The Best Capsim Guide
With Helpful Capsim Tips Per Round
Free support for Rounds 1 and 2
Of course, this guide and tips can help to remove all this the stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and social isolation due to this business simulation.
Save several weeks or a month of research by just 8 hours reading this guide and apply step by step decisions making, for all the 8 rounds
This is step by step guide to help you avoid the kind of mistakes that makes you lose when you start Capsim and also tips to get you win the game.
Good Luck and Success!
You should do before start the Capsim
1 - Log in and read Industry Condition Report (Top menu, report tab, last row)
2 - Read Courier Report of last round (to get Market overview, Pricing, Production and Competitors analysis)
3 - Prepare an Excel file to calculate R&D, Sales Forecast and Production for each round.
You can download free Excel file here - LINK TO ALL EXCEL FILES
or Download Capsim Capstone Excel file here - LINK 2
Or email to: mbahelp2002@gmail.com to get Free support for creating excel file.
Free Personal Support for Rounds 1-2
Email: mbahelp2002@gmail.com
The general strategy for this game is investing heavily in R&D, Promo and Sales, Production Capacity Expansion, Increase Automation, HR, TQM, using long-term liabilities in the earlier rounds (1-3) and gain top sales and profit all rounds from 4-8.
- A team leader to review all decisions
- R&D is the key to win, if there is mistake, need 2-3 rounds to fix, then can not compete with other teams. So, again, R&D is the key.
- Marketing face only 4 decisions: Price, Promo and Sales and most important, Sales Forecast Calculation
- Production face only 3 decisions: Production plan calculation, Production capacity expansion and Automation. (Note that Production depends on Marketing sales forecast)
- HR with only 2 decisions
- TQM with 10 simple decisions
- Finance with 3-5 decisions (do not fear them).
If you have free time, you can read all Financial reports, it is very details.
To win the game, you just need to look at Sales and Profit.
So, do not put too much hope on Finance member, their key job is to get enough funds for 3 first rounds and pay dividends in later rounds.
Capsim Tips Per Capsim Round
Brief Summary Capsim Tips Round 1
Capsim Reminders
Before Starting Capsim Business Simulation Game
- Note to reduce prices by $0.50 every year to keep products more competitive.
- Make sure to add enough capacity for production for each segment, if not, competitors will sell more, then lose customers.
- Key to win is new products: If a new product is invented, invest in capacity, and set automation for new products.
- If funds are available, in Production, invest in automation for new invented products.
- Changing a product size and or performance, every round based on perceptual map or Courier report
- Low end product does not require re-positioning
- Spend an hour to read the instructions booklet to get a better understanding of the game. It is simple but useful knowledge.
- Invented a new product (in Low End segment, to double sales and profit from Round 4 to 8)
- Paid for accessibility (1200-1400, Low End 2000)
- Paid for awareness (1200-1400, Low End 2000)
- Purchased automation for new product and existing products.
- Purchased capacity for new product invented and existing products.
- Sell surplus capacity for Traditional (-600)
- Sell surplus capacity for High End (-300)
- Add new capacity for new R&D product (600, automation 5)
- Increase automation for Traditional to 5 and Low End to 6.5
- Issued stocks (MAX)
- Issued bonds (MAX)
- Changed Accounts Receivables due date to 90 days or 46 days
- Changed Accounts Payable payment date to 30 days
Brief Summary Capsim Tips Round 2
- Repositioned segments: traditional, high-end, performance and size.
- Paid for accessibility.
- Paid for awareness.
- Purchased more automation.
- Purchased more capacity.
- Issued stocks.
- Issued bonds.
- Accounts Receivables due date to 90 days (same from the previous round).
- Accounts Payables payment date to 30 days (same from the previous round).
- Recruiting costs: $5,000.
- Training: 80 hours.
- Negotiated new labor terms.
Brief Summary Capsim Round 3
- Repositioned segments: high-end, performance, size and high-end (invented product).
