Caps

The Caps simulation introduces students to basic business decision-making while teaching fundamental economic concepts like supply and demand. In Caps, students manage companies that make customized baseball Caps, a popular clothing item with young people, and must make decisions on pricing, promotion, and purchasing. They compare their results to that of their peers and learn how to make more effective decisions.

Concepts

Caps provides a basic exercise in supply and demand for students based on a product with which they all identify. Student decisions on pricing and promotion generate orders while purchasing decisions determine if they can be filled providing experience in business decision-making. Comparison of results between student teams illustrates the role of competition in a free market. Financial reports contain a great deal of explanation to show how the numbers were derived helping students develop an understanding of basic business accounting.

History

The success of MESE as a teaching tool led to demand for a simpler simulation for younger students. Caps was created to provide the competitive excitement of MESE while illustrating the supply and demand and decision-making concepts for younger students. By simulating a custom Caps company, Caps eliminates the factory and depreciation while the purchase of raw materials keeps the supply side intact. In addition, cash accounting, rather than accrual accounting, is used to make the reports simpler. Extensive explanation of the results is provided directly in the reports.

Audience

Caps is designed to be used with middle school students aged 10 to 14 years old and less-experienced high school students.

Versions

• Caps the basic supply and demand simulation which can be used with up to 8 teams

• MultiCaps an expanded version of Caps that supports up to nine simultaneous simulations on either a standalone computer or a computer network

New for 2003-04

• Competitive model

• MultiCaps