TOP MANAGEMENT
GAME TOP MANAGEMENT
GAME Top Management Game: Simulated Decision Making (TMG)® is a management simulation designed to operate as a consumer product industry with oligopolistic characteristics. The companies in this industry manufacture (two products) and buy (one product), and sell three types of products. Various marketing, production, and financial functional decisions are built into the simulation and the participants are expected to use and deal with these concepts as they compete with other companies in the same industry. The participants assume the perspective of the Top Level Manager of the organization and make strategic and operating decisions. As the top management of their companies, the participants make decisions that determine the competitive direction of their firm and operationalize these decisions. Almost instantaneously, they see the results of their decisions and the impact they have on the firm's performance.
The primary objective of the TMG is to build management skills through practice. This is accomplished by requiring each participant to assume the perspective of a top-level decision-maker. They are expected to conduct analyses and make decisions that illustrate how all functional areas (e.g. marketing, production, finance, etc.) of the organization are dependent on each other. Furthermore, these functional decisions must be integrated into one consistent and coordinated direction for the firm. The importance of making coordinated strategic decisions and working effectively as a team is reflected in the financial performance of the firm.
A computer program accompanies the text and will be used by the students. This program helps the managers (students) test their decisions and their assumptions about the competition. This support tool enables the decision maker to develop "what if" situations and test many different assumptions before the actual operating decisions are made. Since this program is a model of TMG, it is as such a decision support tool (DSS) for the manager (student). This is a very unique feature of TMG and it greatly enhances its teaching capabilities. TMG book and the accompanying computer programs are designed to teach the students skills that will help them make strategic and operating decisions. (Overview)
Requires MS Windows (R) 2000 or later operating system.
| FEATURE | BENEFIT |
| Topics Covered: Marketing, Production, Finance, Decision Making | Helps students understand the interrelationships among different functional areas in a competitive setting. |
| Emphasis: Building strategic management skills through practice. | Help students develop management decision skills from a top management perspective. |
| Emphasis: Goal setting and implementation in an organizational setting. | Helps students develop goal setting skills and experience the implications and the end results of these goals through implementation. |
| Emphasis: Practice using the Decision Support Systems (DSS) that are available to the strategic decision maker. | Help students become familiar and use the Decision Support Systems (DSS) such as spreadsheets, forecasting models, cash flow analysis, etc.. A special decision tool is provided for the students which will take away the focus from computational efforts and put it on the strategic decision process. |
| DECISION CATEGORIES: | |
| PRODUCTION DECISIONS:
|
New Capacity Ordered, Product A Ordered, Product B Ordered, Product C Ordered, Existing Capacity Sold, Production Lines Closed, Research and Development (Product Quality) |
| MARKETING DECISIONS: Some of the concepts emphasized are product mix, pricing, promotion (including brand loyalty), product support (including service, convenience, and quality), demand forecast, and impact of general economic conditions on industry demand. | Price for Product A, Price for Product B, Price for Product C, Advertising for Product A, Advertising for Product C, Sales Commission, Sales Force, Retail Outlets, Fee for Consultants (Market Research) |
| FINANCIAL DECISIONS: Some of the concepts emphasized are alternative sources of funds and cost of funds, trade credit, financial analysis (including ratios and cash flow), balance sheet and P/L concepts and items, and financial needs of companies at different stages (including growth, maturity, and sustainability of these stages). | Loan Requested (Revolving Credit Line), % of Product C Paid in Cash (Trade Credit), Dividends Paid, 3-Month Investment, Issue/Recall Stock |
Printouts of past class
competitions are available. They are "zip" files containing text files and which can
be viewed or printed using any word processing program. You can also get additional
information by looking at or printing the Table of Contents and and an excerpt from the Administrator's Manual. This is a "pdf" file and can
only be viewed or printed using Adobe Acrobat
Reader 
. Click
here for an overview of TMG. For more information please contact
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