- Paid for accessibility.
- Paid for awareness.
- Purchased more automation.
- Purchased more capacity.
- Issued stocks.
- Accounts Receivables due date to 90 days (same from the previous round).
- Accounts Payables payment date to 30 days (same from the previous round).
- Recruiting costs: $5,000.
- Training: 80 hours.
Brief Summary Capsim Tips Round 4
- Repositioned segments: traditional, high-end, performance, size and high-end (invented product).
- Paid for accessibility.
- Paid for awareness.
- Purchased more automation.
- Purchased more capacity.
- Issued stocks.
- Accounts Receivables due date to 90 days (same from the previous round).
- Accounts Payables payment date to 30 days (same from the previous round).
- Recruiting costs: $5,000.
- Training: 80 hours.
- Costs: $1,500 per category.
Brief Summary Capsim Tips Per Round 5
- Repositioned all segments.
- Paid for accessibility.
- Paid for awareness.
- Purchased more automation.
- Accounts Receivables due date to 90 days (same from the previous round).
- Accounts Payables payment date to 30 days (same from the previous round).
- Recruiting costs: $5,000.
- Training: 80 hours.
- Costs: $1,500 per category.
Brief Summary Capsim Tips Round 6
- Repositioned segments: traditional, high-end, performance, size and high-end (invented product).
- Paid for accessibility.
- Paid for awareness.
- Purchased more automation.
- Purchased more capacity.
- Accounts Receivables due date to 90 days (same from the previous round).
- Accounts Payables payment date to 30 days (same from the previous round).
- Recruiting costs: $5,000.
- Training: 80 hours.
- Costs: $1,500 per category.
Brief Summary Capsim Tips Round 7
- Repositioned segments: traditional, high-end, and high-end (invented product).
- Paid for accessibility.
- Paid for awareness.
- Purchased more capacity.
- Retired stocks.
- Retired bonds.
- Accounts Receivables due date to 90 days (same from the previous round).
- Accounts Payables payment date to 30 days (same from the previous round).
- Recruiting costs: $5,000.
- Training: 80 hours.
- Negotiated new labor terms.
Brief Summary Capsim Tips Round 8
- Repositioned segments: traditional, high-end, performance, size and high-end (invented product).
- Paid for accessibility.
- Paid for awareness.
- No more automation and capacity purchased.
- Retired stocks.
- Retired bonds.
- Accounts Receivables due date to 90 days (same from the previous round).
- Accounts Payables payment date to 30 days (same from the previous round).
- Recruiting costs: $5,000.
- Training: 80 hours.
Common Capsim FAQs
- How to win Capsim?
- How to increase days of working capital in Capsim?
- What’s the best position on the perception map?
- How to reposition products in Capsim?
- What’s the importance of repositioning products in Capsim?
- How to invent products in Capsim?
- What effect age revision has on a product?
- How to do products drift or age in Capsim?
- When should capacity be purchased in Capsim?
- What’s the best Capsim automation strategy?
- Do you have Capsim cheat sheet to download?
- How to increase leverage in Capsim?
- How do you calculate Capsim sales forecast?
- Do you have to create a Capsim SWOT analysis?
- How to pay Bonds due in Capsim?
- What are Capsim emergency loans?
- How to avoid Capsim emergency loans?
Here Are The Answers To Capsim FAQs MBA Students Ask About Capsim Simulation Game
Q 1 How To Win Capsim?
Q 2 How To Increase Days Of Working Capital In Capsim?
- Being profitable
- Issuing stock for cash
- Replacing short-term debt with long-term debt
- Selling long-term assets for cash
- Settling short-term debts for less than the stated amounts
- Collecting more of the accounts receivables than was anticipated
- Reducing the balance required in the current asset account Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
Q 3 What’s The Best Position On The Perception Map?
Capsim Questions About Repositing Products In Capsim
Q 4 How To Reposition Products In Capsim?
