Case studies
Tech Competition Simulation Global Risks
TCS is a multi-player co-op e-simulation. C-suite level teams (1 to 3 players) compete to grow their own business in a tough global tech market. In this version your team also has to deal with global risks. Show that you know how to avoid or deal with them!
Simulation Overview
In this multiplayer co-op e-simulation, participants explore market structure concepts and fundamental market dynamics in the context of the very competitive high-tech market. Each simulation period lets teams decide how many chips (AMD or Intel) they want to buy to produce and sell AMD and Intel-based computers. The teams also choose how much to invest in marketing for their AMD and Intel computers. Each team competes with each other to gain the most market share and avoid bankruptcy!
At the same time that participants are making strategic choices for their companies, they are facing global risks. Some of these risks are consequences of their strategic choices, such as their decision to invest in R&D, in auditing their Global Value Chains (GVC) or in their recycling program.
Time Requirement
Introduction - 15 to 30 minutes
Game Play - 45 minutes to 1.5 hours
Debrief - 30 minutes to 1 hour (a report is automatically generated at the end of the game in a PPT-like format to directly debrief)
The Story
Participants compete in teams (one to three people) and try to grow their business in a highly competitive technology market in this collaborative, multi-player e-simulation. Competing companies manufacture computers. The simulation takes place over several periods. Each team makes decisions on how many chips (AMD or Intel) to buy to build the computers for each period. The teams also decide how much to invest in marketing for their AMD and Intel computers. Intel has a partnership program where they cover 50% of the advertising costs. Intel demands to have a jingle "Intel Inside" for multimedia-based ads, as well as having a brochure in every new computer box bought by a customer.
Since companies are not listed on the stock exchange, it is impossible to know the strategy of other companies. Be careful not to have a negative cash flow at the end of the period; this leads to bankruptcy and the board's layoffs.
At the same time, teams have to deal with a multitude of risks: competition risks, technological risks, political risks, financial risks, regulatory risks and many others.
Will you opt for a risky strategy to obtain the maximum market share at the risk of losing everything, or will you be careful to keep your business going?
Learning Focus
- Global Risks
- Aggregated demand and supply functions
- market optimization
- fixed and variable costs
- and more!
Topics Covered
- risk management
- technology/production function
- price elasticity
- market structure
- oligopoly
- price strategies
- and more!
Don't wait any longer and start discovering The Tech Competition Simulation
This simulation is designed by Prof. Thierry Warin, Professor in Data Science for Global Transformations at HEC Montréal and Prof. Nathalie de Marcellis-Warin, Professor at Polytechnique Montréal.