Dr. Ernie Cadotte with Rajkumar Phatate at the 10th Annual Biennial Conference on Entrepreneurship

Ernie Cadotte, the author of Marketplace, had an exciting trip to India in February and March. He started his trip with a visit to the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) of India in Ahmedabad. EDI has been spearheading the entrepreneurship movement throughout India since 1983. Its core belief is that entrepreneurs need not necessarily be born, but can be developed through well-conceived and well-directed activities.

Dr. Cadotte was invited to be a Distinguished Plenary Speaker in the Tenth Biennial Conference on Entrepreneurship that EDI hosted from February 20 to 22. The title of his talk was “Simulations as Effective Pedagogy for Teaching Business and Entrepreneurship.”

During the conference, he was fortunate to meet faculty from all over India and Africa and compare notes on the challenges and opportunities in training entrepreneurs.

From Ahmedabad, Dr. Cadotte went on to Pune and the Symbiosis Institute of Management. Director Vivek Sane invited him to train faculty and trainers from his school and the region in the pedagogy of simulation-based learning. Rajkumar Phatate, Vinod Shastri and Dr. Cadotte hosted the Train The Trainers’ seminar from February 23 to 25.  The program provided training to 28 participants, several of whom are already making plans to include Marketplace^® simulations in their classrooms.

On February 26^th, Dr. Cadotte traveled to Bangalore where he gave a talk to 20 deans and directors of business schools in the Bangalore region.  His presentation and discussion focused on the role that business simulations can play in the development of entrepreneurs in Bangalore, the IT center of India. Dr. Medura Chatrapathy and the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship Initiatives (ASCENT) hosted his talk.

Dr. Cadotte was truly fortunate to meet Dr. Chatraphathy, an icon of Indian entrepreneurship. She is the founder of premier institutions such as Association of Food Scientists & Technologies (AFST), Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWAKE) and currently the Trustee Director of Asian Centre for Entrepreneurial Initiatives (ASCENT). She provides guidance and advice to entrepreneurs and institutions in Africa, Asia and other developing nations. Her pioneering work in the field of entrepreneurship has earned her several accolades nationally and globally.

Dr. Madhura Chatrapathy, Director of the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship Initiatives (ASCENT), discusses the role of women in entrepreneurship in India.

Madam Chatrapathy and ASCENT also hosted a Train The Trainers seminar in Bangalore for 17 faculty, entrepreneurs, and trainers. Rajkumar Phatate and Dr. Cadotte led the three-day seminar.  The participants found the exercise to be very helpful in understanding a total business enterprise and what it takes to start up a new business. They especially enjoyed the Venture Capital Fair where they discovered the challenges and insight gained by preparing a business plan, presenting it to true venture capitalists and negotiating for an equity infusion.

Following Dr. Cadotte’s Bangalore TTT seminar, he and his family went on to Coimbatore for a three day visit to the Isha Yoga Center and then on to Fort Cochin for three more days of relaxation in what Indians call, “God’s Own Country”.  Dr. Cadotte made many friends and learned a great deal about Indian culture and food. He is especially thankful to Rajkumar Phatate who organized the entire trip.

Lucas Bailey is the youngest and newest member working for the support team at Innovative learning solutions.  Lucas is originally from Bristol, Tennessee. He graduated from Fountainhead College of Technology in 2011 with his Associates Degree in Network Security and Forensics.

Lucas was introduced to ILS through Zeb Stiles and Gary Lewis.  Before joining the Innovative Learning Solutions team, Lucas demonstrated an avid interest in the areas of IT and programming in which he developed advanced skills at school and as a personal hobby. He has built experience working as a support representative for companies such as Comcast and Ready Theatre Systems.

He loves working for ILS because he is given the freedom and power to expand his skills set to fit individual situations.

In his free time Lucas enjoys playing tennis, watching hockey, or spending time with friends.

To contact Lucas, you may e-mail him at lbailey@ilsworld.com.

George Gannage is originally from Detroit, Michigan and is now living in Atlanta, Georgia. He has two children – a daughter, age 21 and a son, age 18.

