Business education model

Abstract: A business education model in which players may simulate the running of a company with the amounts and types of assets, liabilities and future commitments, contingent liabilities, of a company or other business enterprise being shown through the number, colour and positions of symbols and markers on a board. The board is marked out with areas representing business premises or factory plant, areas for stocking bought raw material, tokens to represent values of raw material and goods for sale, cash and debts, these different tokens being preferably of a similar size but of different colours so that it can readily be appreciated what they represent, with their value being apparent by their total. The board also includes areas for illustrating the expense of the equipment and manning of plant, for processing cash and loans, for showing the costs of building up a marketing force and for containing tokens showing overhead expenditures incurred in the running of the model business.

Description: This invention relates to apparatus for use in a business education model whereby players may simulate the running of a company with the amounts and types of assets, liabilities and future commitments (contingent liabilities) of a company or other business enterprise being shown through the number, colour and position of symbols and markers on a board. This allows the changes in the company's financial and strategic position to be shown visually so that the results of decisions taken by its members can be explained, perceived and analysed by a visual analogy to the real-world situation which the model mimics. While the model can be used as a support equipment for business games or case study analysis in any type of business education, whether to teach marketing, accounting or finance, it is illustrated herein as a model representing the complete running of a company from the ordering of raw materials to the processing of those raw materials into a finished product and then the marketing with appropriate provision being made continuously for creditors, debtors and expenses including depreciation and training and labour costs. FR-A-2,456,534 discloses a game in which counters are stacked in columns in compartments of a case to indicate parameters of a company operated by a player. It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus which can be used by players in a business education model to simulate and practice the running and management of a plurality of companies in a learning environment. According to the invention, there is provided apparatus for showing the assets, liabilities and future commitments of a plurality of companies or other business enterprises in a business education model, the apparatus comprising a plurality of boards each being marked out to show separate areas representing factory plant, a place for stocking bought raw materials, a location for illustrating the expense of the equipment and manning of manufacturing plant, a location for processing cash and loans, a location for showing the costs of building up a marketing force and a location for showing expenditure incurred in the running of the model business; a plurality of sets of tokens, the tokens of one set being distinguishable by colour from the tokens of another set, the tokens of different sets indicating respectively the values of raw material, cash and debts, and a plurality of transparent tubes in which the tokens are stackable, such that each board with pluralities of tokens stacked in different tubes and located on marked areas of the board represents a detailed balance sheet and expense account for a business, each stack of tokens, by nature of the colour of the tokens, the number in the stack and the position on the board, representing visually the precise nature and amount of each item comprising the balance sheet or expense account of the company represented by the board. Generally, the values on the model are shown by a pile of markers and the nature of the item, as indicated above, is shown by the colours of the markers. For instance, cash in hand may be money colour, e.g. silver, creditors may be represented by debt colour, e.g. red, and stocks may be represented by colours representing the material or items to be bought in. While a single different colour, for example yellow might be used to indicate raw material, in other cases various raw materials may be required in a particular plant for processing and thus, for example, yellow might represent sugar, white might represent flour and brown might represent chocolate. In manufacturing goods on the model in the plant, represented by plant cards, the product of the plant will comprise a pile of markers or tokens representing the materials as referred to above together with the direct labour cost added as money coloured markers, so that the marginal, full or standard cost of production can be shown at will. Preferably, the tubes are open topped so that they can readily have the value markers or tokens inserted into or tipped out. These tubes make the piles of markers easier to handle and count and may be used to show further information, such as the nature of the item, e.g. fixed or current assets, or the currency represented, e.g. pounds or dollars. Thus, the transparent plastic tubes may be of varying shape or colour but preferably are not circular so that they are less likely to roll about if knocked over. Cash flows on the board are shown by money coloured markers on the board e.g. from a cash store area to locations representing the overheads to be