Performance Analysis & Simulations

Performance Analysis & Simulations

 PAS Manual

2018

Welcome to the ‘world’ of the Capstone Business Simulation.

Your first resource should be The Capsim Guide, which has an extensive discussion of Capstone and is essential reading prior to this Manual. Also, the Capsim web site has numerous resources available, including:

• An FAQ area
• Video demonstrations
• The Introductory Lesson
• The Rehearsal area

Plus, you should also review any material and activities provided to you in the RMIT Canvas web site for this course this semester.

This Performance Analysis & Simulations Manual needs to be used in conjunction with the materials outlined above. The material and activities in this Manual are designed to help you develop an understanding of the business concepts and decision-making skills covered in this course and practiced and applied in the Capstone simulation.

Contents

CAPSIM HELP        4

Accessing Capsim and the Capstone Business simulation        4

Joining or Forming a Capstone Company        5

Capsim Rehearsal Tutorial        5

CLASS 1        8

CLASS 2        14

CLASS 3        21

CLASS 4        23

REFERENCE ITEMS        24

Assets/Employee: BSC recap metric        25

Asset Turnover (ATO) ratio        25

Balanced ScoreCard: overview        26

Balanced ScoreCard scoring system: Capstone        28

Bonds: Courier        29

Business Risk        31

Capstone Courier: background        32

Cash Flow Statement: indirect method (Courier)        36

Contribution Margin: Courier and BSC metric        38

Cumulative Profits: Courier and Balanced ScoreCard metric        39

Customer Accessibility: Courier and BSC metric        40

Customer Awareness: Courier and BSC metric        40

Customer Buying Criteria: Courier and BSC metric        41

Customer Survey Score: Courier        42

Current Ratio        43

Days of Working Capital: BSC metric        44

Debt Funding        45

Dividends        46

Du Pont Ratio analysis        47

EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Tax): Courier metric        47

Emergency Loans: Courier and BSC recap metric        48

Employee Productivity: BSC recap metric        49

Employee Turn-over Rate: BSC metric        49

EPS (Earnings Per Share): Courier metric        50

Forecasting Sales        51

Forecasting Sales: segment growth method        52

Forecasting Sales: December Customer Survey Score method        53

Forecasting Sales: Best Case – Worst Case method        54

Free Cash Flow        55

Human Resources        56

Inventory        56

Inventory Carrying Costs: BSC metric        58

Leverage: Courier and BSC metric        58

Market Capitalization: BSC recap metric        61

Marketing decision screen: Benchmark Prediction and Your Forecast        62

Operating Profit: BSC recap metric        63

Plant Utilization: Courier and BSC metric        63

Product Count: BSC metric        65

Product sales levels        66

Production decision screen        67

Production capacity: not getting what was ordered        68

Profits: Courier and BSC metric        69

Profits/Employee: BSC recap metric        70

Proforma Reports        70

Retained Earnings: Courier        71

Return on Assets (RoA): Courier metric        72

Return on Equity (RoE): Courier metric        72

Return on Sales (RoS): Courier metric        73

Sales/Employee: BSC recap metric        74

Stock Price: Courier metric and BSC metric        76

Stock-Out Costs: BSC metric        77

TQM Material Reduction: BSC metric        79

TQM Admin Cost Reduction: BSC metric        80

TQM Demand Increase: BSC metric        81

TQM Labour Cost Decrease: BSC metric        82

Working Capital        83

CAPSIM HELP

Accessing Capsim and the Capstone Business simulation

It is very important that you check that you have access to Capsim and Capstone as early as possible in this semester. There are many resources at and tasks and activities for you to do at this web site. It will be an important part of your learning this semester.

Access instructions were given in the Class 1 lesson and can be found in its lecture materials. The steps are:

1. Log on to www.capsim.com
   
2. Use your student number for your Capsim User Name
   

• Use just the numbers in your RMIT student number.
• Do NOT use any letters, even if they are in your student ID.
  

1. For your Capsim Password.
   

• Use the word: capstone
• Do NOT use your RMIT password for your Capsim password.

EXAMPLE: if your student number was s123456

• Then your Capsim User Name is:                 123456
• And your Capsim Password is:                         capstone

4        Then select the ‘Capstone’ option.