George holds both a B.B.A. and M.A. in marketing. He has an MBA certificate in e-marketing as well as a PhD in International Business. Dr. Gannage has an extensive background in marketing, both in industry and academia, and was employed as a marketing manager for the 3M Company for 10 years prior to embarking on his teaching career. His previous jobs include employment in the publishing and advertising industry. His teaching experience includes: Kennesaw State University (Atlanta, GA), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach), and West Georgia Technical College in Georgia. Completed his PhD in International business from NCU (North Central University, Prescott Valley, AZ.).

His hobbies include: golf, snow skiing and watching hockey. He is an avid Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings fan, and he also watches the Atlanta Braves.  Dr. Gannage was introduced to ILS/Marketplace Live seven years ago in an attempt to create more engagement in his online marketing classes.

You may reach George by email at ggannage@ilsworld.com.

Jessica Henderson is the newest member at Innovative Learning Solutions working in marketing. She began working with ILS in January and took over Ashley Rae Needham’s positition  in late March.

Jessica is originally from Franklin, Tennessee. She graduated from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in May 2012 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications.

She was introduced to ILS through Dr. Ernest Cadotte and Ashley Rae Needham. While in school, she gained experience in social media marketing, event marketing, and journalism including the radio, television, and written genres.

She loves working with ILS because she believes in the influence the simulations have to help educate people in way that is long-term and creative.

In her free time, Jessica likes to be outdoors or practice photography. She enjoys music, spending time with her friends and family, and trying new things.

To contact Jessica, you may email her at jhenderson@ilsworld.com

If you are having trouble deciding which simulation is right for your course you can try our new Marketplace® SimFinder tool. The SimFinder is the easiest way to find the simulation that best fits your needs.

It works by asking you a few simple questions like:

• Course Focus – What is the topic of your course?

• Education Level – Is this a high school, undergraduate, graduate, or MBA/EMBA level course?

• Major – Is this a course that is for business or non-business majors?

• Class Size – Is your class less than 50 students or more than 50 students?

• Course Level – Is this an advanced or introductory course?

After clicking the answers to the questions, you will be shown the simulation that is right for you and your students. You can then view the product page so that you may read more about the best simulation choices, their content, timeframe, and available languages.

When you have made a decision on which simulation you would like to try, you may use the contact form (http://www.marketplace-live.com/contact/contact.php) to get in touch with us and request access to your instructor site. You may also schedule a free personal tour where a staff member at Innovative Learning Solutions would walk you through the simulation for a more in-depth look.

Updated Scenario:

Brand Designs: Marketplace® Live uses 3D graphics so that students can actually see the changes that they are making in their brands. There are also descriptions for each feature that can be added to the brand.

Web Marketplace (Left) v. Marketplace Live (Right) Brand Design

Ad Benefits: Ad components have changed and students are now able to view their advertisement as they have created it.

Web Marketplace (Left) v. Marketplace Live (Right) Ad Design

Global Geographic Coverage: New geographic coverage provides a more global experience now including coverage in Africa and the Middle East regions.

Marketplace Live Geographic Regions

Working Simultaneously with Others:  Marketplace® Live allows all students to work in the student interface simultaneously. This gives students the opportunity to review information and make decisions without having to gather around one computer. Being able to work simultaneously with each other alleviates frustrations for students and improves the quality of their experience.

Help File: The Help File in Marketplace® Live is organized to help you search keywords easier. There is also an outlined search menu option that you can use to find answers to your questions quickly based on each topic.

The New Marketplace Live Help File

Embedded Chat/Email: The embedded chat/email option allows for players to interact with each other within the program’s interface. Instructors also have access to these chats and emails so that they may track student interactions within teams and between teams. Students seem to enjoy our updated communication tools, especially those students who do not meet in-person to make decisions.

Financial Statements Upgraded: Financial Statements in previous quarters do not get updated with processing in Marketplace® Live. This makes it easier for students to go back to a previous quarter to see what their forecasted performance was in contrast with their actual performance results. Therefore in Marketplace® Live there is no need to print financial statements at the end of each quarter.

Redesigned Lectures: Lectures have been redesigned to organize the storyline in a more effective way: description, next task and decisions tips.

Videos: 3D videos make the simulation more interesting and realistic. These videos provide a multi-sensorial experience (learning by doing, hearing, visualizing).

Usually, after having entered all their marketing and sales decisions, your students will go into the manufacturing area, project their demand, run their factory simulation and then go into the pro forma financial statements to load the information. They will then take a hard look at the top and bottom lines and if they are satisfied, they will submit their decisions and expect to be in a good shape when the results come in.

