Where In The World Is LINKS Simulations? · - 7 - Page 7 LINKS Train-The-Trainer Seminars June 5-9 and August 14-18, 2017 LINKS Simulations Immersion Experience Five Teleconferences

http://www.LINKS-simulations.com

March-April 2017

Where In The World Is LINKS Simulations?

LINKS Hall of Fame 2017

Professor’s Column: “Evaluating LINKS Students’ Performance”

LINKS Train-The-Trainer Seminars

Historical Benchmarks

Decision Variables Checks and Messages

Updated White Paper: “Coaching Throughout The Business

Simulation Lifecycle”

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LINKS Simulations exhibits at 10-12 conferences annually to reach out to prospective LINKS

instructors and to interact with existing LINKS users.

We’ll be exhibiting at these conferences in the near future:

If you’re attending any of these conferences, please do visit our exhibit to chat.

Where In The World IsLINKS Simulations?

April 6-8, 2017

May 5-8, 2017

June 12-15, 2017

Marketing Educators Conference @ San Diego

POMS Conference @ Bellevue, WA (Seattle)

QUIS 15 Conference @ Porto, Portugal

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Class of 2017

Lisa Bolton,

Pennsylvania State

University

Frank Chelko,

Pennsylvania State

University

Dennis Chen,

Belmont

University

Alan Johnson,

Air Force Institute of

Technology

Maciek Nowak,

Loyola University

Chicago

LINKS Hall of Fame membership reflects recognition, respect, and thanks accorded

long-time (5+ years) LINKS instructors for their interest in, support of, and

commitment to the LINKS Simulations. Along with LINKS Hall of Fame

enshrinement, the title “LINKS Fellow” is bestowed on these distinguished LINKS

supporters.

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Evaluating LINKS Students’ Performance

Ruth N. Bolton,

Arizona State

University

What is the best way to evaluate student performance in LINKS? In

my experience, a primary student concern is that their firm’s

performance metrics aren't an accurate reflection of their learning.

Indeed, students that experiment and take risks often learn a great deal, but

their experiences don't necessarily translate into improvements in operational

metrics (e.g., forecasting) or financial performance (e.g., Net Income to

Revenues). In this respect, LINKS accurately reflects the real world ... many

changes (e.g., in prices, staffing, and market entries or withdrawals) are often

penalized in the marketplace.

Organizational learning is a long-run marketplace differential advantage.

Naturally, this doesn't always show up in a simulation event with only 6-9

rounds! We see this phenomenon regularly in the business press. As I write

this Professor's Column, leading companies such as Amazon1, Zipcar and

Starbucks have experienced newsworthy failures. The reason for their success

is that they are able to learn from their mistakes and refine their strategies to

achieve long run growth and profitability.

1 Amazon’s Living Lab: Reimagining Retail on Seattle Streets," The New York Times (February 12, 2017). https://

www.nytimes.com/2017/02/12/technology/amazon-seattle-retail.html

For this reason, I evaluate LINKS teams with a mid-event and final report, as well as using the firm

performance metric provided in LINKS. For example, these components might have the following

weights in calculating final course grades: Firm Performance (5%), Mid-Event Report (10%), and Final

Report (20%). I am using a "small version" of the services simulation (LINKS Service Quality Management

Simulation), so the total course grade weight for the simulation is 35%. However, with a larger LINKS

version, these weights would probably sum to 45%.

My favorite assignment for a final report is a Service Brand Plan or a Marketing Plan for one brand

in one region for one year. Since the simulation is at an end, I suggest that students think about the plan

as a mechanism for handing the firm over to a new management team. I use this LINKS assignment in

both marketing management and services marketing courses. It works equally well in both, although

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the emphases are different. One major benefit of

the plan is that it provides a "teachable moment."

A business plan is not just an evaluation tool, it

also:

* Requires disciplined thinking

* Facilitates rational decision making and

analysis

* Highlights trade-offs

* Entails interactive discussion with relevant

people

* Requires/Encourages anticipation of the

future

* Facilitates resource allocation

* Clarifies responsibilities

* Provides standards of performance.

A second major benefit is that students are

encouraged to look forward rather than backward.

(Some students tend to dwell on their past

mistakes!) Strategy is path-dependent; the firm can

only build on what has taken place in the past.

However, a plan requires disciplined thinking about

the future. A third major benefit is that teams can

present their plans to the class. The class ends on

a "high note" with each team sharing its insights

and showing how they plan to use them in the year

ahead (if the simulation were to continue).

I tell students that the plan answers three

questions: (1) Where are we now? (2) Where are

we going? (3) How are we going to get there?

