Module 5 - Strategic Management Simulation

As this class is our MBA Capstone Course, one requirement is the successful completion of a Strategic Management Simulation learning activity. This Strategic Management Simulation requires students to put into practice, lessons learned in all courses of your MBA program. As the CEO of a battery manufacturer, after sifting through multiple sources of data and keeping a pulse on the industry, students will have to decide on the unit prices and determine how to allocate their R&D investments across the product portfolio. They'll have to manage trade-offs between improving the company's core technology and investing in a new, potentially disruptive technology.

Each round of the Simulation consists of 10 years, with students making decisions regarding the direction of their company once per year.

Learning Objectives

1. Disruptive innovations often don't meet the needs of a firm's top customers, but managers need to keep an eye on whether these innovations could potentially meet the needs of other customers.
2. Sometimes the best opportunity for a product is not visible early on, and it takes time to develop. Closely watching the market and building strategy in an emergent way is helpful in these circumstances.
3. Managers must carefully allocate R&D funds based on the evolution of a firm's strategy.
4. Meeting specific short-term financial targets can constrain a company's ability and willingness to innovate.
5. Managers are best positioned to invest in potentially disruptive innovation when the core business is healthy. They should always be thinking about how to make the new disruptive business profitable as quickly as possible.

This Strategic Management Simulations counts for 25% of your final grade ( Module 3 - 6.25%; Module 5 - 6.25%; Module 7 - 12.5%)

Module 5 Strategic Management Simulation - Practice Round #2

Navigate back to the simulation using the following url: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/1089104Links to an external site.

Step 1

1. Reflect upon your gameplay from Module 3:

• • create a short list of pros (What went well? Where was I successful? What were the keys to my success?)
  • create a short list of opportunities (Where can I improve this round? What strategic changes do I need to make? With what aspects of simulation did I struggle?)

B. Once you have completed your reflection, students should revisit the Prepare tab of the simulation and review the following materials:

• • Read - Welcome to Strategic Innovation Simulation: Back Bay Battery
  • Read - Foreground Reading
  • Complete - Simulation Tutorial (link on Prepare tab)

Step 2

Once students have completed Step 1:

• • Your Module 5 task is to complete 2 full, 10 year rounds of the Back Bay Battery simulation
  • Students are required to choose a different strategic path from the one chosen in Module 3.
  • Students are required to provide detailed Strategy Descriptions on the Decision tab at the conclusion of each round.

Strategy Descriptions should:

• • • • • provide justification for your strategic decisions
        • demonstrate understanding and application of strategic frameworks studied throughout your MBA program
• • In your second round, students should take a similar overall strategic path, making efforts to refine, tweak, and improve the decisions made in your Module 5 first round of play.

Students will NOT make any submission in Canvas for the Strategic Management Simulation learning activity.

**Students may complete more than 2 rounds of the simulation if they would like the additional practice, but it is not required