paid, for example in labour, plant or factory costs, or in advertising or in training staff to develop different overseas markets. Fund flows can be shown by the movements of all markers with growth and decline of the amount of markers of all types in various areas of the board. The board can also show depreciation, a non-cash expense, by the movement of markers or tokens showing the value of equipment from the fixed asset areas on the board to the expense areas of the board, leaving dwindling values behind. Employees can be shown as people markers which can show the cost of recruitment and training through the number of markers although instead of using separate coloured markers as employees, the simple cash markers could be processed instead. The machinery in the plant is represented both by a pile of value markers, through which the capital investment and book value in the plant is shown, and also, preferably, by tokens, conveniently in the form of cards, whose colour and design represent the nature of the machine, the type of production and processing it uses, its capacity and the type of product it produces currently. Market leadership may be shown by possession of a token, e.g. a coloured hat or nameboard, which can confer advantages in competing with other companies. Nominally, this market leadership will be achieved by the company, where a plurality of companies are competing, which had the largest sales in a particular market during the previous accounting period. Competition for orders occurs through decisions taken in each company or business about the range of products they wish to sell, the markets they wish to enter, and the sales and distribution mechanism they employ. As a result of these decisions, which are shown by the deployment of markers on the board, the companies are issued with a limited number of tender forms which they can use to tender to supply certain customers with the goods they require at a particular price and with a certain delivery date. Used in this way, a plurality of companies each run by one or a group of people practice on separate boards comprising separate models with interlinking occurring through competition at the marketing stage. The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a view of the left-hand side of a playing board for the model; Figure 2 is a view of the right-hand side of the playing board; Figures 3a and 3b are views of the opposite sides of a card used to represent a plant or factory to be placed on the board; Figures 4a and 4b, 5a and 5b, 6a and 6b, 7a and 7b and 8a and 8b show opposite sides of other exemplary plant cards; Figure 9 shows the check lists which need to be used by the players of the game every month and every quarter; Figure 10 illustrates a typical delivery note as used by participants; Figure 11 illustrates a typical tender form; Figure 12 illustrates a market form for the fourth quarter of a trading year; Figure 13 illustrates a quarterly Income Statement; Figure 14 illustrates a monthly Balance Sheet; Figure 15 illustrates an exemplary look-up table for use in simulating a market with elastic demands; Figure 16 illustrates a container with a plurality of different tokens therein. In Figure 1 there is shown the left-hand side of the board representing the production side of the business model. Each area 14 represents a location for a plant which may be used to process raw material stock to obtain finished goods with these being arranged in pairs, each pair being located in a single factory. An area 12 is shown for raw material in stock waiting to be processed in the plant with areas 10 and 11 being provided to receive and process orders for raw material until it is delivered into the stock 12. Figure 2 shows the right-hand side of the board indicating a store 16 for finished goods, location 17 for containing cash in hand, with areas 19 and 20 on either side thereof for processing payments with creditors and debtors. The area 18 shows the process of tokens indicating loans with the area 21 representing varying amounts which may be paid by people playing the game for the various expenses indicated thereon and which would be incurred in normal business circumstances. Area 22 is an indicator of new markets and area 23 of the cost of research and development. Area 24 provides means for showing sales staff in different areas of the world. The plant cards are in different colours to show which product they produce and are designed to represent production processes of different durations, costs and volumes of production. Basically, they will control operations such that the large volume will be more expensive to set up but will operate more efficiently, once set up, than the small volume plant and will thus produce goods more cheaply. When a player has decided to erect a plant in a particular factory area, he will need to pay for the building of the factory by putting the appropriate amount of money in the factory area (14a) beside the space 14 and the plant card can then be installed in one of the areas 14 with its B side uppermost. The appropriate amounts of money will then be placed in the appropriate spaces in the recruitment and training areas and in the plant investment areas on side B of the card with the quantities being inserted month by month as delineated. Thus, in Figure 3b, when first installing the plant, one would put two units of money on the space marked 2 and in the following month one would put four units on the space marked 4 in the recruitment and training area and eight in the space marked 8 in the area for investment in plant and