Daz, A. (2005). Sentra Simulation User's Guide (5 p.

) (056496)

Sentra Simulation Users Guide 1

The simulation you will participate in consists of 16 quarters or four years, provided
that the company you manage is not left without cash because under this situation, the
simulation will be interrupted automatically. However, you can try again by applying
different strategies in each of them so you may understand why some decisions are
correct and timely, while others are not.

It is important for you to consider three phases during the simulation, so as to

reach the objectives outlined:

1. Phase 1: in it you will have to serve its historic market, the techies, a segment in
which Sentra Software is well positioned, and enjoys a lot of prestige, which
characterizes by an inelastic behavior on the price. At this stage, the segment of
those who are non-experts is not big enough and does not evidence a growth that
could be interesting either. It is important for you to pay attention to the technical
service representatives' abilities and to supervise the growth of the techies market. At
this stage, avoid price reductions; avoid intermediate products, those that try to
satisfy the two segments at the same time, that is, those that do not have great power
of calculation and are not easy-to-use either; avoid the hiring of too many technical
service representatives and, finally, avoid keeping a large number of consultants.

2. Phase 2: This is a transitional stage, in which the growth of the techies is slowing
down and it looks as if it has reached its saturation point. It is the time to jump to the
segment of those who are not experts, for which you will have to develop products
with extraordinary user friendly characteristics. Now, it is necessary to hire a reduced
number of consultants, that rather than offering consulting services, at this stage they
are gathering the perception of the non-experts and what they expect of the software.
For this stage, holding characteristics of the product with a great power of calculation
is a mistake. Also, you should not underestimate the need to have a consulting group
neither to spare no effort regarding the technical service representatives. Remember
that this is a transitional stage, which is why you will have to move with a lot of
caution; rush decisions could lead you to failure.

3. Phase 3: Here is when the launching of the product begins with user-friendly
characteristics at a competitive price. It's good that you take into account that the
non-experts segment is highly elastic to the price and Execudata is already providing
services to this sector. At this phase, do not make the mistake of hiring too many
consultants because the only thing that you would achieve would be to dilute the level
of experience and decrease productivity. On the other hand, a reduction on the price
of the product becomes necessary so as to make it competitive, but beware of not
reducing it so much that you may not have money at hand for research and
development.
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Document prepared by Antonio Diaz Andrade, based on information provided by Balancing the Corporate Scorecard,
version 2.0: An Interactive Simulation of Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton.

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 The following is a glossary in which the metrics used in the simulation for each of
the perspectives will be defined.

Financial Perspective:
Ann Expenses $M: Annualized costs of salaries, technology of information, cost of
the products sold, etc., in millions of dollars.
Ann Profit $M: Annual income minus annual expenses, in millions of dollars.
Ann Revenue $M: annual revenue from the sale of the software and the consulting
services, in millions of dollars.
Cash $M: Current assets of Sentra Software, in millions of dollars. The simulation
ends if this value becomes void.
Profit Gap %: Margin of the current yield minus the margin of profitability
established by Steve Tucker. A negative value suggests that the margin of the
current yield is less than planned; a positive value suggests that the margin of the
current yield is higher than planned.
Profit Margin %: Annual profitability expressed as a percentage of the annual
revenue. A negative value suggests losses.
Revenue Gap %: Deviation of the annual revenue established by Steve Tucker,
expressed as a percentage. A negative value suggests that the annual current profit
is less than planned; a positive value suggests that the annual current revenue is
higher than planned.
Revenue Growth %: increase (or decrease) of the revenues expressed as a
percentage of the revenues of the last quarter. A negative value suggests a
decrease.
Software % Revenue: Income percentage from the sale of software; the
difference, in order to complete 100 %, comes from the consulting services.

