I have collected statistics from some 20 sessions:
| Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Median | 64 | 69 |
| 4 Quartile | 88 | 92 |
The highest scores in sessions I have facilitated. Some of the sessions codes are: "CS" = CSIRO internal sessions in Australia. "HPWi" = HP In-house session in Vienna. "At1" = Open session in Atlanta USA, etc. Highest Market Value achieved in Year 4 is 134M in an open session in Brisbane April 1996. Highest Market Value achieved in Year 5 is 164M by a CSIRO group in Sydney in February 1996. (CSIRO is Australia`s largests Research company with 7000 employees) . Send statistics to me (Karl E. Sveiby) by Email, please! The more the better for you!
| Low | High | |
|---|---|---|
| Market Value | 43 | 53 |
| Equity | 19 | 33 |
Use the year 2 statistics as a check! So, if a group has achieved a MV/ equity ratio that is outside these numbers, check that they have done their accounts properly. There are of course groups that accomplish a real kick start. I had one in Brisbane that achieved Market Value 65 and Equity 39 in year 2.
You can speed up the markets if you are two facilitators. Alternate customers between the two of you. One of the facilitators goes through the competing bids and prepares while the other reads loud. Then alternate. While the first prepares, the other reads out loud the results. (Brent Snow)
If two competitors are on tie on all three criteria, the manual states that you go to the detail scores. This takes time, especially in Year 2, when there is price competition only. Instead you may hold an Auction. Ask if anyone wants to increase their discount, the first bid becomes the starting point for the second, and so on until no one wants to go higher. This procedure works only if the participants have been prepared and if the representative at the Market Table have full authority to make the bid.(Brent Snow)
Years 6 and 7 are really tough and for some participators it might be a depressing event. These years must be framed properly. It is unfortunate if the session ends with almost all teams in red. I have therefore begun to call these years "Advanced Level" and speak a minute about the tough times ahead. Year 6 & 7 are designed to display what happens in the later stages of a technology life cycle. See also Debriefing Issues. (Karl E. S)
If you know from the start that you will run only four or five years, you could introduce the key indicators already in Year 3 so that the participants will be able to use them at least one year. (Peter Vooller )
Give the participants discussing merger, a set of written instructions (from the Instructorīs Guide) and instruct them that they must select a negotiating committee, while the others continue the simulation. (Karl E. S)
Do an Audit when there is a lunch/dinner break. Items to scrutinize: Check backsides of ID-Cards and Customer Cards. Have they developed their people? Have they started all their projects? (There should be no backlog of orders, except those with copy cards). Have they filled in discounts and bonuses properly?. Do their books balance? Scrutinize the Accounts of companies that post abnormal profits/losses.
Let the participants give you all recruitment/order cards and put them on the market table yourself. You then avoid the advantage that "lurking" behind gives the last bidder. (Peter V in Celemi UK). Comment from Karl-Erik Sveiby: I have found that this method slows down the market slightly,but that I can recommend it if it is a competitive group.
It is very effective to gather the participants around one of the tables during the first part of the introduction, pointing at the board and the cards while talking. It gives them a helicopter view.(Karl E. S) The introductory phase is quite long. It takes some 3,5 hrs if one follows the Learnerīs Guide. It is possible to reduce the time to 2,5hrs by allowing only 10 min to intro and then go straight into page 9. Come back to the theory in the reflection periods between the years. I receive fewer comments about the long intro phae when using this method. (Stig Ehnbom)
Use a clock
Buy a clock, hang it on a wall and use post-it tabs to mark the time for markets, etc. It helps participants to check their efficiency. (Brent Snow).
Prevent Early Dominance
If a company receives a Difficult Clog, having made a perfect Chemistry match in Year 2, it will reach Level 2 in Image as the only company. In some very competitive sessions, this company will take the advantage and become dominant already after year 3, making it dull for the other participants. You can reduce this risk by "changing the random factor", that is: Move all the Difficult Clogs from Year 2 to Years 3-7 in the deck of Clog Cards, after you shuffled them! (Karl E. Sveiby)
Defence against head-hunting can be done by raising the salary of a person during the development discussion before they go to market. This might deter the headhunter, since he will have to pay the high salary. He might think twice if the person has a bonus of, say 4M or 6M. Inform the participants of this defense during headhunting.(Karl E S)
Whether a company loses a person depends not only on the level, but also on the competition. If the competitor does not spot the opportunity or if the competitor has another strategy, the persons are usually much safer than the company tends to believe. (Karl-E S)
The market moves in a cycle, first rapid growth, then declining growth, then shrinking. It is a typical growth pattern of a new technology. At first there are few customers, because they do not know the new field. There are also few people around who know the field. They are thus valuable but not as scarce as one might believe. When the field grows more customers come to market as well as people and the companies invest in R&D so the knowledge grows and spreads more and more. (Karl E S)
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