CornerShop - Small Business Management
CornerShop is the "entry" into the world of our simulations, we also recommend it to high school and first-year university students alike, so they can experience the connections through a simple yet practical example.
In the game, several retail stores compete in the market. The market is made up of demand for surrounding population with many retail units. Stores sell different product groups and consumer goods, they have to make a decision on 6 different products.
The products must be ordered in the right quantity and range, to avoid a high storing cost, the margin and retail profit margin must be determined for these. The store also employs salespeople, so management needs to provide adequate staffing and salaries. Particular attention should also be paid to financial and inventory management as well.
How CornerShop simulation software works:
Students take over the management of a virtual retail store individual or in multi-person teams.
The virtual shop is managed by making strategic decisions for quarterly periods. The software gives a written report on the results of the decisions, in addition, the main indicators (profit, cash flow, turnover, in a simplified form).
Software settings can be widely changed based on demand, purchase prices, wage flexibility, loans and many other factors.
The software can model up to 8 periods, so 8 virtual quarters.
The goal of the game is to maximize the shop rating index defined on the interface. The final score also includes cumulative profit, market share, average customer satisfaction and employee morale.
Decisions:
Product decisions: In the simulation, you can sell 6 different products, all six products are chosen by customers based on different preference factors (price, employee morale, customer satisfaction, promotion). Successful sales also require ordering the right amount of product to avoid excessive storage costs. Of course, we can also encourage our customers to buy with a promotion.
HR: In order for a company to be able to sell the right quantity of products, it is important to accurately plan and allocate human resource, determine wages and the amount of trainingcost.
Project: Projects play an important role in the game, with their impact having a significant impact on the company’s performance, but also requiring funding. These provide an opportunity to shape your company and products more efficiently and uniquely. Currently, players can choose from 2 different projects.
Advantages and learning points:
The simulation illustrates the most basic and one of the most important economic activities, trade, in a simplified form.
The program is simple enough to be managed, enjoyed, and transparent with the knowledge of high school students, but they need to utilize the knowledge gained in different lessons at the same time.
As it models the operation of a small business unit, the game is a good illustration of the challenge that market competition poses to a small business, starting competitive trading between direct market competitors.
The simulation shows the diversity of management decisions and the relationships between traditional economic decisions and the company's profitability, from basic economic activities, from the most important strategic points to the company's management to very specific situations.
Improves analytical ability as participants need to analyzing relevant data from various financial and commercial reports (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow report, market research report) and graphs.
Effectively develops teamwork as a result of the above.
References:
Budapest Metropolitan University
Debrecen Fazekas Mihály High School
Budapest Innovative High School
Europe 2000 High School
Gábor Baross Bilingual Secondary Technical School of Economics, Győr