Question:

Project 3 Analysis Directions: Write your answers below each question. Please do not delete the questions.

1. What strategy were you implementing? Give examples of any three decisions over the four rounds that were consciously driven by your chosen strategy. Explain.

2. Which country and customer(s) did you target with your product (high tech, low tech, or both)? Why? Give examples of two decisions in R&D and two decisions in marketing that you implemented over the four rounds to enable your desired targeting.

3. In the market segment that you were focused on, what do your customers want most? Did your market share for the country where your products are sold change over the four rounds? Comment on how it changed and why.

4. Did you meet your potential demand in Round 1? Round 2? Round 3? Round 4? Hint: Look at Section 3 of the report (marketing). If you observed a stockout (inability to meet demand) in one or more rounds, pinpoint the reasons behind each instance.

5. Based on Section 1 (High Level Overview) of the the Round 1 Report, how did your sales results compare to those of the other five teams? If your sales results were extreme (top two or bottom two among the six teams), explain what other than sheer luck, caused that to happen. In other words, what decisions in Round 1 might have caused your sales to excel or suffer in comparison to its competition?

6. Based on the Round 4 Report, were your sales after Round 4 higher or lower than your sales after Round 3? How do you explain this change in sales in view of your team’s decisions in Round 4? 

7. Did you need an emergency loan in any of the four rounds? If so, why? If you did not need an emergency loan in any of the four rounds, explain the decisions that you made to ensure that your company would not need an emergency loan to survive.

8. Explain your capacity decisions, including whether or not to use a second shift in each round. Compare the available plant capacity in each round (first and second shift) versus the number of units produced. Was there idle capacity in any round? Is it possible that you could you have used capacity more efficiently while increasing your plant utilization? Explain why or why not.

9.  See Finance Section of the Round 4 report. At the end of Round 4, do you have any current debt? Explain the presence or absence of current debt at the end of Round 4. At the end of Round 4, do you have any long-term debt? Explain the presence or absence of long-term debt at the end of Round 4.

10. Did your team’s decisions in Rounds 1–4 always align with the chosen strategy? If you found yourself deviating from your strategy, explain why. In hindsight, what decisions would you have made differently? Explain.

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