REFLECTION ON SIMVENTURE
STUDENT’S FULL NAME: JOHN BOSCO SEKYEWA
STUDENT NUMBER: 2602337 COURSE BEng CSN MODE FT
MODULE TITLE: Innovation And Enterprise (Reflection on SimVenture )
REFLECTION ON SIMVENTURE
This document outlines a brief reflection on SimVenture, a business game simulation software that allows users to learn how businesses works. It aims to provide a brief analysis of the perceived benefits from using SimVenture in learning how to deal with relatively complex business management issues.
As part of Innovation and enterprise module, SimVenture provides a unique learning experience that is extremely difficult to gain on majority of work placements. I found it very useful to some of us with entrepreneurial mindset.
The little experience I have gained in SimVenture has shaped my basic understanding of how businesses function. Practicing on the embedded virtual business games, makes you feel as if you are running a real business. It is an ideal opportunity to learn how to make informed decisions about business. It also gave me an insight into various business functions and how to find a right balance that delivers a good return and value.
In an ideal world, learning such business skills is complex and challenging, it takes years to master. However Sim venture makes the process quicker, effective and less costly. In other words what Sim venture offers you is the deep learning interactive experience about strategic thinking and other business elements such as marketing sales and financing.
Having explored a bit more about the software, I realised that not only teaches the critical business skills, you also learn how to take and when to take risks in business. In addition you also learn how to deal with the negative side of the business, coping with failure. It opened up my mind about business in general and also tested my skill set and ability to run a business.
I liked the idea of having a support assistant (virtual mentor) alongside the game that provides guidance whenever you leave out a vital element of your business game. In addition the software provides an instant feedback and self evaluation that helps to monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of the business.
As a result of using this versatile resource, I have learnt the basic understanding of a business, how to plan, analyse, evaluate and reflect.
In my opinion this software should be made compulsory to most engineering and business courses as it is the best way of gaining hands on business management experience. In my research about it I have actually found out that most universities around the world use SimVenture as a way to learn business management skills. I also realised that the more time you spend practicing, the better you develop your skills.
Working in a team
In the competition that we had in the lecture, I teamed up with Alejandro, and our business game won the competition. The competition gave us a chance to demonstrate team working, negotiating skills and communication. Even when we only had an hour to perform the task, through the process, we could pose and reflect, discus critical issues, look at our priorities and negotiating strategies much as it would be in a real world.
The down side
Much as the software shapes your understanding of business, you do miss out on interacting with real people if you are not practising in teams. Also you do not gain any negotiating skill that is critical in terms of raising finance, handling management issues and communicating with your staff. However in my quick research about this software, I discovered that most universities run SimVenture as a core element of their engineering and business courses. It generally follows into student group work with a mentor on board to give guidance. The idea is to encourage learning negotiating skills and to prepare students for business.
Perceived benefits
Running a virtual business game is like being in control of a real business. The benefit in this is that you discover what it means for a business organisation to succeed. To some of the students with no business experience at all, SimVenture appears to be a very good starting point. This is particularly because it gives you that basic understanding of what it means to grow a business from scratch. By practising on the embedded virtual games, you also gain experience of how to think through all sorts of problems and challenges that you may be faced with in a real business. I also realised that it can be a good training tool in big business organisations that wants to quickly develop the talent of their new recruits. Among other things that I learnt from using this software are:
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How to analyse information (such as commissioned competitor’s reports).
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Stimulating demand of your products (setting competitive prices, discounts etc).
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Managing inventories; generating orders and converting them into sales.
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When to recover and secure debt (financing issues).
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Product design and their associated costs.
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Cost of marketing products and comparing channels available to you and their potential return in terms of sales inquiries and orders.
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Monitoring your business cash flow.
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Comparing the cost of borrowing (financing options).
Suggestion for improvement
SimVenture is a critical element for any student who intends to start their own business. It enables you to look at the reality of how things would be if one is to run their own business. The time allocated to it, is far too small for students to feel more confident about running a business. In my opinion it should be like coursework with a presentation at end. Students should be encouraged to set up a virtual business in their own field of study and run it as it should be in the real world. This is mainly because majority of us students at one point in time we aim to set up a business. In fact as we download other software in our respective fields of study, each student should have this package on their laptops to encourage practising business management skills.