then the following month those amounts can be removed from the card and equivalent value markers put on the marked spaces 14b and 14c beside the area 14 and the card inverted to show the A side which can then be used month by month to process raw material by moving it from the raw material space 16 to the space marked 1 on the card and the following month to the space marked 2 on the card and then to the finished goods space. The control of cash, of loans and the marketing of finished goods is controlled by the right-hand side of the board and overall the operation of the model will be appreciated from the following explanation as would be provided to participants who are to use the model. Investing in New Plant To set up a new plant, place the card in your factory, and pay the amount shown onto the first ring marked "Investment in Plant". Each month when you reach the "Invest in Plant" instruction on the checklist, pay the amount shown onto the next ring. When all the rings are full, the plant is fully paid for. When you have made the final payment, take all the money from the "Investment" circles, and put it in a tube beside the plant card, on the octagon 14b marked "Plant". This shows you the total investment you have made in the plant. You can then turn the plant card over ready for production, and get your "people" chips from the game leader. Recruitment and Training When you set up a new plant, you need to recruit and train people to work on it. You do this by paying the amount shown onto the ring marked "Recruitment and Training" just above the current month's investment in plant. Recruitment and training starts one or two months after the investment in plant, depending on the plant design. When you have completed your investment in plant and want to turn the card over, call the game leader who will take your "Recruitment and Training" investment in exchange for green "people" chips, which you can put next to the plant card on the "people" octagon 14c. Depreciation Every year an appropriate allowance has to be made for depreciation and in order to do this you abstract a cash token from each of the factory and plant spaces containing cash adjacent the production plant areas 14 and put it in the depreciation area of the expenses area 21. For the purposes of convenience, each cash unit is considered as being £1000. Upgrading Plant to Increase Capacity You can increase capacity by upgrading a small or medium plant into a larger one. First you must run off the existing work in progress, so that the plant is empty. Then cover the existing plant card with the type of plant you wish to have. If you are upgrading a small plant to a medium, pay the £8000 shown on the right of the vertical line for investment, and the amount shown above it for recruitment. If you are upgrading a small plant to a large one, pay the amounts shown to the right of the vertical lines, over two months. If you are upgrading a medium plant to a large, pay only the amounts shown at the far right of the card for investment and (with white plants) recruitment. No further recruitment is needed for blue and yellow plants because both medium and large plants use the same number of workers. Changing Products You can produce a new product by opening a new plant to make it. If you wish to increase your total production, you do this by investing in new plant, and recruiting and training staff as described above. If, however, you wish to keep the same output, but change product then you can sell off your existing plant at its book value. Call the game leader to arrange this. The workers can be transferred freely to other plants of the same size or smaller, but training is needed to transfer them to a larger plant. If you fire excess workers, you have to give them redundancy payments equal to three months' wages. Labour Costs Your workers need to be paid wages every month, whether or not you have work for them to do. If they are idle, for instance due to a shortage of raw materials, or because their plant is being upgraded, their wages must be put to "Unrecovered Labour" among the Expenses. Staff Transfers Staff may be moved without cost or delay from any plant to an equal or smaller plant. To move staff from a smaller plant to a larger one, they must be trained on full salary for one month, without producing any product. Sales Staff Each Unit of sales staff allows you to tender for two orders in the region where they work. Sales staff may be employed at any time, and require a salary of £2000 per month. Redundancies If you wish to reduce the workforce, three months' wages must be paid as redundancy payment at the time of dismissal. Short Term Loans You can borrow units of £20 000 from the bank at 20% interest. £1000 interest is paid in advance, on receipt of the loan, and the capital must be repaid or the loan renegotiated when three months have passed. Medium Term Loans You can borrow money from the bank in units of £30 000 at 13.3% interest. Interest of £1000 is paid in arrears, at the end of each quarter, and the capital must be repaid when two years have passed. Developing New Products The cost and time taken to develop new products are: Cost (£000) Delay Blues 5 1 month Whites 10 2 months Browns 20 4 months These costs are paid onto the blue, white or brown circles in the R & D area at the rate of £5000 per product per month. R & D can proceed on more than one product at once. Total Quality Programmes With the exception of Browns, all products can be produced at a higher quality, with no extra cost in materials and labour, if a Quality Initiative is