Although there are simply too many potential questions to ask regarding BSG Online, this article with provide you with the ones I find most helpful or essential to know while competing in The Business Strategy Game.
Q: "...any tips on the last year or so of the game?"
A: "Some things to consider would be improved working conditions, TQM and Best Practices to zero if you haven’t already (be sure to get your S/Q rating back to where you want it), you can drop retailer support to zero if it greatly helps EPS. Try to get an A+ credit rating and focus on EPS and ROE over image rating to improve stock price."
Q: "Would you be able to give us a briefly idea what is the difference between branded shoes & private label shoes? Would these private label shoes be manufactured by 3rd parties and sold under our brand's name?"
A: "Branded shoes are your company's shoes while Private-Label are shoes that have another company's "brand" but you are producing them with access capacity."
Q: "When I try to adjust my Search Engine Advertising and Brand Advertising the way you show in your videos it only works for NA and EP (toggle up/down to find the Net Profit sweet spot), but with LA and AP, there seems to be no sweet spot (basically I need to turn it down to 0 to optimize net profit). Why is that?"
A: "There are times when zero advertising can be the most profitable. This is especially true in internet marketing, where I find that zero ads is best until you build your image rating and have at least 3+ celebs. Each area will have a different "sweet spot" for ads."
Q: "We cannot seem to get our EPS and ROE above the investor expectation. Also all of our competitors including ourself are on the extreme right hand side of the graph (all with the maximum of models), is it stupid to completely turnaround and reduce our models drastically?"
A: "Probably not a good idea, but if you are very early in the game, maybe. If you are struggling on the right side of the chart, I would consider going to low S/Q and focusing on profit versus image rating."
Q: "How are you able to scan through/ hover over the numbers and see the potential changes/ effects they would make without actually having to click?"
A: "Using arrow keys! You most likely have to click a number now and then use arrow keys if you are playing the new version."
Q"...you know how Private-Label works? I mean, does it start by buying all the shoes offered by the cheapest company (regardless of whether they exceed market limitations) and work its way up to the most expensive... or is it solely guided by market limitations (for example, each company has a 15% market share and that's it)."
A: "Private label always sells to the cheapest first as long as they are at or above the global minimum SQ rating. You do not need more than the global minimum SQ rating though. The market cap is to prevent one company from selling all private label just because they are the cheapest. It is possible to sell more than the market cap and for very high prices if there aren't enough shoes being sold to satisfy the demand."
Q: "How do you boost image rating?? Or how is image rating calculated?"
A: "Image rating can be boosted by increasing S/Q, lowering prices, increasing CSR spending, increasing advertising, and there are some other little things that can help boost Image Rating."
Q: "How do you increase your credit rating? For some reason my groups just keeps going down each year..."
A: "Most likely, you have too much in loans. Keep in mind that it is not necessarily bad to have a low credit rating early on if you are expanding (especially LA and AP). You will get max points as long as you have it up to an A or A+ by your final year."
Q: "I got confused on Wholesale Marketing surplus/shortfall. Should I try to keep them positive or negative? And why?"
A: "Surplus should be around +50 in each area. If it's too high then you will have a bunch of leftover shoes most likely. If too low, you will not have enough shoes to sell and then you are missing out on profit."
Q: "What can we do to get bonus points?"
A: "You can get two bonus points per year. One is the leapfrog award for having the highest score change in a single year. The other is bullseye award. This one can be obtained by being accurate with your competitive assumptions."
Q: "I'm also having issues with shortfall numbers in warehouse operations. Any suggestions?"
A: "You can either produce more shoes if you have the ability to do so, or you will have to reduce demand by raising price, lower advertising, decrease models of shoes produced, etc."
Q: "We have so much debts made in the beginning that we don't know how to solve"
A: "Some ideas:
1) Increase profits
2) Sell equipment
3) Sell shares, but I don't usually recommend because it hurts your EPS, but if you have a high stock price, it might be good.
4) Clearance leftover inventory."
Q: "Why is his private-label operation not working?"
A: "This company did not have any extra shoe supply to sell in private label. You need to go to Branded Production and make sure your factories have shoes leftover after shoes going to internet and branded."
I hope you found this article helpful!
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