What they often forget is that pro forma financial statements are simply projections and the numbers they run during a quarter are solely based on their projection, nothing more. Therefore, it is strongly advised to have your students run pessimistic and worst case scenarios.

How is that done?

Factory Simulation

Tell your students to not make any changes to their decisions (all marketing, sales, operating capacity, quality and changeover investments, etc. should stay the same). Have them go into Manufacturing- Factory Simulation and cut their demand numbers for all brands in half (especially in the test market quarters; in later quarters, the demand might be cut by 30% for example). They can save the factory simulation and load the data in their pro forma financial statements located under pro forma accounting. The numbers should already look a lot different compared to their initial projections. Perhaps, they are running out of cash (and incurring an emergency loan) or they may be flirting with bankruptcy (common stock + retained earnings must remain positive to avoid bankruptcy). Tell them that projections are just projections. This pessimistic scenario could come true. Will they feel comfortable to run the risk of a bad quarter or would they prefer to make adjustments to their decisions?

Pro Forma Cash Flow

In a worst-case scenario, you may want to have students run their factory simulation with demand numbers at only 25% of their expectations (at least in the test market quarters; the cut could be a bit less dramatic in later quarters). Again, with all decisions remaining the same, they simply go to the Manufacturing area and run the factory simulation with their worst-case demand numbers. They save the factory simulation and load the data in their financial statements.

Whether a pessimistic or worst-case scenario will materialize depends on the effectiveness of all the team’s decisions combined, but marketing effectiveness, sales expansion, and quality are critical factors in demand creation. When the actual demand is much below the team’s demand projection, it is likely that the team will incur excess operating capacity (the percent of effective operating capacity that was not needed during the quarter; costs associated with overhead and maintenance of unneeded scheduled production). Have them take a hard look at this number. Students often do not understand it so it may be beneficial to provide mini-lectures to clarify what it means.

It is good for a team to know where it would stand if things did not pan out the way they were expecting. So be sure to encourage them to try out different demand scenarios in the factory simulation and pro forma financial statements. It does not guarantee to keep them out of trouble but it will reduce the chance.

If you have any questions regarding how to run pessimistic and worst case scenarios, please contact support at support@ilsworld.com

2013 Spring Train the Trainer Team

Innovative Learning Solutions hosted the 2013 Spring Train the Trainer seminar last week with our largest participant class to date. Twenty-eight people attended the event from 17 different schools/organizations, including strong participation in the US and India.

The three-day training event began with an introductory picnic and volleyball game for participants to get to know each other before working together. The next two days were spent using the Conscious Capitalism® simulation. The Conscious Capitalism® simulation challenges users to operate a conscious business in contrast to the traditional profit-maximizing business paradigm.

Participants were divided into eight teams and competed against one another in the first four quarters of the game, which included setting a strategic direction for the company, making detailed tactical decisions across functions, creating a business plan and presenting it to venture capitalists for investment opportunities. Dr. Ernie Cadotte walked the teams through the different quarters and the learning tools provided within the simulation.

At the end of the session, participants were given a certificate of completion for finishing their training. There was a dinner to wrap up the last day offering a chance for visiting and networking.

Train the Trainer seminars are offered for free to anyone interested in our simulations. The seminars are helpful in learning about what the simulations have to offer to instructors and their organizations.

Our next Train the Trainer seminar will be held this fall. If you are interested in attending the event or wish to receive more information about the training, please contact Jessica Henderson at jhenderson@ilsworld.com.

All teams did very well this year; however, here are the three teams that came out on top:

1st place team - InnoTech from Poland

InnoTech

Representing: Wyzsza Szkola Informatyki i Zarzadzania w Rzeszowie

Directed by: Wojciech Pitura & Elzbieta Szczepaniak

Country: Poland

2nd Place – Silver Medal Winners

Iconic

Representing: Texas A&M University

Directed by: Russell Casey

Country: United States

(Team Photo)

3rd Place – Bronze Medal Winners

Olympus

Representing: California State University

Directed by: Nelson Pizarro

Country: United States

(Team Photo)

4^th Place – CV Tech (Colombia), 5^th Place – MyTech (Malaysia), 6^th Place – Artificial Intelligence (United States), 7^th Place – PC BM (Poland), 8^th Place – FHS Computer, Inc. (Canada)

Prizes: This year each of our top 8 teams received prizes. InnoTech received the Google Nexus 7 tablets for placing first overall. Barnes and Noble Nooks were presented to Iconic for coming in second. The team members of Olympus received Canon Powershot digital cameras. Our 4^th thru 8^th place teams received $25 gift cards to either Amazon or iTunes.

