THE MARKETING MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCETM Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 27, 2000 THE MARKETING MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCETM John R. Dickinson, University of Windsor ABSTRACT The Marketing Management ExperienceTM is a modern marketing management simulation game, running on the Windows 98 operating system platform. This paper and the accompanying demonstration highlight both the substantive content of the MME and its learning-friendly and user-friendly features. INTRODUCTION The Marketing Management Experience (MME) is the inaugural game in a suite of new and innovative business simulations. It is specifically designed for pick-it-up-and-run venues, namely introductory-level marketing courses and executive development programs. Several tutorials included as appendices to the Manager’s Position Description present fundamental principles of marketing management to serve as a ready reference for participants. Competition in the MME is on the basis of one simulation company, managed by one participant or a team of participants, competing against other companies. Companies are grouped into industries, with only companies within a given industry competing against each other. While the effectiveness of one company’s marketing strategy is partially relative to the strategies of competing companies, the game is not zero-sum. Total industry sales and potential profits across all companies may change as a function of the collective strategies of the companies comprising the industry; i.e., the pie expands and contracts. Participants assume responsibility for the entire marketing strategy for a manufacturer of digital cameras, both still and video. The strategy decision mix encompasses all of the traditional marketing strategy areas of price, product, promotion, and distribution. Decisions are not limited to mere indexes nor strictly to dollar amounts. In addition to dollar allocations, decisions include menus for advertising messages and sales promotion types plus numbers of discount, department, and specialty store retail outlets. Additional enhancements of the qualitative dimension of the experience are the factors of sales force morale and sales force experience that influence company performance, plus two consumer behavior types of research noted below. Foreign Adaptability A major innovation of the MME is its adaptability for use in foreign countries. Students and managers in foreign countries may not find the scale, market environment, price levels, and currency of the United States relevant or meaningful. Accordingly, the MME software is presently configured for the United States (population 273.8 million), Canada (population 30.0 million, C$1=US$0.67), and Hong Kong (population 6.8 million, HK$1=US$0.12), and its software architecture is designed to accommodate additional countries with only the specification of appropriate structural parameters. THE MME MARKET The MME market comprises two distinct regions. The regions are defined and described in the Manager’s Position Description based on current census data and other sources. Enriching these basic demographic data are real VALS-type characteristics and real media behavior characteristics, both presented in the formats of well-known real-world 252 Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 27, 2000 research suppliers. Among the marketing research reports available are two using primary research in the regions and incorporating fundamental marketing concepts: brand loyalty and the hierarchy of effects of promotion. Combined with the two products, still and video digital cameras, participants may formulate strategies for four different region-product segments. administrator keying the decisions into the computer. Results in this mode are in the form of printed output which is returned to participants. Alternatively, participants may submit their decisions via the Internet and, in this mode, also obtain their results via the net. A feature of the MME software allows the administrator to attach specific messages to selected companies’ results THE MME STRATEGY DECISION MIX By Region-Product Segment By Region Price Number of discount stores Broadcast advertising dollars Number of department stores Broadcast advertising message Number of specialty stores Print advertising dollars Sales force size Print advertising message Trade advertising dollars By Product Trade advertising message Sales promotion type Research and development, i.e., product quality Orders for inventory Company-Wide Cooperative advertising Sales force commission sales force salary Eleven marketing research reports ADMINISTRATION The MME package includes (1) the Manager=s Position Description, i.e., player’s manual, (2) the Instructor’s Manual, and (3) the MME software on compact disc. The administrator may adjust (1) the potential demand in each of the region-product segments, (2) the balance between the marketplace environment versus competitor strategies