These questions correspond to: (1) a situation

analysis; (2) explicit goal-setting, including the

identification of critical success factors; and, (3) an

action plan. I also identify some of the course

concepts and tools that will helpful in the planning

process, such as: SWOT analysis, GAP analysis,

Importance-Performance Charts, 5 C's, business

spreadsheets, and forecasting methods.

To encourage students to be specific, I provide

a very detailed template to follow. I suggest a slide

deck of (at most) 15 slides that follow this format.

(See the Annual Plan Template at the end of this

Professor's Column.) Some instructors might think

that the template is too detailed. However, most

students are not well equipped to build a plan

(despite previous classes) and learn from following

this template. Despite the specificity of the

template, there are always clear differences

between "good" and "best" plans.

Some areas where students tend to struggle:

* Plans that say what the firm will do, but

without providing any real justification/

analysis/logic/rationale. Where is the

evidence?

* Plans that ignore the presence of willful,

deliberate, and non-benevolent competitors.

* Plans that seem to ignore the reasons why

customers buy and don't buy particular

brands, as well as how customers choose

brands.

* Hidden or implicit assumptions.

* Plans that contain "fantasy" facts, numbers

or metrics. Facts should drive the planning

effort but the plan is concerned with the

meaning/implications of the facts.

* Since market segments, by definition, differ

in their responsiveness to firm decisions,

each market segment requires separate

treatment with the development of a brand

plan.

Students really enjoy the final in-class

presentations of their plans. One reason is that

they finally get to find out what their competition

was doing! If the class is large, I don't ask every

team to present (although they all turn in a slide

deck). Instead, I ask one or two groups from each

LINKS industry to present. For the teams that are

not presenting, I ask them to pick one slide (from

the final report) and give a three minute talk about

a key insight or activity that worked for them. In

this way, every team has a chance to share and

celebrate. There are generous amounts of

applause and laughter -- and learning -- rather than

details of the simulation being front and center.

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LINKS Train-The-Trainer SeminarsJune 5-9 and August 14-18, 2017

LINKS Simulations Immersion Experience

Five Teleconferences and a Four-Round LINKS Simulation Event

Registration is available for the next five-

day, intensive-mode Train-The-Trainer

distance-learning seminars for the LINKS

simulations. Randy Chapman, the LINKS author,

leads these distance-learning events for academic

faculty interested in learning more about teaching

with LINKS. These intensive-mode seminar

formats includes 2-3 hours of work per day during

each of the five days of the distance-learning

seminars.

LINKS Train-The-Trainer Seminars are offered

for the enterprise management, marketing,

services, and supply chain management LINKS

variants.

Current LINKS instructors are invited to pass

along this announcement to faculty colleagues and

advanced doctoral students who might be

interested in learning more about teaching with

LINKS.

Experienced LINKS instructors sometimes

participate in a LINKS Train-The-Trainer Seminar

to refresh their memories of LINKS details just prior

to teaching with LINKS or to explore another LINKS

simulation variant for a future teaching activity.

Such experienced LINKS instructors may elect just

to participate in the TTT’s four-round simulation

event, ignoring the public teleconferences included

in the LINKS TTT program. (PowerPoint decks are

available to all LINKS TTT participants before each

teleconference, so such experienced LINKS

instructors may freely choose to participate in all,

some, or none of the teleconferences as per their

availability and interest.)

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Historical Benchmarks

How high is “up”? In LINKS, the answer is partly provided by the within-industry benchmarks

reported on the first page of each firm’s financial reports. These within-industry benchmarks

provide a firm’s current-industry performance “ups” (current-industry minimums, averages, and

maximums) on Key Performance Indicators such as Net Income To Revenue % and Forecasting Accuracy %.

However, the larger question remains: what’s possible? … what’s the upper limit of performance? The

LINKS Historical Benchmarks provide the answer to this broader question.

LINKS Historical Benchmarks are based on the history of all firms

since February 1, 2012 for a particular LINKS Simulations variant.

These Historical Benchmarks provide a meaningful cross-industry

performance reference for any firm at any point in time in a LINKS event.

For example, a firm in a LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulation

industry in Month #6 may compare its performance to all past firms in

Month #6 of LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulation industries via

the Historical Benchmarks.

Note: The Global Top-10 Rankings also provide benchmarks, but the comparison in the Global Top-

10 Rankings is to all other firms in all LINKS Simulations variants with a scheduled game run in that

calendar week. And, of course, those other firms are using any LINKS Simulations variant (not necessarily

your LINKS Simulations variant) and are at various stages in their LINKS events.

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Decision Variables Checks and Messages

With the lengthy reports in LINKS, instructors are challenged to identify noteworthy issues for

attention and follow-up after LINKS game runs.

