Enhancing Students Employability through Business Simulation - Essay Example

Business Simulation Introduction The education system has faced lots of criticism due to failure to equip students with employability skills that can be implemented practically. Most graduates today show a mismatch between the theoretical knowledge they have been taught in school and demands of the jobs they are studying to do, thereby facing the risk of unemployment (Su & Feng, 2008).) As such, most of them fail to deliver once they have been employed. Business simulation programs seek to solve this problem by offering business students with an opportunity to implement their knowledge in a venture. This helps to bridge the gap between theory and practice by equipping them with practical skills (Lowden, 2011). How then did the LIAISE business simulation provide me with an opportunity to develop my business strategy skills, marketing skills, financial management skills, team effectiveness as well as the acquisition of graduate employability attributes which make me a preferable candidate to work as a marketing manager in your Electronic Company? Business Strategies A business strategy is defined as a means through which businesses set out to accomplish their set objectives by carefully allocating resources in different departments. The choice and execution of a business strategy depends on its core business and the scope of its operations (Johnson et al, 2005). For example, the LIAISE business simulation’s scope was to source products from suppliers and then market them to the customers with a view of attaining a huge market share with high income customer base through brand expansion and increasing supply routes from various manufacturers. During this simulation programme, I learnt that there are several types of business strategies that can be pursued by businesses to achieve their goals. One of the most sought strategy that is applicable in LIAISE business simulation is growth. When a business is interested in expanding its operation to achieve a greater market share, there is need to allocate time, money and human resources for development of new products, venturing into markets, as well as investing in new businesses. Competitive advantage is also a vital business strategy as it ensures that a business is able to survive its rivals, not by copying their products, brands and strategies, but by effectively competing with them. A business can attain competitive advantage by selling products at relatively lower price than the competitors (Gary et al, 2008). However, this strategy requires that the business grow to a certain margin so that the company can enjoy economies of scale and afford to lower prices without compromising its products. Product differentiation is another strategy of attaining competitive advantage. A business can make its products look more appealing to the customers by differentiating them from the rivals by means such as branding, packaging, positioning and addition of desirable qualities among others (Teece, 2009). Participation in LIAISE business simulation taught me major skills in implementation of business strategies that I believe will be effective in transforming your Electronic Company into a market leader. The Retailer B business faced major challenges at the infant stages due to lack of experience and poor decision making that led to great decline in productivity and consequently the performance of the business. The poor performance was characterized by decline in revenue, return on capital employed and decline in profits. The strategies employed in the business were discussed by team members in a brainstorming session in order to turn the earlier failure into opportunities. I was also actively involved in coming up with new ideas in line with the negative experience we had earlier, so as to improve the overall performance of the business to greater heights (Johansen, 2007).) After the fourth month, productivity in the business was slowly getting rejuvenated following the implementation of several business strategies aligned to the goals. The major goals and success factors of the business strategy of LIAISE business simulation were based on customer satisfaction and market share. The business sought to provide high level shopping experience for the customer by establishing good relations with the manufacturers which enabled the business to enjoy the opportunity of competitive prices as well as new product lines which gives the business competitive advantage over the rivals despite the fact that the business is newly established and has no economies of scale. We also sought to implement effective planning and forecasting strategies that ensured our resources were allocated logically based on the performance. Furthermore, we realised that it was more productive to depend on the sales of the previous month to plan for the sales of the next month and the current warehouse capacity. Moreover, we implemented the strategy of constantly offering high quality products that were aligned with the needs of our market by vetting manufacturer’s main products in relation to market needs to ensure customers satisfaction as well as sourcing products from several suppliers in order to prevent the business from running out of supplies. Participating in the generation of ideas and implementation of these ideas equipped me with necessary strategies effective in improving the productivity of the electronic company. Marketing Effective marketing is far from the hype and the fluff created when products are newly introduced into the market. It is everything that successful business people do on the daily basis in order to sell their products and services to the customers. This is because it encompasses means through which customers perceive the products offered by the company as well as everything that generates the interest to invoke the customer to make a purchase (Stauffer, 2003). According to Vanesses’s notion of cash being king, marketing is said to be ‘everything’ (Vanesses, 2013). Marketing is the process through which products and services move from concept to the customers. Despite the common notion of marketing having a cost or an expense, it is imperative to quantify marketing as an investment since the major profitability of a business is based on the return from marketing (Moorman & Rust, 2005). Being part of the teamwork involved in LIAISE business simulation taught me a lot about marketing. I realized that the main focus of the business is based on the fulfilment of the customer’s wants demand