Frequently Asked Questions

The program automatically loads up the latest quarter that has not been processed (i.e., the current or "forecast" quarter). Any market research information that was purchased is linked with the quarter when it was purchased. For example, if you purchased market research information in Quarter 1, use the Quarter option and select "1". Then select the market research report option.

Forecast reports are based upon your forecast of units you will sell. The actual number of units your company sells is based on the actual market demand and your company's competitive market position, not on your forecast.

Loss of goodwill, which can affect demand in the following quarter, and opportunity cost of not receiving the revenue associated with the lost sales. Lost sales also can cause sales representatives for the given region to quit.

The ROS for current quarter is calculated by dividing your total net income by the total dollar sales of your company. Game-to-Date ROS is the average of the quarterly ROSs.

See the Participant's Manual.

Actual Sales is the number of units sold. It differs from Actual Demand that reflects the total demand generated by a company's marketing. It includes any sales lost due to stockouts because the company did not have a sufficient inventory to meet the demand generated by the marketing efforts.

There is a one-quarter lag between ordering inventory and receiving the units. The units you order in Quarter 1 are received in Quarter 2 and reflected in the Quarter 2 Inventory Report.

You did not request a loan sufficient to cover all of your cash needs for the quarter. The emergency loan granted is for the total amount of cash needed, not for the difference between the amount requested and the amount required.

Yes, if you have enough workers and the plant capacity to handle the volume. There may be an overtime charge if your production workers cannot produce the desired volume.

No. A worker spends one quarter being trained and can begin producing goods the following quarter.

You are limited by the number of units you have available for sale that quarter and the actions of your competitors.

No. There are three occasions where the demand generated by the Average Demand Table will not equal the sales allocated to the companies operating in the industry.

• If a company has lost sales because of insufficient finished goods to meet the demand created by its marketing efforts, the lost sales are not redistributed to other companies in the industry.
• Price increases by companies in the industry can result in sales going to substitute products outside the industry.
• Price decreases by companies in the industry can result in additional sales from customers shifting away from substitute products outside the industry to products within the industry.

The company is selling finished goods inventory remaining in inventory from prior quarters. Any goods sold in a quarter are allocated the cost associated with the making of that product, even if it was manufactured in earlier quarters. Look at the company's Inventory Report for the quarters in question. This will show you the per unit cost for items sold. Even though the COGS line on the Income Statement may have gone from $17,000 to $700,000 the per unit costs may be similar (around $40/unit) and the wide swing in total dollars is a reflection of the number of units sold. The MCOGS & Income Statements are on a cost accounting basis, not on a cash basis.