FMCGame - Production, Commerce & Marketing

The players take over the control as members of the managing board, an imaginary, FMCG company (Fast Moving Consumer Goods, so consumer goods are fast moving) that manufacturing and distributing drinks. The company produces three products (soft drinks, juices and energy drinks) for three different target groups (small shops, supermarkets, HoReCa). 

FMCGame, as an economic simulation, specifically builds on market mechanisms. In the game matters, who, in which pool is and how many teams these pools contain. Teams with a better offer (higher quality; low price, etc.) can get a part of customers from their direct competitor teams, so can gaining a larger market share.

How the FMCGame simulation software works:

The players take over the management decisions of the virtual company operated by the software.

The virtual company is managed by making strategic decisions for annual periods. The software provides a written report on the results of the decisions, and the main indicators (profit, cash flow, turnover…) are also plotted on the graph.

Software settings can be varied widely depending on demand, project costs, fluctuation, and on many other factors.

The software can model up to 10 periods, so 10 virtual years.

The goal of the game is to maximize the performance index defined on the interfac, which includes profit, sustainability, market share and customer satisfaction with different weightings.

The decisions:

Sales/production: In terms of facilities, players need to think separately about having enough production machines, IT system and well-established logistics, without them sales will fall short of planned.

HR: Accurate planning and allocation of HR is an important task for a company to produce and sell the adequate amount and quality of the products. For this, we define a total of 5 different positions in the simulation.

Quality: We also define product quality in the game, but players can only influence this indirectly. Quality is influenced by two factors: the quality of the raw materials used and the qualifications of the engineers, and the final quality of the products is given by the weighted average of these two.

Marketing: Well-designed marketing is needed to maintain the reputation of the corporate and product brands we have built up so far. The sale of products can be encouraged through promotion. Players are encouraged to make marketing decisions based on awareness, - and loyalty-factors.

Projects: Within the simulation, projects play a key role that have a significant impact on the company’s performance, but also require funding. These provide an opportunity to distinguish, your company and products can be more efficiently and uniquely.

Advantages and learning points:

The program presents the diversity of management decisions, from the most important strategic points to the basic economic activities, from the management of the company, to special situations.

The simulation is complex enough to synthesize and put into practice the knowledge of the students, but it can also be useful and enjoyable, attitude-forming supplement to the acquisition of the theoretical curriculum, even for first-year students.

It shows the relationships between traditional economic decisions and a company’s profitability.

As it models the operation of a larger economic entity, the simulation illustrates a competitive situation that, like life, can be influenced by economic actors themselves.

Because participants need to filter out relevant data from various financial and commercial reports (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow report, market research report), the simulation significantly tests and develops their analytical skills.

Due to the above, the successful implementation of teamwork, which is so important in life, is essential for successful participation in the simulation.

References:

Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania
The program has already proven its effectiveness in international student competitions (Bespirited.uk) and corporate training.