We are very excited to have teams from the United States, Poland, Colombia, Malaysia, and Canada represented in the top 8 teams this year. We also wish to congratulate everyone who participated in this year’s competition.

Our next Global Competition will be held in the Fall of 2013. It is scheduled to start in late September and finish in late November. The competition will be using the Strategic Management level of Marketplace® Live.

If you are interested in more information about our Global Competition, please contact Jessica Henderson at jhenderson@ilsworld.com.

2013 ACBSP Annual Conference

Association: Accreditation Council for Business Schools & Programs

Dates: June 21-24, 2013

Location: Salt Lake City, UT, USA

ACBSP will host its 25th Annual Conference, “Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility in the Classroom,” at the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek and the Hilton Salt Lake City Center.

2013 Summer Marketing Educators’ Conference

Association: American Marketing Association

Dates: August 9-11, 2013

Location: Boston, MA, USA

The Summer Marketing Educators’ Conference is a global meeting of marketing educators designed to encourage the development, dissemination, and utilization of marketing knowledge. Innovative Learning Solutions will be exhibiting at the Boston Marriott Copley Place exhibit hall in Booth 2. In addition, ILS’s Christelle MacGuire will be presenting on “The Future of Using the Conscious Capitalism Simulation in the Classroom”.

73^rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management

Association: Academy of Management

Dates: August 9-13, 2013

Location: Orlando, FL, USA

The AOM Annual Meeting aims to inspire and enable a better world through scholarship and education of management and organizations. The theme this year is Capitalism in Question. The conference will be held at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort. You can visit us in Booths 209 and 211.

CSCMP’s 2013 Educators’ Conference

Association: Council of Supply Chain and Management Professionals

Date: October 20, 2013

Location: Denver, CO, USA

CSCMP’s Educators’ Conference provides academics and students a forum to hear the latest in supply chain management research.  This conference is open to all academics and annual conference attendees. Marketplace® Simulations is a sponsor and an exhibitor at this year’s Educators’ Conference.

Assessment tools are a key resource in determining and presenting numeric values of success. Among the many assessment tools we have developed, the Marketplace® Customized Objective Learning Assessment was developed to be used in companion with Marketplace® Simulations. This overlaying activity is invaluable in the acquisition and assessment of valuable assurance of learning data. Many accrediting bodies require objective assessments of students relative to the school’s learning goals.  Reflective, critical, and analytical skills are paramount goals for academic institutions. The simulation was developed to help exercise and improve these skills, while the assessment was constructed to evaluate the strength of these skills. Together, the assessment and simulation help schools meet and measure specific learning goals.

The Marketplace® Assessment is a comprehensive online test that is administered in a classroom setting to students using the simulation. There are about 100 questions in the assessment that will take between thirty minutes and an hour for the average student to complete. Most of the questions concern the major conclusions students can draw from analyzing marketing, sales, operations, finance, and accounting data. Each of the questions is personalized to the student’s company, performance, and game universe. The test is designed to measure situational awareness by assessing the student’s perception, comprehension, and prediction skills, as well as their integration abilities. Specifically, the objective of the assessment will gauge your students’:

• Knowledge of their company’s operations, the world market, and the activities of their competition;
• Capacity to understand and forecast the firm’s performance in all functional areas;
• Ability to use management tools to draw important conclusions;
• Awareness of their firm’s strengths and weaknesses relative to the market needs and competitors’ performance;
• Aptness for anticipating competitor moves and their company’s position in the future;
• Agreement on the firm’s strategy relative to the agreed upon strategic direction of the team.

The Marketplace® Assessment is available in all of the basic, intermediate, and advanced levels of the Marketplace® and Marketplace® Live simulations, with the exception of Business Fundamentals and against computer games. For six-quarter simulations, the assessment is available in quarters five and six. For eight-quarter games, the assessment becomes available in the sixth quarter and can be administered through quarter eight.  Because several questions test the prediction ability of students, the assessment is not available in the Results quarters (quarter seven in six-quarter games and quarter nine in eight-quarter games). After the students have completed the Customized Objective Learning Assessment, the scores and grades are automatically processed and the data is configured for instructors. Various reports are generated, including:

• A dashboard report for the students that includes performance measures by functional area of the firm and by level of situational awareness;
• Detailed percentile reports that include individual and team percentile ranks relative to the class and course;
• Individual scoring reports;
• Customizable reports that compare the performance of your students to those in other schools.

