Single-PlayerMulti-Player

Click your left mouse button to progress through the demo

When MikesBikes-Advanced starts you will be able to see the Advisor. The Advisor gives you a step-by-step guide on how to make your first set of decisions. The opening page is an introduction to your firm.

By clicking the Action button in the top right corner the Advisor asks you to rename your firm.This is where you can enter

a new name for your firm, pressing OK saves your decision.

For this demo we have now closed the Advisor. Clicking the Products button on the bottom left of the Decisions window will let you access the Products decision screen above.

Double click your RC_Rockhopper bike or highlight it and push the make/sell button to open your RC_Rockhopper decision window.

a) Screens – gives info on how to use a screen

b) Linkages – gives info on the model

c) Data – gives info to aid decision making

d) Spreadsheets – allows you to view a part of the model

Push the More Info button on the bottom right corner of the window. This will open the help screen with four levels of help

In this demo we are changing the price of the RC-Rockhopper from $1700 to $1900. Clicking the OK button saves the decision.

Clicking the rollover button in the top row of buttons rolls over the simulation to the next period and processes your decisions.

When you move into subsequent decision periods (years), the Advisor automatically opens to give you feedback on your performance. The dog on a bike in the top left corner is an indicator of your firm’s long term earnings per share performance.

On each Advisor screen you have a Reports button. By clicking on this button you will see reports that are relevant to that page of advice. On this report you can see that our decision to increase price has allowed our competitor (the red line) to increase their shareholder value at a faster rate than us (the blue line).

Clicking the rollback button in the top row of buttons rolls back the simulation to the previous period allowing you to review and change your original decision set.

When you are more comfortable with MikesBikes-Advanced you can close the Advisor window and go directly to the decision screens. The Market tab lets you access the Product, Operations, and Branding decision screens.

The Operations tab also gives you access to the Products decision screen, showing the close relationship between Marketing and Operations. It also lets you access the Manufacturing decisions for your firm.

The Finance tab lets you access the Finance and Investments decision screens.

The Development tab lets you access the Design and Development screens. Here you can choose to develop new products to move into new segments, or modify existing products to either reduce their cost, or improve their specifications.

To access all reports, including the Perceptual Map, go to the top menu, and click on Reports to get the Reports drop down menu.

Now try playing MikesBikes-Advanced yourself. The first time you play it is best to take 15 to 30 minutes to go through all of the steps of the Advisor. We also suggest only making a few decisions to begin with and then rolling forward to see the effects and then rolling back to improve them. This incremental approach will allow you to quickly gain an understanding of the underlying simulation model and its sensitivities.