With laptops charged, whiteboards cleared, and markers ready, it’s now up to the Executive MBA students’ careful positioning and strategic thinking to navigate the intricacies of a simulated marketplace.
Using a software program called StratSim, which condenses a ten-year market cycle into three days, student teams compete to create a fleet of cars that will win in a fictional market. This past summer StratSim was introduced into the activity mix for second-year EMBA students during their yearly orientation week.
Each team of four to six students was assigned a different vehicle class and competes to come out on top with the highest cumulative net income and market value growth. For one student-analyst team, markers race across a whiteboard as the team plots how to pull ahead of the competition. The team members know they will not sell a ton of luxury cars, but they fight to maintain their market lead in this area through offering top technology.
“Uneven starts are what make the StratSim program unique compared to other marketing simulations,” says Glenn Christensen, associate professor of marketing who led the program. “While any team executing its best strategy can win, the uneven starts of StratSim better reflect the real world, where there is no industry in which all competitors enjoy an even position in the market.”
Besides the EMBA program, the MBA and undergraduate marketing and strategy programs have also used StratSim. For graduate students, each StratSim group consists of those from different management disciplines. Being flexible and willing to hear other people’s ideas is important if you don’t want your competition to pass you up, says Jason Winn, an EMBA student and regional manager of Mr. Mac.
“Using StratSim is an experience you can’t get in a lecture,” he says. “You actually get to see the results of your team’s decisions.”
Another aspect of the program not simulated in a typical classroom is the strongly competitive atmosphere. Study rooms become makeshift offices, where students are connected to this simulation through their laptops, and each team’s headquarters are only a few feet away from its competition. Moles are even caught roaming the hallways trying to sneak a peek at their rivals.
“The exercise is a wonderful opportunity to put into practice the learning that students have gained in their first year of the BYU EMBA program. All the students are driven, and StratSim allows them to really compete,” says Tad Brinkerhoff, director of the EMBA program. “They learn how the decisions they make impact not only the bottom line but also relationships, just like in the real world.”
Ten minutes after each round is submitted, students are on the edge of their seats as results appear on their laptops. Mindy Gilbert, an EMBA student who works in finance at Raytheon, says cheers or groans are heard from nearby offices depending on how each group fares.
Through applying their knowledge—mixed with some educated guesses—the students navigate through the twists and turns of the program’s lifelike markets and economies. “StratSim made us string together principles, like accounting, marketing, strategy, and finance, and apply them to a single situation,” Gilbert says. “Whether you are the project manager or the number cruncher, the work each individual does has impact. StratSim was a great exercise to broaden my thinking.”