Reflection on Capsim Business Simulation - Essay Example

? A PERSONAL REFLECTION ON CAPSIM BUSINESS SIMULATION By Introduction During the learning process, learnersare prepared to handle their tasks through different methods. Teachers apply basically two methods in their teaching practices. These two methods include theoretical methods and the practical methods. Various methods are available for the teachers to exploit include experiments and simulation models. One of the most common business models is CAPSIM Simulation model which is an application designed in form of a business organization and helps students to weigh and practice their business skills by managing a company that is performing poorly to a profit making organization. Students in this model are required to make sure that the company expands its operations as well as increase its revenue output. Before the process started, the teacher divided the class into different groups which were to compete with each other in business modeling. It was during these groups that I learnt effective decision making processes among other skills as discussed in this paper. How I performed as a member of my team As a member of my team, I performed well and was fully involved in the decision making process. Although it was I was not mandated to perform all the tasks involved in the process, I was engaged in other activities such as conducting research on different topics and issues. The expertise and knowledge of our team leader helped us avoid role conflict among the different team members. Since everybody has different capabilities and abilities, he assigned roles according to our natural talents and interests. He knew the strengths and weaknesses of every member of our team. This skill helped him in allocation of tasks and roles that different people would perform. Not everybody has equal capabilities as we are all naturally different. Therefore, those who were slow were offered support. This helped us in making swift and effective decisions that did not negatively affect our performance. I conducted thorough research for the benefit of the team and as a way of showing my active participation. To be successful, all members of a team should handle their duties cautiously and with seriousness. As such, they should show concern and be fully involved in all the teams’ activities. Different people have different performance levels. While working as a team, it is imperative to understand that all people have different capabilities and have different performance abilities. What I learnt from working in the team Teams are an essential tool for learning from peers as they offer engaged students with different knowledge and skills. Students get a chance to learn from other fellow students. Students also have the opportunity to practice different skills such as communication skills and public relations skills. For a team to be successful there must be the existence of good communication skills and members (Hayes & Hayes 2002, p., 112). Again, they should be able to work together and understand the need for them to be involved in the group. In the whole modeling process, I learnt about teamwork and its importance to people working for a single course and aiming at a common goal. Our goal was emerging the best team after the whole process. We planned to grow the share capital of our company and grow our market share. I learnt that in a team, arriving at a decision took a longer time than when working individually. In a team, there are various options available for the team to exploit in reaching a particular agreement (Adair 2010, 13). Personally, I developed good decision making skills that I find useful all the time. Areas I can improve on in my teamwork For a team to carry out its mandate successfully, it requires a number of factors to work in its favor. First, the team members must agree to pursue a common goal and move towards a similar direction. Our team was able to settle on our strategy and decide on the ways to use so that we could achieve our goal (Bell & Smith 2011, p. 94). My team however is not affected by the cohesion problem. Since the CAPSIM Simulation process is a typical business and is operated like one, it requires the exact knowledge and skills as those used by a real business organization. We were required to forecast about our future prospects, measure our performance against other firms, performance against the whole industry and finally measure our progress to past data. We also needed marketing knowledge. We lacked the marketing and forecasting knowledge. In our team, there was nobody well acquainted with the knowledge of marketing. We also lacked the forecasting expertise that helped us determine the direction we would want to take. As a devoted member of my team, I undertook that responsibility fully and decided to carry out research about the best marketing models and how to improve our brand visibility. What I learnt from the course In the entire course, my team members helped me learn a lot. I undertook marketing research as a way of supplementing the little information we had in the team. Through this research, I was able to learn different things relating to marketing. I realized that it is possible to make people love your product through the way you chose to advertise. Too much advertising is makes customers feel offended and might not purchase your commodities. Again, I realized that consumers have certain behavior that they conform to. Direct sales, according to marking experts is one of the most effective tools of marketing since it gives direct feedback about customer’s thoughts about a product (Mullin 2002, p. 12). I also realized through tasks held by my leader that managing people is not an easy task due to differences in people’s attitudes. Different qualities and attributes of different people also vary and therefore, a leader must be in apposition to offer the best leadership qualities to sail the team smoothly towards its goal. While contributing ideas for the group, a lot of arguments arose which were mixed with emotions and feelings (Macmillan 2001, p. 16). However, we managed to successfully maneuver through the entire process to achieve our goals. Decision making as I learnt is not an easy task as an individual has to forego a number of opportunities to come up with the best alternative (Crea, 2007, p. 17). As I realized, the best alternative is not always the most pleasant one and in most cases, people avoid taking the hard way. Conclusion Conclusively, the CAPSIM modeling helps students to build their skills both in business management and improve their decision making abilities. The more people get involved in the process, the more they develop these qualities and capabilities. The modeling helps learners become effective business leaders in future. The use of teams in the simulation process was personally beneficial to me and other team members. It served duo purposes for us, one was to equip us with knowledge on how to handle challenges whenever they occurred in our lives and secondly to make us better human resource managers. Personally, I developed marketing abilities and skills and can opt to take it as a part time job. Group communication was an important element acquired through the entire process as we constantly engaged in exchange of ideas and contribution of ideas for the success of our project. Works Cited Bell, A, H, & Smith, D, M 2011, Completing collaborative projects through teamwork Boston : Prentice Hall. Crea, T. M. (2007). Team decision-making (TDM) balancing risk and protective factors through the use of multiple perspectives. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2007. Hayes, N., & Hayes, N. (2002). Managing teams: a strategy for success. London, Thomson Learning Mullin, R. (2002). Direct marketing: a step-by-step guide to effective planning and targeting. London, K. Page. Read More