Help Page

Introduction:

You are about to play a management game with your class. The game is lots of fun and will teach you many things:

You will play the role of a Company Director in charge of a company manufacturing mobile phones.

You personally own one million shares in this company, and there are nine million more trading on the open market.

You may buy and sell these shares as you wish. You may also buy and sell shares in the companies run by your classmates.

You will be able to see how those companies are performing, and therefore which ones are the best buys.

The computer will set a valuation for each company's share price. This is the price at which it is prepared to buy and sell shares.

If you want to buy shares, you will have to bid more than this price, and also more than the price your classmates are bidding.

At the end of the game, your portfolio value will be based on the latest computer valuation, so don't go crazy with your bidding -

it will just be money down the drain!

The winner will be the team with the highest net worth at the end of the game. Net worth = portfolio valuation plus your PERSONAL cash on hand.

In addition to share trading, you will need to run your company profitably, because this will increase the value of your personal share holding,

and will also provide you with a share of the dividends as income to your personal account. You can use this money to invest on the virtual

"stock market" to increase your net worth !

You can set the dividend payout in the "Board Room".  A high dividend payout will also increase your share valuation, but will reduce

the cash your company was available for expansion.

Your initial production capacity is 50,000 units per "month" (i.e. minute in real time) from one factory.

During the course of the game the market will grow quite rapidly and it will be in your interest to increase you production capacity.

You do this by buying more factories. Each new factory will cost $10 M , and will add 50,000 units to your capacity.

Bear in mind that fixed costs are $50,000 per month per factory, and variable costs are $5 per unit, so if your new factory is running at capacity

you will also need to find $300,000 per month in working capital. You may also need to increase your advertising budget to build up your sales.

As a rule of thumb, then

DO NOT BUY A NEW FACTORY UNLESS YOU HAVE A SPARE $12M IN CASH, PLUS $1M FOR EACH FACTORY YOU ALREADY HAVE !

You can of course borrow money from a very greedy bank, which charges up to 2% interest per month.

You already owe the bank some money, so try and pay it back if you are not using it just yet.

If you are running your company profitably, the bank will be happy to increase your line of credit, otherwise you will be locked out.

Web pages relating to your company have orange headings with your Company Name.

Web pages relating to your personal "Avatar" have yellow headings with your Avatar Name (personal name).

How does the game work?

        You run your company by making decisions in the "Board Room".

        As an individual you may also trade on our virtual "Share Market", buying and selling the shares of all the players.

        Every 60 seconds, or "month",  a central computer looks at the decisions of all players regarding on pricing and advertising.

        Based on these decisions it then calculates your sales, and hence your profits for the "month".

        Every "month" your individual account  will be credited with a share of the profits the companies you own, based on your share holdings.

        Write down your login name in case you get logged out..

        You may log back in at any time.

        The game starts and finishes on the hour.

        The winner is the individual with the highest net worth at that time.

How do I maximise my profit?

        Make sure that your price, advertising and production match the market.

        Have a look at the "Marketing" report. This will show you how your sales are doing in relation to your production.

        If you are selling more than you are producing, you should either:

                a/     Increase your price

                b/     Decrease your advertising

                c/     Increase your production

                d/     Consider buying a factory

        Conversely, if you are producing more than you are selling, you should either:

                a/    Decrease your price

                b/    Increase your advertising

                c/    Decrease your production

                d/    Consider selling a factory

        Note that you start with a bank loan, which is costing you 1-2 % per month. Pay it back as soon as possible.

        ( You can borrow more later, but the amount available will depend on your share price).

        Factories cost $10 Million, but the resale value is only $5 Million, so if you buy one, make sure you can use it profitably.

        Also, each factory you own incurs a fixed cost of $ 50,000 per month, whether it produces 1 unit or 50,000 units,

        so plan your factory purchases carefully, and try to keep them running at capacity.

        Obviously then, if your factory is running at capacity, your fixed cost is $1 per unit.

        In addition to the fixed cost, each widget costs an additional $5 to produce, so if you sell below $6 there is no way to make money !

        The "dividend payout" is the % of your profits you are prepared to give to your shareholders.

        The accumulated dividend payouts during the game will combine with your total assets to calculate your share price.

        (The minimum setting is 0%, and obviously the maximum is 100%).

        Explore the whole website. There is a wealth of information there to help you.

Is the market static?

        No. There is a built-in change in the monthly market size. This may be an increase or decrease as set by the administrator.

        It is also affected by the total advertising of all players.

How do I make decisions?

       In the "Board Room". Each heading on the website allows you to navigate here.

        Explore ALL of the headings to learn more about the game, about your opponents, and about the market.

How do I win?

       Run your company as profitably as you can, and buy shares in promising companies.

        Your teacher will receive an email with all players ranked by net worth.