REFLECTION ON BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS AND VALUE PROPOSITION
STUDENT’S FULL NAME: JOHN BOSCO SEKYEWA
STUDENT NUMBER: 2602337 COURSE BEng CSN MODE FT
MODULE TITLE: Innovation And Enterprise (Reflection on Business Model Canvas )
REFLECTION ON BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS AND VALUE PROPOSITION
Learning about business model canvas and value proposition has been one of the most exciting parts of Innovation and Enterprise module. The concept is defined as one of the entrepreneurial tools that can be used by anyone to visually analyse, design, describe and adjust the core component of a given business. It is the tool that we used in our lecture activities and group project to analyse the logical methods and procedures used by business enterprise for creating value to their respective clients.
In this topic we looked at the nine building blocks that make up a business model canvas such as key partner, key activities, value proposition, key resources, cost and revenue stream, customer segments and customer relationships. We also discovered that these key components are the basis on which business strategies are developed.
Like in all other elements of the modules, students were encouraged to participate in analysing business model canvas of businesses that we looked at in class activities.
This document outlines a brief reflection on the topic and highlights the perceived benefits from the study.
Prior to studying Innovation and Enterprise module, a business model canvas concept is something that I have heard of, but had no idea of what it is. Therefore this was a good time for me to learn more about it. Listening to the invited guest speaker on this topic was very interesting; it gave me a different perception of how different business functions are aligned in order to achieve desired objectives. In addition to that, the interview that we conducted with the CEO of Snap.hr business (as part of the team project) made me discover more about the concept.
The experience gave us a deep understanding of various business functions and how they are organised to find a right balance that delivers value. Prior to learning about the business model canvas, I would only consider a business success best on its ability to make profits and satisfying its customer’s demands. Despite knowing about other business elements, I have never thought that they function together as a unit to form a model canvas.
Looking back at the first class activity in which my group tried to analyse a business model canvas for Apple business, I can see where we made mistakes. We looked at the business as a whole rather than breaking it down into core components that make up a model canvas. It also made me realise that two or more similar companies that operate in the same industry may not necessarily have the same business model canvas. However the key structures of the canvas are the same to all businesses. They can be changed or manipulated easily when required such as when there is a change in key activities or services that a business offers to its customer segments.
Participating in the business model canvas project, also gave us a unique and rare opportunity to listen to one of the big CEO in London. Mr Roul the head of snap.hr, (a company that connects the best engineering talents to tech companies around the world), spent nearly two hours with us explaining all the structural components that make up his business. It is on the basis of this information that we designed Snap.hr business model canvas.
The experience on this project has shaped my basic understanding of how businesses function and made realise that there is much more to business than just satisfying customer’s needs and making lots of profits. It is the long-term strategic thinking designed based on the core business elements that give the business a competitive advantage in the market place. That’s why each business model is different from all the others. Having explored a bit more about business models, I came to realise how critical it is to get the right mix of your business core components. This is the only way to sustain a profitable business long-term.
Perceived benefits
Equipped with all the skills and the experience I have gained in this process I now know how to analyse and design a business model canvas of any business organisation, where to find information and how to filter it. I am also aware of the critical importance of the key components that every business must get right if it is to succeed. Such key components include:
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Key activities that a business participates in.
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Key partners such as suppliers and strategic alliances.
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Value proposition: the promise of the overall experience that customers must expect.
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Customer segments: and relationships, the demography of the market that you aim to serve and the type of relationship you want to establish with them.
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Revenue streams: where to get the vital cash flow to sustain your business.
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Channels: how to reach your customer segments.
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Costs: What are the major costs of your business operations?
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Key resources that a business has.
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REFLECTION ON INNOVATION AND ENTERPRISE
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STUDENT’S FULL NAME: JOHN BOSCO SEKYEWA
STUDENT NUMBER: 2602337 COURSE BEng CSN MODE FT
MODULE TITLE: Reflection on Innovation And Enterprise
REFLECTION ON INNOVATION AND ENTERPRISE
Innovation and Enterprise has been without doubt one of the most interesting modules that I have had an opportunity to attend on the Beng CSN program. I have for sure enjoyed and gained a lot of skills and knowledge from a combination of in-class activities and team projects. The experience of participating in team projects and class discussion has been amazing. Contrary to other modules where students are most of the time passive, Innovation and Enterprise gave us a chance to participate in almost everything we have learnt. Also the idea having a module leader who happens to be in a world of business was a bonus to us. The module was in part academic and also more reflective of what happens in the business world. Throughout the course, James shared a lot of his business experiences with us. This gave us an insight of how things are done in the real world and it was quiet inspirational to learn about his success and failures.
This document highlights the perceived benefits from studying this module and how it has impacted on my education. In other words, it gives a brief account my overall experience and the skills gained from the module tasks, lectures, assignments, presentations and guest speakers.
Studying this module has been exciting and a few times challenging, especially when it comes to working in teams on projects. Right from the start of the module I felt compelled and excited about learning new skills. I started it with a strong dedicated attitude willing to learn more and enhance my skills.