undertaken. Quality costs £10 000 per product, paid over two months on the yellow circles in the R & D area. After completion, a product will carry a 10% premium over the tender price, unless all competing products are top quality. Browns can only be produced at standard quality. Marketing There are a number of wholesale customers in the market, and you compete for their orders through tenders. Each order goes to the tender with the lowest price. Some customers demand more credit than others. Tenders You may tender for as many orders as you wish in the market, providing that you have enough tenders available. Each unit of sales staff entitled you to two tenders, and for every £1000 you spend on advertising you get one extra tender per two sales staff in that region. You must prepare all your tenders (using the tender forms as illustrated in Figure 11) before coming to the market, and may not change them once the market has opened. You may withdraw tenders that have been prepared, for instance if you are out of stock through sales at the start of the market, but you do not get any refund on tendering costs. It is important to check your tenders before submission, since they are binding on you; if you quote too low a price by mistake, and win the tender, you will have to deliver at that price. Market with Elastic Demand In order to simulate a market with elastic demand, the volume of orders awarded can be varied with the price of the winning tender. Prices above the market norm will win less units, or none at all, in accordance with a demand curve. Prices below the norm will attract greater volumes than those tendered for in accordance with the same demand curve. Different market behaviours can be shown through charges in the market norm price for a product and the shape of the demand curve. The game leader can use look-up tables to compute the volumes offered and the tenderer can accept or decline the extra volume. Figure 15 shows a look-up table to determine how many goods will have been sold. The illustrated look-up table has a ruling recommended retail price (RRP) for the product in that market, illustrated as RRP9 although other look-up tables will be provided for different RRP values. The table comprises nine boxes, each referring to the number of goods tendered and thus if, for example, five goods were tendered at a price of 65 the price range containing the price on the tender would be in the range of 73 to 71 and thus the number of goods which can be expected to have been sold is shown beside this range, e.g. 3. Thus, when using this means as approximating market mechanism, the procedure would be that in order to compete in a particular market for a given product in a given region, a team must have completed market development investments, have a sales force in the region, and have a capacity to produce the product. Tenders would be submitted at market and the lowest price would win the bid. If there is a tie for the lowest price, the market leader will win the bid. If neither party is market leader, the higher quality wins the bid. If no other factor distinguishes competitors, they are asked to quote delivery times, and the earliest delivery will win the bid. It is only once the bid has been won that the look-up table exemplified in Figure 15 will be used to determine how many of the goods have been sold. The look-up tables can be constructed to represent various elasticities of demand, retail prices and quantities. They could be dispensed with where one is asked to consider the market behaviour as being inelastic. Markets can also be designated to show preferences other than those referred to above. For example, in one region delivery time or quality may have a higher priority than price in determining who wins an order. Price The maximum price which customers are prepared to pay may vary from market to market and from time to time according to the maturity of the markets and the state of the local economy. No tenders above the maximum price guideline will be accepted even if unopposed. Delivery Orders must normally be delivered within four months of acceptance, or a 10% price penalty will be applied. Orders which were won on the basis of quoted delivery times must be delivered as agreed, or they will incur penalties of 10% per month. Credit The "Call for Tenders" shows the amount of credit required by each customer. If you win an order marked 90, you will receive your cash three months after you deliver the goods to the customer. In the meantime, the money owed you will sit in the "Debtors" area of your board. You must place it in the third column to begin with, and update it each month by moving it one step towards cash. New Markets To enter a new market, you have to pay market development costs of £3000 per month for the period shown. These represent such expenses as travel and accommodation when researching the new market, setting up and equipping a sales outlet, recruiting and training staff, translating brochures into the local language, etc. Once the market development cost is completed, you can submit tenders in the new market in the normal way. To keep an export market open, you must pay the salary of one sales person, even if you stop promotion and make no sales. If you do not employ sales staff in a market, you lost the right to sell in it. The market development money will be taken off your board,and you will have to start all over again if you wish to re-enter the market later. Market Research Information about the volume of demand for each product, the number of customers in each market, and trends in the RRP (recommended retail price) for each product are available from the game leader, the cost is £3000 for one quarter ahead, and £10 000 for a full year (four quarters). Every month the player or players if a team is playing on the board will complete a monthly checklist (as shown in Figure 9). This comprises carrying out the following actions:- 1. New Markets Pay £5000 onto the next empty circle for any new market you wish to enter. 