FAQ

I cannot enter the simulation when I click on the link.

Make sure the correct team number is selected from the drop-down menu and the password is entered correctly. It should be all lower-case letters and digits. Then press Login to enter the simulation. If there are any further problems, please contact April Training for assistance.

We have been given a different link to when we ran the trial simulation. Which link should we use to start the live game?

You should use the new link to the live simulation, not the trial simulation link. The trial games will be deactivated shortly after the start of the live simulation to prevent any confusion when entering decisions.

How is the research and development cost calculated?

Each research and development project has a research time and a development time that run consecutively. The development period only begins once the research period has been completed. The time taken for each phase is given on page V-22 of the Master Manual. The cost of the project is given on the cost and data sheet (the cost for year one is given on page V-23 of the Master Manual). This cost will be charged each year until completion of the project. Note that the cost increases annually with inflation. If the project fails the relevant box on the decision screen will be cleared automatically.

How do you put a research and development project onto more than one model?

Research into a project need only be done once for it to be available for all models produced but the development phase must be carried out for each model. Therefore the most cost effective way of implementing research and development is to invest in a project on one model only initially so that only one charge is incurred for the research - if a project is selected for more than one model, each model will incur a charge.

Once a project has succeeded and is online, it can be applied to other models by selecting it on the research and development screen. The development period and cost will then apply for that model(s).

How do we make a decision on weekly wage?

The formula used to work out overall wages is as follows:

wages = average wage per week x total workforce x complete weeks worked (round up)

where:

average wage per week is the mean amount paid to each worker every week
total workforce is the number of employees
complete weeks worked is a whole number of weeks worked per employee (average is 50 weeks per year).

Using this formula you should be able to decide on an appropriate value.

How much does overtime cost within the simulation?

Overtime is charged at 150% of normal wage.
ie. If your weekly wage is ?425, and the employees have to work a combined total of 5 weeks of overtime to meet production targets, this will cost you ?3187.50 (425 x 150% x 5) on top of other wage costs.

What are the key perception factors?

The Key Perception Factors are a mark out of 10 that indicate the relevance of each design, option and research and development project to the image of the car that you are selling. 1 = little relevance and 10 = maximum relevance. It is very important that you select designs, options and R&D projects that are in keeping with the type of vehicle you are trying to market.

Some other teams have told us that they have a new model to make decisions about, but we still only have the same number as last round. Why is this?

You must choose to invest in a new model in the previous financial year (round) in order to have a new model to make decisions about in this one. This field is found in the Other Decisions section, within Company Decisions. The average investment is ?300m (subject to inflation) but values can range from half to twice this figure.

We want to buy shares in other companies, but do not understand the process to go about this. Please explain.

In the shares screen, the number of shares held by each company comes under the Company Holding header. The next column is the Price per share, which is set by the current value of each company. To buy shares, you must select buy from the drop-down menu, enter the number of 1000s that you wish to purchase and enter an offer price per share. This must be higher than the current share price.

We want to see predictions of our results, but there is no way to view them.

You must make all company and model decisions to be able to proceed to the What-if results. This means all areas must appear as status: complete with a green light in the top right corner. Once you have entered values for all fields, a green Proceed button will appear in the bottom right corner of the screen, which enables you to view the What-if predictions.

Can we predict our results as many times as we like?

There is no limit on the number of What-if results you can request, however, there is an additional charge every time they are processed (varies according to simulation, please ask your tutor/consult the support material for more details). This can quickly stack up costs, so be careful!

The percentage of depreciation changes every round. How is it calculated?

Depreciation changes every year. In real life you cannot work it out exactly; the same is true in the model. If you bought market research you would get a prediction of this value.

The forecast tells us that we will have a profit but it is not possible to pay a dividend. Why?

In order to pay a dividend, you must have made an accumulated profit.

We entered the wrong figure in one of the fields and finalised decisions before we realised. Is there any way to change it?

Unfortunately once decisions have been finalised, they have been sent to the simulation for processing. This means you cannot change decisions yourselves. However, subject to tutors? discretion, they can alter your decisions for you before they are processed. There will be a charge for this service, so be warned!

My team accidentally finalised decisions. Is there a way to undo this?

There is no way to undo finalising as the results have already been sent to the simulation. Moreover it is very difficult to finalise without intention as a warning appears on the screen saying ?Are you sure you would like to finalise decisions?? before the process is completed.

We have made our decisions but have been told that we haven?t finalised. What does this mean?

There are two possible problems:

  1. You forgot to press the Finalise Decisions button once you entered all your results
  2. You have been inputting decisions into the trial simulation. Make sure you use the live simulation link and password to access the correct game file.

We received our results and they are substantially different to predictions. Why is this?

The predictions only take account of the background market, not other teams? activities. There are also other random events which are not predicted in the What-if model. This is part of the simulation, and mirrors the actual industry.

There are some unexplained charges on our Profit & Loss sheet. Where have these come from?

They are likely to be from purchases of market research, data on competition or other information. Tutors can also charge teams additional fees for extras like consultation and changing finalised decisions.

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