Q 5 What’s The Importance Of Repositioning Products In Capsim?
- Low-end position cost $1.00
- High-end position cost $10.00
- MTBF 1,000 house add $0.30 to material cost
Q 6 What Effect Age Revision Has On A Product?
Q 7 How Do Products Drift Or Age In Capsim?
Q 8 How To Invent Products In Capsim?
Q 9 When Should Capacity Be Purchased In Capsim?
Q 10 What’s The Best Capsim Automation Strategy?
- Traditional: 8-8.5
- Low-end: 10 towards the end of the game
- High-end: 6-7, and 6.5 for other product segments
Q 11 Do You Have Capsim Cheat Sheet To Download?
Q 12 How To Increase Leverage In Capsim?
Q 13 How Do You Calculate Capsim Sales Forecast?
Capsim Sales Forecast Calculation Example
- [(2,000 units+100 units) x 0.05] + [(2,000 units+100 units)]= $2,205 OR
- (2,000 units+100 units) x 1.05 = 2,205
How To Adjust Capsim Sales Forecast To Reflect The Impact Of External And Internal Factors
Q 14 Do You Have To Create A Capsim SWOT Analysis?
Q 15 How To Pay Bonds Due In Capsim?
Capsim Questions About Capsim Emergency Loans
Q 16 What Are Capsim Emergency Loans?
Q 17 How To Avoid Capsim Emergency Loans?
Capsim Tips For Each Capsim Module
Capsim Tips For Capsim Research And Development Module
- Research and development decisions directly impact your marketing and production plans.
- Marketing and Research and Development decisions address product repositioning on the perceptual map, the number of products in each segment, age of products and MTBF.
- Production and Research and Development decisions impact the cost of materials, purchase of new and automation levels. Note, the higher the automation level the longer it takes to complete Research and Development projects.
- Your first product needs to be completed before another one can be started. So if a product is not completed in the first year it goes into the second year and the other product cells will be locked.
- Project Management: 6 Month project cost $500,000, 1 Year project cost $1,000,000.
- Unsold units built prior to revision date are reworked free of charge to match the new specs.
- Project completion time increases if the company put two or more products in Research and Development at the same time.
Capsim Research And Development Recommendations
- Develop a strategy before you start developing any products. Are you going to maintain a presence in every single product segment or focus on low-end products only or focus on high-end only or dominate high-end but still maintain a presence in the other segments and so on. Once you determine what’s your overall strategy then you may start developing and reposition products based on that strategy.
Capsim Tips For Capsim Marketing Module
- Increase Customer Survey Score: Increase accounts receivables to 90 days to improve your customer survey score. Note, TQM also helps increase the customer survey scores but it isn’t available until later on in the game.
- Beware a product with the highest customer survey score will outsell the competitor’s product.
- Increase Awareness: In Capsim awareness is increased by spending the promotional budget which finances advertising and public relations campaigns expenses.
- Increase Accessibility: Accessibility is built over time by utilizing the product’s sales budget. Capsim sales budget finances salespeople and the distribution systems serving customers.
- Pricing Products in Capsim: Don’t price products $5 above or below the price range. Also remember, the price range decreases by $0.50 on the low and upper range every year.
- Achieving 100% accessibility is difficult. In order to achieve 100% accessibility for any product segment, you must have two or more products in that product segment. Once 100% accessibility is reached you can use a combine the sales budget of $3,500,000 to maintain 100% accessibility.
- Note, accessibility is concerned with the product segment and not the product so once a product leaves a product segment then it no longer benefits. Also unless the product segment still has two products that segment will no longer benefit from the combined budget.
- Sales budget are less effective when products are not positioned within the solid circle and when the product’s price and MTBF are not following the product segment guideline.
- New products invented creates a buzz so 25% awareness is given for free. Therefore, inventing products is highly highly recommended.