2. Obtain Raw Materials Spot purchases: buy for cash from the supplier. Orders due: move the credit chips onto the Creditors area and accept deliveries. 3. Update Raw Material Orders Move month 2 orders to month 1. Place new orders with supplier, collect credit chips and place with order. 4. Production Move all work in progress one step forward. Yellows will move from the plant to the Finished Goods area. Blues and Whites will move one ring to the right, those on the last ring go to the Finished Goods area. 5. Invest in Plant You can invest in new plants, or increase the production capacity of your existing ones. 6. Recruitment and Training If you invest in new plant or upgrade your existing plant, you must pay to recruit and train additional production staff. 7. Bring Raw Materials to Plant Move raw materials from stock onto the empty circles on the plants. For Blue and White plants, put raw materials only on the rings marked "1". 8. Pay Labour Take £1000 from cash for each worker in each plant, and pay it into the tubes in the plant. The number of workers is shown by the green chips beside the plant, and also by the number in the top left hand corner of the plant card. When some rings on the plant card are empty, pay only the standard amount into the tubes and put the rest on the "Unrecovered Labour" square among the Expenses. The standard amounts are: Small Medium Large Yellow 3 2 1 Blue 2 2 1 White 2 2 2 Brown 3 2 1 9. Research & Development You may develop new products, or develop an existing product to a higher quality, by paying money at the top right corner of the board. 10. Update Debtors Move each tube one step to the left. 11. Update Creditors Move each tube one step to the right, and put an equal amount of cash next to those which reach "Pay". 12. Update Loans Move each short-term loan tube one step to the right. Repay any loans due with an equal amount of cash. 13. Pay Sales Salaries Pay £1000 for each sales person onto the square among Expenses. 14. Pay Admin Pay £1000 onto the "Admin" square among the Expenses. 15. Delivery Note, Make Deliveries For any orders which you can now fulfil, complete a delivery note (Figure 10). If you have produced any product from more than one type of plant, count up the cost of sales carefully, as it will vary. Take the goods to the game leader with the accepted tender form, and bring the money back to cash or debtors as appropriate. Also, every month, the balance sheet as shown in Figure 14 will need to be completed. Every quarter, the quarterly checklist as shown in Figure 9 will need to be completed with, as indicated previously, tenders being made at this time using the tender form. Also, every quarter, the income statement as shown in Figure 13 will need to be completed as well as the market sheet shown in Figure 12 in order to keep a record of what has been happening month-by-month and quarter-by-quarter. As will be appreciated, the apparatus required for the education model will comprise a board as shown in Figures 1 and 2, a plurality of plant cards, a selection of which are shown in Figures 3 to 8, a plurality of discs coloured to simulate money, appropriately these may be a plurality of silver discs each representing £1000, a plurality of similar sized discs to represent creditors, these discs being of a different colour, conveniently red, and a plurality of differently coloured discs for representing stocks to be processed. Again these discs will be of a similar size and similar value to the cash discs but will be of a different colour. They may, for example, simply be all one colour to represent stocks generally or in a more complicated version for processing in the plant you may have the stock of different colours to represent different materials with different combinations of these materials being required in particular plant to produce the finished article. Instead of having the single silver discs to represent money, additional different coloured discs may be used to indicate different values, for example black to show £10 000, and/or different currencies. Preferably, tubes of plastic material are provided for containing the different coloured counters. Thus, while the counters may simply be moved as heaps or piles about the board, it is more convenient to tip them in and out of the plastic tubes with the proportions of different coloured counters in a tube being very readily visible from the outside to show the proportions of cash value, raw material value etc which may be represented by the contents of that tube. While such tubes could be of circular shape, it is preferred that they have flat side faces so as to reduce the chance of their rolling, should they get knocked over and conveniently an octagonal cross-section tube has been found to be suitable. Different shaped or coloured tubes may be used at different locations on the board to represent, for example, the fact that they, with contents, show the value of a finished product. Figure 16 illustrates a transparent, open-topped container of octagonal cross-section containing tokens with different coloured tokens being illustrated by the presence or absence of various cross-hatchways.

