Capstone

Industry - 602
Team Andrews
2019033 - Pavan Rao
2019038 - Rahul Kumar
2019040 - Rohit Naik
2019041 - Sai Jyothirmayee Voloju
2019045 - Siddesh Naik
2019051 - Tanmay Bastikar
1. Summarize the results of 8 Rounds in one slide? What is your view
on your performance in the 8 rounds?

● Sales round 8= $202,446,209 (1st)

● Cumulative Profit=$12,233,078 (3rd)
● Market share= 21.81% (1st)
● Market Cap= $178 (2nd)
● Overall Market Leader as well as in Traditional,Low & High segment
● Emergency Loan= Round 1 (24 million)
● View= We were able to implement our strategies successfully apart from 2-3 minor glitches, forecasting
correctly was the key and making a strategy from start once we realised this rest was a smooth ride
2. Please state the objectives that you set out to achieve at the
beginning of round 1, please also tell us why?Were these objectives
arrived at through consensus?
Our aim was to become
● Broad differentiator, because we realised in practice rounds that this will set quality of our products
better than others and hence we can have an extra edge over others
● Broad cost leader via low and traditional, since we knew we could heavily automate these segments and
still make profits
● Market leader in General since we wanted to lead in terms of sales

These objectives were arrived at through consensus

3. What was your strategy to achieve these objectives and tell us the
operational decisions that you took, that you thought, would help
you achieve these objectives?

● Giving the cheapest product in the industry for all the segment
● Making automation maximum for Low(10) and Trad(8) and for the remaining 3 keeping it at 5
● Keeping a cash balance of above 15 million
● Investing maximum possible amount in TQM from start
● Keeping A/R at 60 days and A/P at 30 days
● Buying capacity when 2nd shift utilisation crossed 50%
● Investing 4 million in recruitment spend and 80 hours of training to reduce turnover rate and increase
efficiency
4. Mention unexpected events that took place over the rounds. Did
you change your objectives at this point of time, if yes, do you feel
vindicated at the end of round 8?
● Huge emergency loan of 24 million in the first round due to forecasting too much for low and trad,
mistake was using practice rounds data as reference which was deadly as competitors got smarter

● Labour negotiations in the 7th round failed miserably as we tried to match the demands whereas others
far exceeded the labour wages as a result of which ours was lower and lot of days were lost in strike

● R&D for 2 of our products was supposed to get over in December but due to some glitch product release
skipped one year as a result of which products were not competitive

Impact
● After the emergency loan in the first round we became cautious and forecasted less which led to many
stock outs
5. Name the competitor(s) who you were most alert about in different
segments, functional areas and financial parameters, why?

Eerie, Digby and Chester

● We had a huge emergency loan in Round 1 and this made us hesitant to risk and forecast
much
● Eerie had invested in automation well ahead of everybody and its plant utilization was much
better than others
● Eerie was one important player in both traditional low segments and had much larger
resources at its disposal than us
● Eerie and Chester were trying to compete with us in the lower segment by lowering their
prices at a pace similar to ours
● Digby was also competing in the traditional and low segment, which was our focus too. They
too had 2 products in traditional segment same as us
● Chester and Eerie were our main competitors in low segment. Only the two of them were able
to lower the prices and bring their prices close to us though not below us
6. Name the competitor(s) you did not worry much about, why?

Ferris
● Our prime focus was on traditional and low segments to earn profits as margins could be
greater in these segments and costs can be lower
● Ferris was already out of the trad segment by 5th round and it was evident that their main
focus was high end and size segments
● Their financials were looking weak by 5th round
7. How did your team approach the recession round?

● We were conservative in our entire approach as we just saw to the segments where we stocked out
in previous rounds
● Increasing our sales and promo budget for the segment we were not performing well
● Keeping forecasting low
● We kept our A/R at 60 days and A/P at 30 days
8. How did your team deal with the labor negotiations round?

● Our Strategy was to keep labor wages low

● We thought others would think the same way
● We were wrong, since one of the competitors ended up paying high wages and hence we had to faced a
strike
9. Looking at the perceptual map at round 8, did you feel you missed
an opportunity in having a product in any segment?
Not really, but would have loved to add 1 more product in low segment in 1 st round
10.What is your reflection on Porter’s generic strategies after the
simulation experience?
Upon reflection post this simulation experience we realised that we were a mix of

● Broad Differentiators
● We grew capacity to meet the demand that we generated. After our products were well positioned,
we investigated modest increases in automation levels to improve margins.
● We kept our existing product line, maintained a presence in every segment. Our goal was to offer
customers products that matched their ideal criteria for positioning, age, and reliability.

● Broad Cost Leaders

● Owing to high level of automation in the slower moving Traditional and Low End segments than
in the fast moving High End, Performance, and Size segments.
● We also preferred second shift/overtime to capacity expansions. Our prices were lower than
average.
11. What do you think was different in your group, in terms of group
dynamism and other areas, and the Champion?

● Shared view approach but collective decision

● Backup when principles did not go right with certain decisions
● Lack of risk taking abilities compared to the winner
● Pessimistic about sales and forecast
12.Please mention decisions that you would not make if you were to
run this business all over again.

● Forecasting based on data from practise rounds

● Forecasted less in the further rounds -cautious approach
● Rely on profits in initial rounds for investment in plant improvements initially
-Not providing financial strength
-Judgemental error in forecasting
13.Please state here whether you would opt for similar segmental focus
and financial objectives, and how would your operational intents be
different?
Yes, we would opt for similar segmental focus.
● Overall Market share leader
● Broad Differentiator and Broad cost leader
● We also kept average labour rates
● Since other teams gave high wages -Labour Strike of 85 days resulting in zero production

Changes
1. Maximise automation levels in 1st round
2. Avoid being cost leader since the start -Avoid emergency loan
3. Being conservative in terms of forecasting in initial rounds
14.Describe methods by which you arrived at consensus. (Did you go
for role allocation to bring in element of ownership and
accountability, if no, why not?
● Did not adopt for role allocation - Learn about every department
Six different views

To arrive at a consensus
1. Transferring the data to excel sheet
2. Detailed study of previous round’s courier
3. Analysis of peer data
4. In case of differing opinions -Average of every member’s decision was taken
EXCEL SHEET
THANK YOU