Capsim Marketing Recommendations
- Use a promotional budget of $3,000,000 annually in the earlier rounds until product awareness is 100%. Then scale back to $1,400,000 annually to maintain 100%.
- Depending on your strategy allow products to drift/age into other product segments to achieve 100% accessibility.
- Follow product pricing and MTBF guidelines for each product segment.
- Use no more than $4,500,000 sales budget for two products in a product segment and use no more than $3,000,000 sales budget for one product in a product segment.
Capsim Tips For Capsim Production Module
- The production module is where the action happens – products are scheduled for manufacturing.
- The production units for each product line needs to be adjusted to your forecasted sales units.
Capsim Production Recommendations
- Allocating Capacity in Capsim: Always ensure there is enough capacity for each product for the next round before ending your current round.
- Capacity must be purchased for every product invented.
- Invest heavily in capacity and automation in the earlier rounds.
- Avoid selling capacity and automation because there’s a loss involved.
Capsim Tips For Capsim Finance Module
- Short term assets like accounts receivables and inventory are funded with current debt offered by banks.
- Investments in capacity and automation are funded by bonds and issuing stock.
Capsim Financial Recommendations
- Issue stock and long term debt in the first three rounds to invest heavily in capacity and automation.
- Retire stocks once you have excess cash, low debt leverage, and excess working capital.
Capsim Tips For Capsim Human Resource Management Module
- Human resource management is one of the modules that’s added later on during the game. For this module ensure you negotiate when you are asked to. Most importantly, don’t be cheap – ensure you try your best to please your workers to avoid strikes.
- Side note, if you invest in automation during the earlier rounds you reduce your dependence on manual labor, which allows you to save money on hiring workers, so plan accordingly.
- Managing recruiting and training is the top priority in this module. The minimum recruiting cost is $1,000 and the maximum $5,000. Never spend more than $5,000 on recruiting because there isn’t any additional benefit. In fact, there is diminishing returns when $5000 is spent on recruiting. In terms of training, 80 hours is highly recommended.
- Spending top dollar on recruiting and training produces a higher productivity index and a lower turnover rate. This, in turn, reduces the need for more workers thereby lowering labor cost per unit.
Capsim Human Resource Management Recommendations
- Hire employees at $5,000 and with 80 hours of training. However, this can be adjusted depending on your level of automation and sales units forecast for the upcoming year.
Capsim Tips For Capsim Total Quality Management Module
- TQM module helps reduce the cost of your business operations, shortens the length of time required to complete R&D projects and increase demand for the products.
Capsim Total Quality Management Recommendations
- Invest $1,500 per category in the first and second round then $1,000 the third round of TQM.
Capsim A Game Of Path Dependence Theory
Capsim Guide Plan With Winning Capsim Strategy Plan
Disclaimer
- How much risk you are willing to take in the earlier rounds AKA how much you are willing to make it rain using bonds and shareholders money.
- Your ability to forecast sales thereby accurately supplying sensors based on market demands.
- Most importantly, your ability to effectively analyze your competitor’s last move in order to better predict your competitor’s next move.
Walk On The Shoulder Of Giants
Give Customers What They Want
Always Monitor Your Capsim Competitors Strategic Decisions
Before Starting Capsim
This is step by step guide to help you avoid the kind of mistakes that makes you lose when you start Capsim and also tips to get you win the game.
Good Luck and Success!
You should do before start the Capsim
1 - Log in and read Industry Condition Report (Top menu, report tab, last row)
2 - Read Courier Report of last round (to get Market overview, Pricing, Production and Competitors analysis)
3 - Prepare an Excel file to calculate R&D, Sales Forecast and Production for each round.
You can download free Excel file here - LINK TO ALL EXCEL FILES
or Download Capsim Capstone Excel file here - LINK 2
Or email to: mbahelp2002@gmail.com to get Free support for creating excel file.
Free Personal Support for Rounds 1-2
Email: mbahelp2002@gmail.com
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