determining the effectiveness of strategy, a feature unique to the MME, and (3) the relative importances of the strategy mix elements in influencing sales. Participant decisions may be submitted using conventional hand-written decision forms, with the during the competition. For use by the administrator, the MME provides extensive feedback and diagnostic information. This includes traditional sales and profit analyses, specific comparisons of one company’s decisions with those of its competitors, breakdowns by region, product, and region-product segment, and more. The Marketing Management Experience is fully menu-driven and operates under Windows 98. Further information about the MME may be obtained at RealSimulations@aol.com. 253 Table of Contents Volume 27, 2000 Internet International: A Simulation Exercise for Understanding Technological Innovation and customer Service In a Rapidly Growing Internet Server Company Simulations and Learning: Dialog and Directions Endnote Activity: A Tool for Integration of Course Content and Communication Skill Practice Incorporating Video as a Teaching Strategy in Interpersonal Communication Vision Quest: An Alternative Approach to Industry Analysis for MBA Courses in Strategic Strategic Management: An Evaluation of the Use of Three Learning Methods Trainer, Mentor, Educator: What Role for the College Business Instructor in the Next Century? Using the Internet and Shareware to Facilitate Computer Simulation in Distance Learning Classes Visual Modeling of Business Simulations Teaching about Information with Management Games A Self-Evaluation Based on the Discussion and Decision in Experts' Business Gaming The Restaurant Game Using Journals to Enhance Computer Simulation Based Learning Exercises to Facilitate Better Student Writing in the Undergraduate Strategy Class Identifying, Resolving, and Managing Common Ethical Dilemmas in the Workplace: An Experiential Approach Integrating the Digital Revolution into the Classroom The Wheel of Learning: An Integrative Business Curriculum Experiment The Changing Nature of Simulation Research: A Brief ABSEL History Perspectives on Simulation & Gaming's Review Process Experiential Learning Across Disciplines: Mixing International Business and Accounting Simulating Governmental Effects on Economic Development Internationalizing the Introduction to Business Course Using an International Text and Domestic Simulation with a Twist Using Stock Value as the Performance Measure in a Business Simulation Game Introducing Cross-Elasticities in Demand Algorithms Validating a Model of Currency Valuation An Exercise for Exploring the Relationship between Jungian Psychological Types and Organizational Politics Exercise: Preparing Financial Reports Using the Group Categorizing Technique Effect of Trust and Cultural Beliefs on Negotiation Processes: Data from an Experiential Role Play Experiential Learning Gets Stamp of Approval From the Boyer Commission Talent Search 2000 - An Experiential Activity to Help Strengthen Skills in Employee Recruitment and Selection Clemson University's Collaborative Learning Environment Initial Data on a Test Bank Assessing Total Enterprise Simulation Learning Changing the Assessment Paradigm: Using Student Portfolios To Assess Learning from Simulations How We Learn and Why We Don't: The Cognitive Profile Model: A Workshop in Teaching to Reach Your Students Knowing Thyself: A Portfolio Approach to Student Self-Assessment Collaborative Learning and Web-Based Instruction in a Cognitive Apprenticeship Model Teamwork Attributes in a Classroom Simulation Virtual Teams: Meeting the Next Challenge for Experiential Education New Age Learning: Nuance or Nonsense Developing Charisma: An Experiential Exercise in Leadership Problems and Solutions in Going Web-based with an Agribusiness Simulation Creating a Comprehensive Web-Enhanced Classroom Your Class is in Session, Now What? The Challenges of Teaching On-line An Application of Process Control Charts for Attributes as a Form of Classroom Assessment for Experiential Learning Work Goals and Life Aspirations: Do You Have What it Takes to be an Entrepreneur An Exercise to Develop Initiative: Possible Dream? The Ball Point Pen Assembly Company Management Game Review System Development Total Enterprise Simulations and Optimizing the Decision Set: Assessing Student Learning Across Decision Periods Facilitating Learning in the New Millennium with the Complete Online Decision Entry, System (CODES) The Marketing Management Experience The Right Venue for Your Simulation One More Time: Overall Dominance in Total Enterprise Simulation Performance A Profile of ABSEL Conference Attendees Learning Readiness: An Underappreciated Yet Vital Dimension in Experiential Learning Active Learning in a Professional Undergraduate Curriculum The Problem Is - They Think Differently! Cultures Integration in Mergers and Acquisitions: Putting Managers Together in a Business Simulation The Global Business Game: A Strategic Management and International Business Simulation