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How can we help?

Oak Tree Simulations produces business simulation games. Our simulation games have been used to teach business strategy, principles of management and marketing, entrepreneurship, and many other courses for more than 30 years!

Instructors

Our Simulations

Simulate. Learn. Grow!

Getting Help: Manuals and Tutorials

Need help getting started?

Micromatic Quick Start to get started quickly.
You should also review the full student manual.

Feel free to print both manuals if you wish. Many helpful tutorials are available at: Student Video Tutorials

Need help getting started?

Mogul Quick Start to get started quickly.
You should also review the full student manual.

Feel free to print both manuals if you wish.

Many helpful tutorials are available at: Student Video Tutorials

Help Hints

Here are some helpful hints that will help you to do better in the simulation:

Display More of Micromatic/Mogul At A Time

Switch your browser window to Full Screen mode by pressing F11.
Change the zoom setting on your browser by pressing Control - (zoom out) and Control + (zoom in).
In most panels you can press the ∇ located at the section heading to minimize the section.

Watch The tutorials

To help you get started there are many video tutorials available in the video tutorial center. The Welcome to Micromatic or Welcome to Mogul is a great place to start. You will need a fast internet connection and a browser that supports shockwave (swf) video files.

Drill Down for More Information

On most charts in Micromatic/Mogul you can click on the detail portion of the chart to get more information.

Look for YELLOW and RED warning lights on your charts

Areas of concern are indicated on the charts with either a yellow marker (moderate) or a red marker and background (extreme). Don't ignore these markers. They are indicating that something is going wrong with your business. Click on the chart to get more information.

Timing is crucial

Each of the decisions you make have a timeframe associated with them. Many of your decisions do not take effect immediately. Click on the label next to each decision variable and read the Quick Tip. It will tell you what the timing for the decision is.

After processing a quarter, review how your company performed.

When you first return to your company after a quarter has been processed you should first review the Performance Summary Report. Check to see if you sold as much as you thought. How are you doing compared to the rest of the industry?

Good Management is a BALANCING ACT!

Do not sell a product you can not produce or produce many products you can not sell. Balance your marketing, operations and finance so that you are able to sell as many products as you can produce at as high of a price point as possible. Early stage businesses live and die on cashflow. Know your cash position at all times. Watch your COGS carefully; produce your products where you are most efficient.

Remember to consider whether your sales forecast is realistic.

Just because you enter the number you want to sell, doesn't mean that is how many you will sell. What has been your historical accuracy on forecasted vs. actual sales?

Do Your Market Research!

You can not effectively manage your company if you have no idea what your competition is doing. You should not execute your strategy in a vacuum. Early and periodically in the simulation you should buy market information to help you to make your decisions. Before setting your strategy you need to project what the market demand will be.

Don't sell like Walmart unless you can produce like Walmart.

A lowest price strategy is fine as long as you can produce very high volumes of goods very efficiently. You must keep your COGS extremely low to be successful with this strategy.

Before you finalize your decisions, make sure that you check your per unit COGS.

Compare COGS to your selling price. Is there a sufficient margin (price - COGS) to cover your Sales and Administration expenditures? With this margin, how many units would you have to sell to cover your fixed costs?

Be careful when leasing. It is a long term commitment

Before agreeing to a lease be sure you have the money to pay for the lease and the demand for your product. Leases are long term commitments you must pay whether your are selling your product or not. You can not terminate a lease early.

Don't forget about controlling your manufacturing costs. It does no good to sell a lot and lose money.

Efficient management of your labor force is critical to your success. Efficient utilization of labor, materials, and production facilities is your goal.

Large amounts of inventory costs you a lot of money. Run a lean operation.

Watch that your inventory of either raw materials or finished goods are not building up too large. Large inventories choke a manufacturing operation and consume much of your available cash.

Are your workers being productive as they should be?

Human capital is the most expense part of your operation. You need to invest in training your workers and in maintaining your plants in order for your workers to produce your product efficiency. Watch your worker productivity closely and act quickly if you see it dropping.

Is it time to invest in new technology?

Be watchful as new Technological Improvements (machines, computers, material handling, etc) come along. Sometimes they will make sense to your operation; sometimes not. Before purchasing a tech improvement calculate your expected Return On Investment. Will the improvement give you a significant advantage in the market?

Remember to monitor your cash flow needs.

Your banker will double your interest charges if you do not have sufficient cash to pay your bills. Are your interest expenses consuming your operating profit? Too much debt?

Watch your financials. They are the reason why you are in business.

Every decision you make will somehow affect your financial position. Watch your cashflow and income statements carefully. They are not the same thing. Before proceeding in the simulation research what the purpose of a Cashflow vs. Income statement is.

All expenses are not created equal. Variable expenses are much easier to manage than fixed ones.

Fixed expenses are those that do not fluctuate with changes in production activity level or sales volume; Variable expenses are those that respond directly and proportionately to changes in your production/sales volumes. Coordinating variable expenses with your revenue is much easier than with your fixed expenses.

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"Tell me, and I will forget.
Show me, and I may remember.
Involve me, and I will understand."
-- Confucius, 450 BC

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