You are responsible for overseeing a bicycle start-up company. You led this company through its first six quarters, making strategic and tactical decisions to create a successful business in a competitive marketplace.
As a leader in your business, you are responsible for reporting to other stakeholders about the performance of your business during its first six quarters. Your report will provide a detailed overview of the financial performance of the business. It should provide a data-driven analysis of your business decisions and the outcomes of those decisions.
A. Submit a spreadsheet exported from the Marketplace Simulations business simulation that contains your final (i.e., Quarter 6) cumulative balanced scorecard report in the simulation with a cumulative total performance score of 0.001 or higher.
Note: Your final (i.e., Quarter 6) cumulative balanced scorecard can be accessed using the “Final Cumulative Balanced Scorecard” link in the Web Links section below. Follow the link, then click the “Export” icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page to export the spreadsheet. Ensure the spreadsheet contains a tab titled “Verification Details.” Save the spreadsheet, then upload it unaltered to this task.
B. Upload the final (i.e., covering Quarters 1–6) income statement and final (i.e., covering Quarters 1–6) balance sheet in two separate, unaltered spreadsheets exported from the business simulation with a verification link included in each spreadsheet.
Note: The correct income statement and balance sheet can be accessed using the “Final Income Statement” and “Final Balance Sheet” links in the Web Links section below. You must be in Quarter 7 to view the final income statement and final balance sheet, which include data for Quarters 1–6. Click on the “Export” icon in the upper right-hand portion of the appropriate page to download each spreadsheet. The verification details will be contained within each spreadsheet that you export from the simulation in a tab titled “Verification Details.”
C. Prepare a written report in which you do the following:
Note: It is recommended that you use the attached "Business Performance Report Template" to structure this report.
1. Describe your business briefly, including information about the locations of sales outlets, the products you produce, and how your products are manufactured.
2. Select three different topics from the following list:
• marketing (advertising and internet marketing)
• store expenses and sales force
• pricing (including rebates)
• research and development
• use of loans and cash
a. For each selected topic in part C2, identify a specific decision from the simulation that relates to the chosen topic and explain why you made the decision.
b. For each selected topic in part C2, use supporting data from the final income statement or final balance sheet to explain how each decision affected your company’s financial performance, using the following criteria to cite data:
• For decisions related to marketing, store expenses and sales force, and research and development, cite data from the “Expenses” portion of the income statement.
• For decisions related to pricing (including rebates), cite data from the “Gross Profit” or “Revenue” portion of the income statement.
• For decisions related to use of loans and cash, cite data from the “Debt and/or Cash” portion of the balance sheet and/or the “Expenses and Profitability” section of the income statement.
3. Describe how one business decision you made in the business simulation would have an ethical implication if the simulated business were a real-world business. Focus on at least one of the following topics in your explanation:
• socially responsible business practices
• fair business practices
• rights and well-being of workers
• rights of customers and other stakeholders
• diversity of the workforce
• compliance with laws, regulations, and reporting requirements
Note: The business decision described in part C3 can be one of the decisions identified in part C2 or a different decision from the simulation. These topics have been covered in previous business courses in your degree program. External research is not required. You can access your simulation using the provided “Marketplace Simulations (General)” web link.
D. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
E. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.