COMM 492 - Management Simulation

Welcome to CAPSTONE ®, the Strategic Management Simulation in the Sauder School of Business. This simulation, currently used at several hundred colleges and universities, provides a reasonably realistic environment in which students gain experience with managing a $100 million hypothetical sensor manufacturing firm in a U.S. oligopoly. Student teams compete for sales among several products by setting goals and devising and implementing strategies and decisions to achieve these goals in the areas of production, marketing, finance, HR and labour relations. These decisions are simulated by one of the most realistic and complex business simulations available. A complex, interactive set of mathematical formulae and rules have been programmed on a computer which, when provided with the decision inputs by the participating firms (student teams), determines the consequences of these decisions and generates a number of financial statements and operating reports for each firm. Student firms report to an Executive Committee of the Board of Directors that represents stockholders’ interests. The Board raises challenging questions regarding the firm’s planning policies and operations, evaluates the firm’s performance, and provides experienced suggestions on how students may improve their future performance.

Learning objectives

By the end of this course, students will be expected to understand the components of the strategy-making process, including an emphasis on detailed analysis of interdependencies among the functional areas of a business. This course also provides hands-on experience in organizing and operating a group to accomplish a complex but well-defined task and thus provides an opportunity to develop interpersonal, leadership and communications skills that are so important in business. It is also expected that the student will be able to clearly articulate his/her role in a management structure and communicate clearly to a board of directors how he/she participated in the management of a firm.

Note: COMM 492 will not be offered in 2023W.

Prerequisite: All of COMM 396 (formerly COMM 390), COMM 395. Fourth-year standing.