To assist instructors and to increase the visibility of “unusual” developments and questionable student

inputs, “Decision Variable Checks and Messages” e-mail is sent to LINKS instructors immediately after

game runs to provide top-line reporting of noteworthy but potentially low-visibility circumstances in just-

completed LINKS game runs. No new information is reported that is not already in the instructor and

firm reports, but this instructor e-mail increases the visibility of these developments.

A sample “Decision Variables Checks and Messages” e-mail is shown below.

Decision Variables Checks and Messages for Quarter 10 are included near the end of the financial reports of each LINKS

firm in industry SAM. To provide convenient instructor access and to ensure the visibility of these Decision Variables

Checks and Messages, this instructor e-mail message reports the Decision Variable Checks and Messages for each firm in

industry SAM in Quarter 10.

Status of Decision Variables Checks and Messages For Industry SAM Quarter 10:

Firm SAM1: No decision variable checks and messages to report.

Firm SAM2: Decision variable checks and messages reported in the attachment SAM2.txt







DISTRIBUTION DECISION VARIABLE CHECKS [Firm SAM2]

DC2 closed; DC2 inventory has been disposed (@ 80.0% of current book value).

DC2 inventory disposal costs = 11,400 (recorded as Consulting Fees).

SERVICE DECISION VARIABLE CHECKS [Firm SAM3]

Service outsourcing now exists in region 1 so 34 CSRs are fired in region 1.

FORECASTING DECISION VARIABLE CHECKS [Firm SAM3]

4 forecasts are unchanged. Forecasts are normally changed every quarter.

FORECASTING DECISION VARIABLE CHECKS [Firm SAM4]

4 forecasts are unchanged. Forecasts are normally changed every quarter.

RESEARCH STUDIES DECISION VARIABLE CHECKS [Firm SAM8]

No research studies have been ordered.

Research studies are normally ordered every quarter.

Based on this sample “Decision Variable Checks and Messages” e-mail, instructor follow-up would

be appropriate with firms SAM3 and SAM4 regarding their unchanged forecasts. Forecasts are normally

changed in every LINKS round, reflecting most-recent sales history, competitor actions, and a firm’s

forthcoming business/operating plan. And, for firm SAM8, a watchful and inquisitive LINKS instructor

might converse with this firm about the value of research studies and the implausibility/inappropriateness

of ordering no research studies.

Frequent messages included in these “Decision Variable Checks and Messages” are “forecasts are

unchanged” and “no research studies have been ordered.”

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Updated LINKS

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LINKS® is a registered trademark of Randall G Chapman. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2017 by Randall G Chapman.

The LINKS Newsletter is a bi-monthly newsletter for current and prospective LINKS

instructors and for LINKS friends. Please e-mail comments, suggestions, and

other contributions (e.g., LINKS teaching tips) to [email protected]

Editor: Cyndy Winkler

E-Mail Address Management: Using their LINKS firm’s passcode, LINKS students may change

their official LINKS e-mail address via the “E-Mail Address Management” button in the LINKS Simulation

Database. Confirmations of e-mail address changes are e-mailed to the old and new e-mail addresses.

LINKS Instructor Resources: Instructors access LINKS Instructor Resources on the Instructors

sub-webpage. Contact Randy Chapman ([email protected]), the LINKS author, to

obtain the username and passcode.

Student Payment Timing: Student payment with a personal credit card is via the “Paying For

LINKS” link on the LINKS webpage.

The published LINKS price (the discounted price) is in effect until the first round of LINKS is complete.

Then, the price is increased 25%. This means that we can initialize a LINKS event (and advance LINKS

through to its normal starting point) and students can continue to pay at the discounted price until the

first scheduled round.

It is not necessary for your students to pay before LINKS begins to have access to the discounted

LINKS price. Students must only pay before the first official game run on your game-run schedule to

receive the discounted price. Thus, student payments can occur simultaneously with the beginning of

a LINKS simulation event. As a practical matter, a final warning/reminder is e-mailed to those students

who haven’t paid by the first game run, before implementing the non-discounted price.

LINKS passcode retrieval for a LINKS participant (student or

instructor) is possible via the “Retrieve LINKS Passcode” link on the main LINKS webpage (http://

www.LINKS-simulations.com). Executing the “Retrieve LINKS Passcode” operation e-mails the firm’s

passcode to the participant’s official e-mail address as recorded in the LINKS Simulation Database.

LINKS Passcode Retrieval:

Documents

Where In The World Is LINKS Simulations? · - 7 - Page 7 LINKS Train-The-Trainer Seminars June 5-9 and August 14-18, 2017 LINKS Simulations Immersion Experience Five Teleconferences