REPORTS

Each company receives an Industry Report and a Company Report after each round of decisions. Each period represents three months or one quarter of a year.

The Industry Report summarizes the performance of the entire Holo-Generator industry and is available to all companies. It also reveals the relative performance of each company based on the information available about the participating business corporations.

Each company also receives a Company Report. It is available only to that particular Holo-Generator company because it contains private information about the firm’s inner workings. The Company Report also provides detailed information about the company’s performance that helps its managers shape their decisions for future rounds.

 

Industry Report

The Industry Report summarizes the performance of the entire Holo-Generator industry. It is divided into five sections: Ranking, Units, Dollars, Productivity, and Economics. Each section provides information based on a different measure of performance.

A typical Industry Report shows that the competing companies begin on equal footing, but subsequent performance depends on the decisions of each company’s managers.

The Units Report provides information on supply and demand. How do orders match up with production? Is there extra inventory that must be sold next period? Which company probably had more orders than it could fill? Which company probably couldn’t sell all the Holo-Generators it produced? What decisions can you expect these firms to make in the next period?

The Dollars Report shows how supply and demand translate into cash. Keep a close watch on the Average Price, and compare it to the Average Production Cost and Average Total Cost.

The Productivity Report provides information on how well the Holo-Generator companies are using their resources. A key figure here is Capacity Utilization. The lowest production costs are attained at 80 percent Capacity Utilization.

The Economics Report contains information about the economy. The prime rate affects both the interest rate paid on money borrowed and the interest received on cash balances. The tax rate determines the amount of taxes your company will pay on its profits.

An important part of all reports is the Change figure. Change is expressed as a percent and is calculated by dividing change in performance in the current period by the corresponding performance in the previous period. By examining the Change figures, you can identify important business trends. Are Orders up or down? Is Production up or down? Which direction are prices going?

The Ranking Report lists information about all the Holo-Generator companies. This is information that competitors usually can find out about each other from published financial reports. It covers Sales, Profit, Price, Retained Earnings, Unit Market Share, and Dollar Market Share. Profit refers to the profits earned in the current period. Retained earnings are the total profit that each company has made so far in the simulation. Which company has the highest retained earnings? Which company has the highest unit market share (Un Share)?

The Industry Report is the best place to find out information about competitors. By comparing the performance of your company, which you know in detail, to that of the entire industry, you can tell how well your competitors are doing, what they are doing, and what they are likely to do in the future. By using this data wisely, you can adjust your decisions to outmaneuver the other companies.

 

Company Report

After each period, a Company Report is available for each Holo-Generator company. The Company Report consists of three financial statements and an Operations Report. The Company Report provides proprietary (private) information about the internal operations of your company. Information contained in this document should not be shared with competitors.

Marketing Reports provide important information about the internal operation of your company. Use the Marketing Reports to compare the number of orders you received to the number of Holo-Generators you produced and sold. Were you able to balance the supply and demand for Holo-Generators? How would you expect the company to change its price in the next period? Remember that orders do not carry over from one period to the next. To fill orders you, must have products available in the same period that the orders area received.

The Income Statement shows the company’s profit or loss for the period was determined. It begins with your total sales and then subtracts each expense category. Note that interest is an expense when you have a loan outstanding, but is income when you have a cash balance. The computer will automatically extend your company a loan when you need cash. It also will repay the loan from your revenues. The last entry on your Income Statement is your Net Profit. Your goal is to make the Net Profit as high as you can.

The Cash Flow outlines the change in the amount of cash available to your company during the period. It starts off listing the amount of cash your company has at the beginning of the period, adds and subtracts the various categories that affect your cash reserves, and ends up totaling the cash available to your company at the end of the period. Remember that you cannot spend more than the amount of cash and credit available to your company in the next period. The computers will keep track of that figure and will not allow you to exceed this limit.

The Balance Sheet is a snapshot of your company’s finances at the end of the period. It shows what your company owns and what it owes. "What you own" are your assets, and they include cash in the bank, unsold Holo-Generators in your warehouse, and your Holo-Generator factory. “What you owe” are liabilities and equities. Your loans are a liability, a promise to pay the amount listed to the bank. Capital is the amount of money originally invested to start your company; this is owed to the investors.

Retained Earnings is the amount of revenue left over after expenses have been paid since company start-up. This is owed to the investors in exchange for using their capital to operate the company. Remember that the larger the Retained Earnings figure, the more successful you have been in operating your company.