We chose 12 years in order to represent investments longer then the average tenure of senior executives, and yet be short enough to be realistic in terms of projection. Although not a parameter to be set in Brightline, it merits description here. In the simulation, customers, companies and shareholders are given the option to make decisions and changes in their business once every cycle. This two-week time span for a cycle is intended to be short enough to allow consumers and customers to react quickly to a changing environment, yet be long enough to stabilize the potentially frenetic movement of customers allowed by the speed of computer modeling. Brand loyalty at the pump tends to be low, as customers can willingly and easily, say, drive a block further to buy gas at 2 cents less per gallon.
Industrial customers are more reluctant or unable to change suppliers than individuals.
This parameter was not used in these analyses because, in the baseline simulation, no shareholders were allowed to become actively involved, and in the Focus company simulations, shareholders were set to be active from the start. Different industries are more or less scrutinized by regulators, public interest groups, and the general public eye. The Government Vigilance parameter is intended to represent this scrutiny that keeps companies in an industry from externalizing their costs beyond reason. In Brightline, this parameter functions by determining the probability that the government will fine a company if it has exceeded the legal limit. Using this setting, the company that is operating most illegally has the highest probability of being fined, but all illegally operating companies are vulnerable.