BUS 687 Ashford University Week 3 Business Simulation Paper

The Decisions for Quarter Two Assignment

Must be completed through the Growing Your Business simulation.

Consider the following questions as you prepare your annual budget/plan (if the answer is “No” to any of the questions you may be at a Competitive Disadvantage and lack critical information to draw inference from):

• Did you

Request/purchase the Marketing Report and Business Intelligence Dashboard (BID)?

• Utilize the 4 available role plays for Qtr.2?

Consider in the R&D Projects?

• Must use the Role Play

It is critical you read the details of the role play very carefully and any questions should immediately be referred to the Help Desk.

• You can gain a differentiated competitive advantage through the effective use of role-playing.
• Some role players only provide qualitative information, while others provide the ability to negotiate quantitatively.
• Role-play is a scarce resource because of the limited number of calls per quarter.

Must submit your Quarter Two Budget Plan.

• Must not have a short-range outlook over the credit limit.

Periodically, as you modify inputs, use the “Model My Plan” at the lower right to see the impact of your decisions on the Financial Metrics.

• Input your financial decision and then click on the blue Submit My SRO button on the bottom right of the Quarterly Decisions screen.
• You must submit your Quarter Two Decisions prior to moving on this week’s Quarterly Business Review assignment.
• Part II: Second Quarter Quarterly Business Review (QBR). You must submit your Quarter Two Decisions prior to moving on to this week’s Quarterly Business Review assignment. Prior to beginning work on your Second Quarter Quarterly Business Review, review the content from the Suggestions for Quarter Two Decisions pop-up and your Business Intelligence Dashboard. The graphics in the dashboard should provide you with the trends (that is the time series data is growing) in data to critically analyze your competitors for the few two quarters their positions for the longer term.
• With the completion of Quarter Two, you are responsible for completing your second Quarterly Business Review (QBR). This is a qualitative and quantitative summary of your competitive performance for Q2. Business reviews (or Operational Reviews) are a routine part of annual corporate activities and are very cross-functional in nature. A major component of a QBR is around meeting commitments that are embedded in your budgetary planning process. Meeting commitments are seen explicitly in your Variances. These learnings are designed to enhance your performance in future Quarters.
• In your Growing Your Business simulation,

Evaluate quantitative and qualitative techniques for business analysis and decision-making.

• Utilize tools from finance, marketing, information technology and human resources management to manage the profitability of overall business operations in the second quarter.
• The Second Quarter Quarterly Business Review Assignment
• Must be completed through the Growing Your Business simulation.

After logging in, go to the Quarterly Decisions tab on the top right of the simulation site and then click on the Executive Summary tab to access the Quarterly Business Review section.

• Must be completed and submitted using all of the data provided including

Quarterly Pre-Tax Net Income relative to Plan for the Quarter

Review the Pre-Tax Net Income Chart Explanation

Download Pre-Tax Net Income Chart Explanationdocument

Cash Flow walk

Review the How to Read the Cash Flow Walk Chart

Download How to Read the Cash Flow Walk Chartdocument

• Pre-tax Net Income in Plan
• Must show that Hisco is on track to Meet/Exceed its Annual Net Income Commitment through an evaluation of both quantitative and qualitative techniques for business analysis and decision making.

Must create specific business tactics to achieve organizational survival and growth.