THE SALES MANAGEMENT SIMULATION Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 22, 1995 145 THE SALES MANAGEMENT SIMULATION John R. Dickinson, University of Windsor A. J. Faria, University of Windsor ABSTRACT The Sales Management Simulation (SMS) is a personal computer based simulation game designed for use in introductory sales management and salesmanship courses, as well as in business sales training programs. Participants assume the role of the top sales manager for a large business firm. The simulation is placed in the industrial marketplace with content generally reflecting the direct industry experience of the authors. DEMONSTRATION The purpose of this demonstration is to introduce The Sales Management Simulation and to provide a hands-on use opportunity for attendees. The Sales Management Simulation has been used extensively in classrooms at several universities. In addition it has been used in management development training and that experience will also be related to attendees. Use of the SMS will be demonstrated with attendees assuming the roles of both players and administrators. Examples of SMS printouts, copies of the Instructor’s Manual and the Player’s Manual as well as demonstration diskettes will be made available on site or by request of the authors. SIMULATION DESCRIPTION The Sales Management Simulation is dedicated to sales management exclusively and does not include marketing strategy areas such as pricing, advertising, product development, and the like which are usually not in the domain of sales management. The SMS places participants in the role of the top sales manager for a large business firm. The context is the huge industrial marketplace, specifically plumbing fixtures, where the promotional mix is typically dominated by personal selling as opposed to advertising and sales promotion. The SMS environment is defined using actual industry data from sources readily accessible to participants. Simulation System The Sales Management Simulation system comprises two components: one for use by the simulation administrator (Sales Manager) and one for use by the simulation players (Sales Manager Assistant). Each component consists of the appropriate manual plus related software. SALES {Sales Manager Administrator’s Manual MANAGER {SMANAGER (Sales Manager) Administrator diskette SALES {Sales Manager Player’s Manual MANAGER {SMASSIST (Sales Manager ASSISTANT Assistant) diskette STRATEGY DECISION MIX The mix of strategy decisions encompasses most of the functions, which together make up the basic responsibilities of sales managers. A total of 29 strategy decisions which affect sales force performance are made by players each period plus requests among the nine market research reports available. Basic Organization Perhaps the most fundamental decision within the sales management function is the basic organization structure of the sales force. A significant feature of the SMS is that the sales force may be organized on either a product basis or a customer basis. The products--faucets, sinks, acrylic modular bath units--embody a wide range of types of buyers, sales volume, unit value, stages in the product life cycle, need for technical knowledge in selling, and so on. Similarly, the customers--plumbing wholesalers, large buyers, specialty manufacturers--comprise a diversity of buying modes, order sizes, degrees of customization, numbers of potential customers, and soon. Of the 28 remaining essential decisions (excluding research report requests), 24 are on a “segment” basis. That is, these decisions are specific to a given product segment or to a given customer segment. Each segment, be it one of product or customer, is endowed with a specific market response protocol. Within each industry, competing companies need not be organized on a common basis. The strategy decision mix is summarized as follows: Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 22, 1995 146 Personnel Sales force size Management Number of district sales managers Number of sales meetings Sales force time allocated to each segment Sales Force Salespeople receiving advanced Development sales training Conducting a national sales conference Sales Discount from list price Promotion Compensation Salary Commission Incentives Sales quotas Bonuses Types of sales contests Marketing Research SIMULATION RESULTS Player Feedback Basic feedback to players each period of the competition is in the form of a standard income statement and balance sheet plus unit sales and market shares by product and customer group. Additional information specific to the management of the sales force is also provided, e.g., sales force status with regard to size, number who have received advanced sales training, morale, turnover, and so on. Feedback may be provided in either print form, as generated by the administrator, or via players’ SMASSIST diskettes. COMPUTER ADMINISTRATION Manual In its “bare bones” mode, players write their strategy decisions on forms provided in the SMS Player’s Manual. These handwritten forms are submitted to the administrator who is responsible for entering these into the computer (using the SALES MANAGER diskette). Once all the companies’ decisions have been entered, the SALES MANAGER software analyzes the decisions and produces results for the period. The administrator may then print results for return to each company as well as reports for the administrator’s own use. Diskette Instead of submitting written forms to the administrator, players may alternatively place their strategy decisions on the SALES MANAGER ASSISTANT diskette and submit the diskette to the administrator. This mode basically avoids the logistics of the administrator having to manually enter decisions and also reduces decision entry errors. In this mode, results may also be returned to players on the SALES MANAGER ASSISTANT diskette. Players may then print the results themselves and/or review the results on the computer screen. This, again, avoids the logistics of the administrator having to print results for return to all companies. ADMINISTRATOR CONTROL The Sales Management Simulation may be administered very straightforwardly. By using default options, all that is essential to start a new competition is for the administrator to specify (1) the number of industries and (2) the number of companies in each industry. In addition the administrator may tailor the marketplace environment by specifying (1) overall market potential, (2) the sensitivity of the environment to each of 28 strategy decisions, and (3) the balance between environmental versus competitor determination of strategy effectiveness. MARKET RESPONSE MODEL The algorithm