To fully benefit from use of the assessment data, tracking performance over time is critical. This is especially true if the school plans to use the data as a benchmark for curriculum improvements. The reports can assist program coordinators in determining where to focus curriculum changes to better meet the school’s learning goals.

For more information on the Marketplace® Customized Learning Objective Assessment, please contact support@ilsworld.com.

Innovative Learning Solutions, Inc. and AACSB

Innovative Learning Solutions, Inc. would like to announce their new status in connection with The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. ILS has become a Sustaining Business Member of AACSB International.

Since 1916, AACSB International has provided a platform for schools to connect and resolve concerns that affect the business education curriculum. AACSB has continuously raised accreditation standards targeted at advancing the collegiate business education experience. The accrediting agency has over 650 member institutions in nearly 50 countries and territories. ILS is proud to support AACSB in its mission to advance the “quality of business education for both students and institutions”.

ILS will be exhibiting Marketplace® Live simulations and the Marketplace® Assurance of Learning Tools at the upcoming 2013 AACSB International Conference and Annual Meeting (ICAM). The conference will take place April 7^th through the 9^th in Chicago at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers. We invite all current and prospective instructors to visit us at Booth 306 in the Exhibit Hall. At this conference, Business Simulation Advisor Christelle MacGuire and Technical Support Specialist Sean Mullins will represent ILS. They will answer all of your simulation and assurance of learning-related questions.

Marketplace® Live Simulations and AACSB

Marketplace® and Marketplace® Live simulations can be complemented by a number of assurance of learning tools, including a Customized Objective Learning Assessment. ILS has created these tools to enhance your students’ educational experience and to provide your school with valuable accreditation data. Additionally, the reports generated from the assessment assist in the measurement of specific skills related to commonplace learning goals.

There are numerous benefits for using Marketplace® to assess a number of learning objectives. We have selected a few that are particularly emphasized in the newly released 2013 AACSB Accreditation Standards:

ENGAGEMENT

“…curricula facilitate and encourage active student engagement in learning. In addition to time on task related to readings, course participation, knowledge development, projects, and assignments, students engage in experiential and active learning designed to improve skills and the application of knowledge in practice is expected.” (AACSB Accreditation Standards 2013)

Our simulations provide a platform for students to apply knowledge, develop managerial skills, and experience business challenges in a risk-free environment.

STUDENT-TO-STUDENT AND STUDENT-TO-FACULTY INTERACTION

“…curricula will facilitate and encourage frequent, productive student-to-student and student-to-faculty interaction towards achieving learning goals. Successful teaching and learning demand high levels of interaction between learners, as well as between teachers and learners.” (AACSB Accreditation Standards 2013)

While working in teams, students are encouraged to discuss trade-offs, options, alternatives, and contingencies. The instructor can challenge the students’ thinking by questioning the strategy behind each tactical decision. These interactions come naturally in the realm of the simulation exercise. In such environments, the student learning can be assessed and measured. Adjustments can be made at the programmatic and curriculum levels to improve the quality of the students’ education.

VALUE OF LEARNING

“…educational programs are structured to ensure consistent, high-quality education for the same degree programs regardless of differences and changes in technology and delivery modes. This commitment to consistent high quality is especially important in light of pressures to shorten degrees and time for learning, interaction, and engagement in developing skills.” (AACSB Accreditation Standards 2013)

When overlaid with assurance of learning activities, Marketplace simulations can provide a comprehensive learning experience to your students. Rubrics for Executive Briefings, Business Plan, and Final Report presentations, our Customized Online Objective Assessment, Peer Evaluations, and the performance on the simulation (based on a Cumulative Balanced Scorecard) facilitate the assessment of both team-based and individual performance. The variety and practicality of activities allow for the achievement of a myriad of learning goals, including problem-solving and reflective thinking, student involvement and engagement, integration, data analysis, knowledge application, communication skills, instructor interaction and feedback, and so on.