Being a BEng CSN student, my main objective at the beginning was to focus on the technical aspects of the course, trying to be as technically competent as possible, thinking that I could improve other aspects of my profession on the job. However studying Innovation and Enterprise has made a big impact on my other abilities especially as far as working in teams is concerned.
On lecture materials
A blend of lectures & tutorials, lab sessions (SimVenture), guest speakers and group projects was a brilliant idea, it gave me a chance to gain and build my skill base. Being part of the team project on two occasions, I enjoyed the experience despite having some disagreements between us at times; overall I gained a lot of skills from it. Weekly materials are in my opinion well organised and easy to access on VLE site, allowing students that may have missed a lecture to catch up.
Listening to some of the guest speakers (industry expert) gave us a valuable insight of how our destined industries work.
On eportfoilio
E-portfolio is one of the new elements that I have learnt from this module. It is a great way of exhibiting our study work as students. It gave us an opportunity to put our skills online for any potential employers to view it. Having said that, e-portfolio is a bit of hard work to maintain on a daily basis alongside other assignments.
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On assignment 1
I gained a variety of valuable skills in creativity process and other areas such as: critical thinking, problem solving, working in teams, dealing with a slack on the project, time management and the overall importance of prioritising tasks etc. Learning how to build a project team from scratch using Belbin’s team role principles is one of the skills that I learnt, identifying people’s strength and weaknesses and allocating tasks appropriately. As a result of undertaking this assignment, I have come to realise that such skills are critical to shaping entrepreneurial vision and identifying opportunities. However technically skilled a student may be without the basic understanding of these fundamental principles one may find it hard to run a project. Before studying Innovation and Enterprise, I wasn’t confident at all to make a presentation on anything. However going through this project process right from the beginning to presenting the final product, I have gained a lot of valuable skills. I am now capable of analysing a business enterprise functions to identify where it can gain strategic advantage.
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On Project Management
This is a huge part of the module that was delivered in such a short space of time. I spent a few days after the lecture trying to get familiar with it. In this part of the module we learnt about various ways in which we can manage projects. Some of the fundamental issues that we learnt included:
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Establishing a work plan and time management on any project as the best way to tracking its progress.
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Setting targets and how they can be achieved is crucial for any project.
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Assigning roles to different people on a project creates a sense of ownership and responsibility.
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Prioritising tasks helps in dealing with the order agreed in the project plan.
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Setting and managing budgets: Managing financial resources allocated to the project
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Terms of renegotiation
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Working teams
Working in teams on both projects gave us a chance to demonstrate team working, negotiating skills and communication. Through the project process the module materials provided us with a lot of skills, at each stage we could pose and reflect, discus critical issues, look at our priorities and negotiating strategies much as it would be in a real world.
On Assignment 2: Business model canvas
Studying about business model canvas and value proposition has been one of the most exciting parts of Innovation and Enterprise module. The concept is referred to as one of the business tools used to visually analyse, design, describe and adjust the core component of a given business enterprise. It is the tool that we used in our class activities and group project to analyse the nine building blocks that make up a business model canvas. These include: customer segments and customer relationships, key partner, key activities, value proposition, key resources, cost and revenue streams. We also learnt that it is on the basis of these key components that business strategies are developed.
Personally I found this part of the module very helpful and useful to any form of business project.
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On SimVenture
As part of Innovation and enterprise module, SimVenture provides a unique learning experience that is extremely difficult to gain on majority of work placements. I found it very useful to some of us with entrepreneurial mindset. It gave me an insight of how business works, combining various functions to achieve a set objective. Such skills that are very helpful in terms of making informed decisions on any project are very difficult to achieve. Ideally learning such complex and challenging skills can take years to achieve. However Sim venture makes the process quicker, effective and less costly.
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Working teams
Working in teams on both projects gave us a chance to demonstrate team working, negotiating skills and communication. Through the project process the module materials provided us with a lot of skills, at each stage we could pose and reflect, discus critical issues, look at our priorities and negotiating strategies much as it would be in a real world.
On Assignment 2: Business model canvas
Studying about business model canvas and value proposition has been one of the most exciting parts of Innovation and Enterprise module. The concept is referred to as one of the business tools used to visually analyse, design, describe and adjust the core component of a given business enterprise. It is the tool that we used in our class activities and group project to analyse the nine building blocks that make up a business model canvas. These include: customer segments and customer relationships, key partner, key activities, value proposition, key resources, cost and revenue streams. We also learnt that it is on the basis of these key components that business strategies are developed.