Claims: Apparatus for showing the assets, liabilities and future commitments of a plurality of companies or other business enterprises in a business education model, the apparatus comprising a plurality of boards each being marked out to show separate areas (14) representing factory plant, a place (12) for stocking bought raw materials, a location (14) for illustrating the expense of the equipment and manning of manufacturing plant, a location (17,18) for processing cash and loans, a location (24) for showing the costs of building up a marketing force and a location (21) for showing expenditure incurred in the running of the model business; a plurality of sets of tokens, the tokens of one set being distinguishable by colour from the tokens of another set, the tokens of different sets indicating respectively the values of raw material, cash and debts, and a plurality of transparent tubes in which the tokens are stackable, such that each board with pluralities of tokens stacked in different tubes and located on marked areas of the board represents a detailed balance sheet and expense account for a business, each stack of tokens, by nature of the colour of the tokens, the number in the stack and the position on the board, representing visually the precise nature and amount of each item comprising the balance sheet or expense account of the company represented by the board. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tokens are of a similar size. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the set of tokens indicating raw materials is itself made up of sub-sets of different coloured materials to indicate different raw materials to be processed. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein there are further provided a plurality of plant cards (Figures 3, 4 and 5), each indicating a different plant which may be locatable on a factory plant area to show the commitment required for plant and labour required in a particular manufacture. Apparatus according to claim 4, in which a plurality sets of plant cards are provided, each differently coloured and each containing spaces for different instructions thereon, the cards representing plant of varying capacity, cost and productivity. Apparatus according to claim 5, in which the plant cards have spaces representing month-by-month expenses in setting up the plant on one side thereof and spaces representing month-by-month processing of raw material on the other side thereof. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein said tubes are non-circular in cross-section, and open-topped so that they can readily have tokens inserted thereinto or tipped out therefrom. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein certain of the tubes are distinguishable from others by being of varying shape or colour. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, including further distinguishable tokens which indicate trained employees capable of operating a plant to indicate the cost of training. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, including a plurality of machinery cards which are distinguishable to represent the nature of the machine, the type of production and processing it uses, its capacity, and the type of product it produces. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, which includes a further token distinguishable to show market leadership. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, including a plurality of tender forms which can be completed to indicate a tender where the model is being utilised with different people controlling the plurality of said boards, each board representing an individual company. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, including a plurality of lookup tables showing how the amount of business won by any tender depends on competitive factors which may include the unit price of goods or services sold, the amount supplied, market share, delivery time, and quality; and varies according to theories relating to elasticity of demand. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, including a plurality of market research reports for different products. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, including a plurality of check-lists, each check-list comprising a list of actions to be taken each business period.

Inventors: COUSINS GORDON FRANK, HELWEG-LARSEN BRIAN, COUSINS, GORDON FRANK, HELWEG-LARSEN, BRIAN
Applicants: COUSINS GORDON FRANK, HELWEG LARSEN BRIAN, COUSINS, GORDON FRANK, HELWEG-LARSEN, BRIAN
Application year: 1990
Main classification: G09B19
IPC codes: G09B1, A63F3, G09B19