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Phase structure

We recommend that a course using iBizSim be done in 4 phases.

  1. Phase 1 is the learning phase in which the students explore and understand the simulated environment, the management of the simulated company and the user interface to the business simulation. The student teams set up spreadsheet templates to develop the marketing and sales, operation and finance plans based on the goals defined. These templates are used to understand the operations of the company and refine the strategy that would be used. The students also learn to understand and accept the strengths and weaknesses of their teammates and to start working together as teams. Since this is only the learning phase the mistakes made and the results achieved during the learning phase do not count towards the final evaluation.
  2. Phase 2 is the preparatory and analysis phase in which the student teams first develop an integrated planning model using a spreadsheet program by cross-linking the individual templates for the marketing and sales plan, the production plan, the purchasing plan and the finance plan. This integrated planning model is then used as a management tool in analyzing the state of the simulated company and its products and markets, and defining the goals and the strategy for the coming fiscal year. At the end of this phase the teams have to submit a written report called the strategy paper which includes the defined goals, the chosen strategy and the marketing, sales, production, purchasing and finance plans.
  3. Phase 3 is the doing phase in which the students start with a new opening situation. It is expected that the teams are functioning efficiently and each team member is contributing to the best of his/her ability. It is also expected that the student teams implement the strategy that was defined in phase 2, develop a controlling system to check on the results and make appropriate changes in the strategy. The results of the company are compared with a benchmark company that has absolutely no management. The students have to do better than this benchmark company in order to get a good grade. The company results are also compared to the goals defined in the strategy paper.
  4. Phase 4 is the phase when the final learning through reflection takes place. The student teams are required to analyze the results of their company in phase 3, compare these results to the goals defined in phase 2 and explain the differences between the expected, planned values and the actual results. The final written report, called the analysis paper, is the result of the controlling exercise and includes a critical analysis of the company and the performance of the management team.


We support this phase structure in our simulation models. The students go through the learning phase 1 with one set of data that includes the starting situation, the parameters and the scenario over a number of periods and then switch to a slightly more complex and challenging environment for the doing phase 3.


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