IBE 250 Integrated Business and Engineering Honors Program Junior Lab
2011
Instructor Dr. Robert H. Storer
Office: 477 Mohler Laboratory
Telephone: 758-4436
E-mail: rhs2@lehigh.edu
Class Hours: Thur, 1:10-4 p.m. in 121-122 Mohler
Office Hours: After class or by appointment
TA Rob Howley roh210@Lehigh.EDU
Webpage IBE 250 on Course Site.
Objective The objectives of this course are to gain an understanding of the complexities and depth of decisions associated with the management of operations of a company through lectures and a team competition. We also cover quantitative subjects and tools in the field of Operations Management that are further illustrated through the game.
Prerequisites IBE junior standing.
Grading Business Operations Game Success.......…
Experimental round 10%
Serious round 30%
Weekly Team Assignments……………… 20%
Weekly Individual Quizzes ……………... 15%
Final Presentation ..................................… 15%
Team Grade (did you do your fair
share according to your team mates)…….. 10%
Course This course is truly a “trial by fire” as you will compete in a simulated business environment over the course of the semester while learning relevant analytical techniques. It is likely, no it is certain, that you will have to make various decisions before we discuss them in class.
Bus. Game A business game simulation competition will occur over the course of the semester (12 weeks). Students will make weekly decisions in teams. The goal is to amass the greatest amount of assets by the end of the semester.
Assignments Most weeks you will be expected do assignments involving the analytic tools we teach in lecture. These assignments will be done in teams. Following each lecture, we will have a lab session that should help you do the assignments. The assignments will make heavy use of Excel, and in particular the “Solver” tool in Excel.
Quizzes We will also have short multiple choice quizzes most weeks. These should be easy if you pay attention in lecture and work on the assignments.
(Students
last year really hated the quizzes…we can discuss)
Team Grade Your team members will provide a grade for you to be incorporated into your overall grade (slackers beware!)
Brief overview of the game:
You compete against several other teams in the CD/DVD storage rack market. Each company is located in a different city and you sell your wares (if you choose to) in your city and those of your competition. Each week, you will make the following decisions:
Historically, sales have been similar in all cities, roughly between 2000 and 10,000 units per period with prices for the racks between $10 and $50. These numbers are dependent on various factors, including costs, competition, and the economic cycle.
To give you rough ideas of the magnitudes of costs (these change with each period in the game):
Your initial asset base consists of:
Learning more
about the business Game
Several documents explaining the game have been posted on Course Site. You should study them carefully. These documents are correct to the best of our ability. However, every year we discover a couple of mistakes or inconsistencies. If you have questions, we will do our best to answer them, but only if they are “fair” questions.
Caveat: The course leader (Storer) reserves the right to fine and/or imprison any player or team for illegal and unethical behavior.