Spring 2020-BUAD495-Strategic Management: Capstone Business Simulation Contest

Dear Fellow Hawks,

Peace and Blessings be upon you. This semester's BUAD495-Strategic Management teams performed extraordinary well in their Capstone Business Simulation Contest. Team 3 team did a particularly good job by being ranked 1 in both ROA and ROS among 3,947 teams worldwide. What does all this mean in the real world of business:

• What is Return on Assets? Return on Assets (ROA) is a profitability ratio that provides how much profit a company generates from its assets. In other words, return on assets (ROA) measures how efficient a company's management is in generating earnings from their economic resources or assets on their balance sheet. ROA is shown as a percentage, and the higher the number, the more efficient a company's management is at managing its balance sheet to generate profits.

• What is Return on Sales? Return on sales (ROS) is a ratio used to evaluate a company's operational efficiency. This measure provides insight into how much profit is being produced per dollar of sales. An increasing ROS indicates that a company is growing more efficiently, while a decreasing ROS could signal impending financial troubles.

About Capsim. In 1985, Dan Smith founded Capsim to provide business education and training to executives. Taking advantage of the internet expansion of the late 1990s, the company entered the academic arena to reach business professors and their students. The company continues to develop new programs, simulations and assessments to support the needs of business education around the world.

Description. Capstone 2.0 is an advanced strategic management simulation geared toward Capstone, Strategic Management, and MBA courses. It challenges participants to apply the knowledge they’ve learned across all disciplines of business to develop a corporate strategy.

Scenario. Participants take over a multi-million dollar company that manufactures sensors – devices found in phones, vehicles, and much more. Although last year’s financial results were decent, they’re starting to fall behind on the innovation curve. Issues across every department threaten their ability to retain existing or compete for additional market share. It’s up to participants to inject new life into their production strategy, marketing efforts, and finances to establish sustainable growth.