The Globus Business Strategy

Is there a strategy to win?

Almost any professor would say that there is no secret to win this game; it all depends on the decisions made by the companies competing in the game. Well, that is 90% true, the remaining 10% is the fact that it is a game which means that as with any other computer game, it is a program, a program that responds to the user's inputs. Having said that you have to keep in mind that any decisions made by you will be entered as input for the different algorithms in the program, these algorithms make comparisons among the other companies and choose what the program considers to be the best. The point is, even if your decisions are the best according to your strategy, it won be, if all the other companies are making decisions that don't even make sense to you but does make sense for the program.

Read the manual, you might be tested on it. The manual is helpful is some ways but do not rely on it 100%. My co-managers and I read it and implemented our strategy based on the manual. IT DID NOT WORK!

The industry I played on was selling digital cameras.

We started by creating a strategy that focused on quality, meaning our products would be the best in the industry but also the most expensive ones. According to the manual, it said that consumers looking for high-end products did not mind paying higher prices. As it turned out, that was not the case. In the end it made sense, the program did not know our strategy which is the purpose of the game; however, the price was important factor as we later learned (our prices were way too high for the program, even though our strategy was to have high prices).

We run the company for 15 years; in the first 8 years we tried all kinds of decisions to maintain our strategy. We created the best products, Increased P/Q ratings; increased advertising, increased customer support, increased promotions, increased wages and compensations for workers but nothing seemed to work.

See our sixth place for FotoFun on year 8, also note how we lost 56 points in comparison with the previous year, meaning our strategy for quality was not working.

From year 9 till the end we reversed our strategy/decisions.

We manufactured the cheapest possible products, and also sold at the cheapest price. That meant, lowest P/Q rating ½ start, lowest advertising, lowest customer support, reduced salaries and compensation by 15 % in comparison with the industry.

Yes! That was the key, price is an important factor in this game, remember it is a software looking at numbers only not your strategy.

So, how to win the game? Simple!

Start by manufacturing at the lowest price possible and sell it at the lowest price possible in all regions, by doing this you will be increasing your market share which is good because even though you will selling your products at a lower price, you will make profits because of volume.

Having a huge market share means manufacturing more products, which means hiring more workers, DO NOT HIRE FULL TIME WORKERS, HIRE ONLY TEMPORARY WORKERS, the reason is, if you have to fire full time workers you will be incurring in enormous costs (Read the manual).

Your overall performance will be measured based on other factors such as;

Earnings Per Share, to increase EPS start buying back shares as soon as possible, this is key, less outstanding shares means higher EPS.

Stock Price, you will increase your stock price by increasing EPS.

Return on Equity, this will be increased by higher sales and higher profits.

Image Rating, this is a bit tricky because P/Q ratings affect image ratings, and because you will be manufacturing the cheapest products your image rating will go down, however, there are ways to bring it up. Once your company starts making profits, donate money to the different charities, improve the workers working conditions (read the manual about how to increase Image rating besides with product quality), keep in mind that any donations and any workers related improvement won make a difference right away, it usually takes two to three years, so start as early as possible.

My company FotoFun ended up in first place by year 15.

Good luck.

Smart Dust

Smart Dust - sensor chips with self organizing radio networks - each chip bounces messages to its neighbors.

Although the future of Smart Dust seems very promising in terms of its usability concept, as with other technologies, many challenges lie ahead to prevent it from being misused. In the past new technological developments, have brought with it unforeseen consequences at times causing tremendous damage to people as individuals or society as a whole, Smart Dust seems not to be the exception. Smart Dust technologies working as networked molecular particles with its capabilities of measuring, collecting, and sending information remotely can be misused in many different ways, here are a few.

Personal privacy seems to be a major concern for individuals. Many people fear losing personal privacy to tiny new surveillance devices. For example, if today a person can be followed or monitored using the GPS capabilities of a cell phone, in the future there will be no need for it anymore because Smart Dust could be sprayed on his or her clothing, to track that person. Therefore, if using nanotechnology, surveillance equipment that is invisible to the naked eye can be made, then, invasion of personal privacy won’t happen only in public places but also in private places, because these monitoring equipment would be hidden almost anywhere. On the other hand, if used properly the benefits of it can also be great. For example, Smart Dust can be used as a tracking device to monitor a person that cannot see or talk.

Moreover, if Smart Dust can be used as wireless networks, criminals can use it to steal critical information, be it personal or corporate. For instance; instead of hacking directly into servers and stealing credit card information from customers, a criminal can install equipment configured with the correct sensors and a proper software application in a small supermarket and record wirelessly credit card information from a credit card reader.

Another unintended consequence has nothing to do with the technology but, with the materials used to manufacture Smart Dust. Unfortunately, in this global economy profit takes over the well-being of people. For instance, in the past and also today companies engaged in the production and manufacture of electronic products (for example, computers) have ignored the consequences of using toxic materials in its components. Smart Dust being in the form of “Dust” poses the risk of the dispersal of non-biodegradable particles (the chips) throughout the environment and potentially altering the soil content for instance. This action would greatly alter the natural environment of, water sources, plants, animals and potentially food production for humans. Additionally, the risk of ingesting Smart Dust particles, through consumption, inhalation, or skin absorption, should be of great concern. E-waste is a great example to look at.

Finally, Smart Dust is also being developed in the military arena. Proponents argue that with nanotechnology and Smart Dust the US will have more capabilities to protect its borders or prevent another 9/11 from happening. In theory it seems a good idea, however, there remains unforeseen negative impacts. Consider for example, other information-dominant countries without strong US ties, they will also research counter technologies or hide their own surveillance developments using Smart Dust, this is very dangerous especially as adversarial relationship builds. In the end these very actions could trigger an unintended Smart Dust-type arms race between nations potentially ending up in cyber warfare.

So, while the benefits of Smart Dust could outweigh its unintended consequences, only the future will tell. As for us, at an individual level, it is necessary to educate ourselves about the subject. Some of the unintended consequences mentioned here could be just mere speculations, however, there are a couple that seem to be very realistic, invasion of personal privacy, and the potential for destroying the environment.

You be the judge, this is just my wee opinion.