and needs especially in a competitive situation where rival companies are striving to acquire a larger market share. The Retailer B business encountered major hitches in marketing its products since we lacked a clearly set out marketing strategy which was never implemented, leading to decline in sales and revenue. In the fourth month, we met and deliberated on how to improve our sales in order to develop a marketing strategy and actually implement it. The marketing strategy we implementation was meant to increase the revenue but the challenge we faced was the increased costs of getting supplies since we only had one supplier at the beginning of the simulation and we failed to negotiate for the lowest price possible for our supplies which reduced our revenue significantly (Werbach, & Hunter, 2012). With time and improvement of team efficiency, the implemented marketing strategy improved the performance of the business with an aim of making more sales and increased the profits. Although the marketing strategy was not implemented at the beginning, it is worth noting that it was very successful immediately it was implemented later on. The strategy began with a marketing investment which was matched by the increased revenue and sales reflected throughout the year. Although the problem with the pricing strategy was not resolved during the course of the simulation program, I learned that we should have improved our negotiating skills in order to increase the revenue (Dibb et al, 2006). However, we did solve the problem of a single supplier by recognizing that we needed a steady supply of products so that in case one supplier fell through we would still have product to sell. It is also imperative to point out that trust is very important in marketing as trusting manufacturers and working harmoniously with them assisted us to enjoy opportunities such as more competitive prices or new product lines (Khodyakov, 2007). After the implementation of the marketing strategy, we were able to cut our business costs while maximizing the performance and output which lead to improved effectiveness (Eckes, 2002). I believe I gained necessary skills and knowledge about effective marketing, which makes me very productive in your organization as I have the capability to revamp electronics sales through implementation of effective marketing strategies. Financial Management Finance in business is vital as it gives businessmen means of meeting their requirements economically. The goal of starting a business is to make profit and therefore activities geared towards making profit require financing in order to meet such demands. Financial management is an integral part of business that is concerned with efficient allocation of funds to meet the different goals of the business. Efficient allocation of finances is determined by how successful the business achieves profit maximization and wealth maximization (Goizueta, 2006). LIAISE business simulation broadened my comprehension of financial management as it allowed me an opportunity to evaluate the business concerns of Retailer B and apply financial management skills with a view of increasing the revenue of the business. At the beginning of the venture, the business was going through a rough time profit-wise due to poor financial management. The finances of the business were not geared efficiently towards ensuring they produced good return for the business (Paramasivan & Subramanian, 2008). However, there was a great improvement since the fourth month when effective strategies were implemented and the business made an investment to tactically allocate finance to the strategic business concerns. This improvement in the net margin is shown below. Source: LIAISE business simulation It is my perception that the knowledge I gained in this simulation of turning an unproductive organization into a productive one will enable me to increase the electronics sales in your company. Team Effectiveness Teamwork is recognized in businesses today as a way of reorganizing work in order to improve performance quality, productivity, job satisfaction and morale (Bloisi et al, 2006). The effectiveness of teamwork is based on interpersonal skills, trust, cohesion, communication skill, leadership skills, analytical skills, conflict resolution skills among others. Failure to possess such skills renders the team ineffective and makes it hard to achieve the goals set to be accomplished. LIAISE business simulation not only taught me the importance of teamwork in a working environment, but also instilled in me skills and knowledge to be a productive team member. Furthermore, the simulation gave us an opportunity to grow together and discover the skills we needed to make our business successful. Brainstorming on the strategies of improving our business improved our team cohesion, interpersonal skills, trust and communication skills which led to great business results. This allowed us to employ team dynamics to allocate tasks and resources to concern areas which propelled our business performance upwards (Petersona & Behfarb, 2009). The success of the strategies employed in the business can be traced back to effective teamwork since they were implemented after sessions of discussion, formulation and implementation and through experience (Baker et al, 2015). I believe that having worked in such a team where we were able to recognize challenges and work through them to improve each other’s skills and emerge more productive makes me a potential asset in your electronic company. As a marketing manager, some of the concepts of team effectiveness I plan to apply when managing employees include planning, organising and leading. I would lead in setting clear goals for effective marketing of electronics as well as making clarification of structural issues and form of authority. Furthermore, I have great interpersonal skills that have equipped me with conflict resolution skills that will enhance my leadership qualities. Conclusion Business simulation programs are effective in equipping students with employability skills by giving them an opportunity to implement their knowledge in a venture. My participation in the LIAISE business simulation provided me with an opportunity to develop my business strategy skills, marketing skills, financial management skills, team effectiveness as well as the acquisition of graduate employability attributes that I believe will be very productive if I’m given an opportunity to work as the marketing manager in your Electronic Company. 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