by which SALES MANAGER processes strategy decisions is custom designed for the sales management function specifically. Rather than making use of a single-equation generic demand model, the market response to each strategy decision has been operationalized separately, taking into account fundamental form of relationship, threshold conditions, diminishing marginal response, decreasing response, and so on. Unrealistic decision values are processed in a regular or “natural” manner, without the imposition of arbitrary measures. In many instances, strategy decisions interact, allowing for realistic synergistic effects and capturing the importance of an integrated strategy. AVAILABILITY The Sales Management Simulation will be available from South-Western Publishing Company, 5101 Madison Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45227 (800-543- 0487) for adoption in January 1995. Table of Contents Volume 22, 1995 Simulation Performance, Learning and Struggle Are Good Simulation Performers Consistently Good? Cognitive and Behavioral Consistency in a Computer-Based Marketing-Simulation-Game Environment: An Empirical Investigation of the Decision-Making Process Chalk & Cheese: Executive Short-Course vs. Academic Simulations Revisiting Personality Bias in Total Enterprise Simulations Are Good Strategies Consistently Good? Investigating the Use of a Computer Simulation as an Effective Pedagogical Tool for the Application of a Strategic Model The Problem of determining an Individualized Simulation's Validity as an Assessment Tool A Simulation Based Analysis of the Value of Information in the Hrebiniak Joyce Typology of Adaptation Relative to Porter's Generic Strategies The Impact of Sales and Income Growth on Profitability and Market Measures in Actual and Simulated Industries A Comparison of a Stand Alone Version of a Simulation with the Traditional Competitive Version Computer-Assisted Gaming of International Business Analyzing Simulations with Computer-Based Programs and Applying the Experience to a Real-World Business A Preliminary Investigation of the Use of a Bankruptcy Indicator in a Simulation Environment Graduates' Views on the Use of Computer Simulation Games Versus Cases as Pedagogical Tools An Analytical Advertising Model Approach to the Determination of Market Demand Dealing with the Complexity Paradox in Business Simulation Games A Prototyping Approach for Incorporating Large Data Bases into Media Planning Simulations: An Example Using Magazine Media Through the Looking Glass, Inc: Superior-Subordinate Personality Type and the Leniency effect Evaluating the Effectiveness of Role Playing Simulation and Other Methods in Teaching Managerial Skills Student and Teacher Perceptions of a Management Simulation Course Performance Evaluation: The Effect on the Propensity to Create Budgetary Slack Management Team Formation for Large Scale Simulations Comparative Static Analysis with the Complete PPA Package: A Strategic Market Planning Tool Consistency in Intent: Learning Objectives at the 1994 Intercollegiate Business Policy Competition A New Twist on an Old Game: The Business Strategy Game: A Global Industry Simulation 3ed Evaluation of Performance in Management Simulation: A Management Coefficients Model Building SimuWorlds: Strategic Management Games of the Future Bulls and Bears: A Stock Market Simulation A Systems Thinking Paradigm and Think Computer Simulation Model of Broadcast and Cable Television Industry Competition Jacket Factory The Sales Management Simulation The Marketing Management Simulation A Demonstration of Promodel Demonstrating A New, Cross-Functional Business Simulation: Vision+ A Cost Chain For The Business Strategy Game Simulation Special Session On Experiential Teaching Compensation Dilemmas: An Exercise In Ethical Decision-Making Organizational Storytelling: Telling Tales In The Business Classroom Evaluating Experiential Training: Case Study And Recommendations The Internship Portfolio: An Innovative Tool For Experiential Learning, Critical Thinking, And Communication An Ethnographic Analysis Of The Pedagogical Impact Of Cooperative Communicating Consumer Behavior: A Long-Term Integrated Exercise Using Personal Consumption Journals And Consumer Analysis Papers An Experiential Paradigm For Teaching Business Problem Solving Developing Leadership Skills The Spss® Student Assistant: The Integration of A Statistical Analysis Program Into A Marketing Research Textbook Negotiating With Your Students Using TQM Principles To Transform Accounting Systems Into An Experiential Exercise Enhancing The Effectiveness Of Outdoor-Based Experiential Training Using Virtual Reality Concepts Case Writing In A Developing Country: An Indonesian Example Experiential Learning Using Focus Groups How Real Should Experiential Pedagogy Be? A Viewpoint From Our Students Reengineering The Internship: A New Approach To Experiential Learning Utilizing The Cosmopolitan/Local And Marginal Man Constructs To Measure Students' Propensity For Creativity Developing Experiential Processes For Teaching Quantitative Techniques For Business Team Learning Roles: A Cooperative Learning Technique Creating the Ultimate Small Business Student Experience: Melding Score/Ace with SBI The Development of Trust in Work Teams: The Impact of Touch Some Outcomes of Experiential Learning: How the Cultural Dynamics of Different Countries are reflected in Workplace Norms & Values Incorporation of Job Analysis Results in Various Forms of Selection Interviews Chudesno, Inc.: An Evaluation of an Experiential Training and Development Simulation An Exercise for Exploring the Relationship between Jungian Psychological Types and Organizational Dynamics Partnership: A Radical Approach to Experiential Learning Partnership: A Nice Idea, But How Do I Get Started? Recognizing Discrimination at Work Using Critical Incident Skills Questions to Help Students Become More Successful at Job Interviewing The Video Project Introduction to Psychological Type Theory Come On Down Understanding Facilitation for Development and Continuous Learning: A Micro-Workshop Leadership and Empowerment: An Experiential Exercise in Decision Making Experiential Exercises and Pedagogy Track Workshop: Selecting a Manager for Maquiladora, Inc. Experiential Training In Multi-Cultural Corporate Settings The Role of Facilitation as an Aid to Complete Learning An Experiential Exercise to Illustrate Difference in Information Processing Behaviors and Styles How to Deliver Accessible Survey Results Age Diversity in the Workplace- Family Feud Style Nafta Standoff: A Cross-Cultural negotiating Role-Play Three Strikes and You're Out!: A Downsizing Experiential Exercise