximise profits.

In the year 26, when expected catch hit the rock bottom at 12 and 20 in the coast and deep

respectively, I was forced to move 6 of my ships to the harbour as the cost of operating ship

in the deep was rising steeply and the revenue generated did not cover the costs.

At the end of 30 years, the fish population returned to normal however, I still kept my 2 boats

at harbour to avoid depletion of the fishes.

During the first 9 years, I purchased ships as more ships will increase harvest revenue if I

assign them to the deep/coast with the biggest catch per ship, and that the worth of the ship

will raise my asset value.

I also auctioned my ship in year 2 at a price of $ 350 which was well above the market price

of $ 319. However, no one raised a bid for my boat due to high price.

I made an average profit of $ 2660 in 30 years of Simulation and had a final bank balance of

$ 83227 at the end of 30 years. The profitability and asset value of my business is average. I

made a significant amount of profit and assets from the start, but because I had decide not to

keep my fleet size more than 14 the ship value was considerable good.

To conclude, my approach while playing the game was realistic. I considered the uncertainty

of weather while purchasing boats and hence, did not purchase a lot of boats. I decided the

allocation of boats depending upon the expected catch of the fish. I decided to keep the fleet
size small as large fleet size will result in less fishes per boat which in turn will lead to rising

operating cost of each ship.

Key Learning

The simulation provided me with useful insights on renewable resource management that

may be used to a number of company strategy, decision-making processes, resource

management, organizational development, negotiation, and competitive intelligence subjects.

The fish bank simulation helps me to understand that resources are limited and over

exploitation of resources should not be done. The simulation also plays a key role in defining

the decision-making process for ship allocation. Each year the ships have to be strategically

allocated to ensure maximum utilization of resources and non-depletion of fishes in the

ocean.

The simulation also helped me learn that over purchasing of assets in order to maximize

profits is not the correct strategy as the resources to be extracted are limited and there is

diminishing returns to a factor after a certain point. Simulation taught me how to mobilize

people to create a sustainable future as the next generation of business leaders. I learned how

important collaborative strategies and information sharing are for the growth of any

organization.

What went well

There was a substantial amount of profit despite the decline in the expected catch of the

fishes. The profit fluctuated several times during the life of the simulation but there were no

losses and hence, I feel the business strategy adopted to be feasible and practical for a decent

amount of profit.
The market value of assets also increased every year as the return on investment was good

and also, I earned an interest income from the bank. At the end of the simulation, I had an

overall asset of $ 83227 which is a good amount for the simulation activity.

What would I have done differently?

I think I should have purchased more ships and increased my fleet size. My profit was

nominal and could have been maximized if I had more ships. However, the maximum fleet

size should have been around 20-25 in order to ensure that the fishes do not complete deplete

from the sea. The increased fleet size would help me in proper utilization of resources and

overall maximization of gains.

Conclusion

The Fish bank simulation helped me learn a lot about the optimum utilization of resources,

decision making, sustainable management and teamwork. The simulation helped me gain the

practical knowledge of the working of a business. The simulation activity is crucial for

understanding the grassroots of any business and not just fishery business.