The Customer's Perspective:

Sales Growth % GM: This metrics measures the percentage change, quarter to
quarter, of the total sales of the data mining software to the non-experts in the
whole market. A negative value suggests a decrease of the total sales of the current
quarter compared to the previous one. A positive value suggests an increase of the
total sales of the current quarter compared to the previous one.
Salts Growth % Techie: This metrics measures the percentage change, quarter to
quarter, of the total sales of the data mining software to the techies in the whole
market. A negative value suggests a decrease of the total sales of the current
quarter compared to the previous one. A positive value suggests an increase of the
total sales of the current quarter compared to the previous one.
Sentras Unit Sales: Number of units of software sold by Sentra in the current
quarter.
Sentra Sales GM: number of units of software sold by Sentra to the non-experts in
the current quarter.
Sentra Salts Techie: Number of units of software sold by Sentra to the techies in
the current quarter.
SS % Sales Growth: increase (or decrease) of the Sentra software units sold in
the current quarter, expressed as a percentage of the units sold in the previous
quarter. A negative value suggests a decrease.

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 SS GM % Sales Growth: increase (or decrease) of the Sentra software units sold
to the non-experts in the current quarter, expressed as a percentage of the units
sold to the non-experts in the previous quarter. A negative value suggests a
decrease.
SS Techie % Sales Growth: increase (or decrease) of the Sentra software units
sold to the techies in the current quarter, expressed as a percentage of the units
sold to the techies in the previous quarter. A negative value suggests a decrease.
Total Techie Sales: This number indicates the total sales of the market of the data
mining software sold to the techies.
Total GM Sales: This number indicates the total sales of the market of data mining
software sold to the non-experts.
Cust Sat GM: Sentra's non-experts customers satisfaction with the product and the
service, measured in a 0-100 scale.
Cust Sat Techie: Sentra's techies customers satisfaction with the product and the
service, measured in a 0-100 scale.
Market Share: The customers percentage that bought Sentra's software in the
current quarter regarding the percentage of people who bought data mining
software from any other supplier in the same quarter.
Market Share GM: Percentage of Sentras software products sold in the current
quarter to non-experts regarding the total number of data mining software
packages sold to the non-experts in the same quarter.
Market Share Techie: Percentage of Sentras software products sold in the current
quarter to the techies regarding the total number of data mining software packages
sold to the techies in the same quarter.
Product Appeal GM: Attraction of the Sentra software for the potential non-expert
customers in respect of the attraction of the products of the competition, expressed
as a percentage. Ratings less than 100 indicate that the Sentra software is less
attractive than those offered by the competition. Ratings higher than 100 indicate
than the Sentra software are more attractive than those offered by the competition.
A rating of 100 indicates that Sentra's product is as attractive as the one offered by
the competition.
Product Appeal Techie: Attraction of the Sentra software for the potential techies
customers regarding the attraction of the products of the competition, expressed as
a percentage. Ratings less than 100 indicate that the Sentra software is less
attractive than those offered by the competition. Ratings higher than 100 indicate
than the Sentra software are more attractive than those offered by the competition.
A rating of 100 indicates that Sentra's product is as attractive as the one offered by
the competition.
Service Appeal GM: Attraction of Sentra's service for the potential non-expert
customers in respect of the attraction of the service of the competition, expressed
as a percentage. Ratings less than 100 indicate that the Sentra software is less
attractive than those offered by the competition. Ratings higher than 100 indicate
than the Sentra software are more attractive than those offered by the competition.
A rating of 100 indicates that Sentra's product is as attractive as the one offered by
the competition.
Service Appeal Techie: Attraction of Sentra's service for the potential customers
techies in respect of the attraction of the service of the competition, expressed as a
percentage. Ratings less than 100 indicate that the Sentra software is less attractive

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 than those offered by the competition. Ratings higher than 100 indicate than the
Sentra software are more attractive than those offered by the competition. A rating
of 100 indicates that Sentra's product is as attractive as the one offered by the
competition.

Internal Processes Perspective:

Avg Dev Cycletime: Average time in quarters that takes to develop a new version
of the software.
Consult Backlog: Number of consulting service requirements that are not currently
being satisfied.
Consult Lead Time: Average time in weeks that would be used by Sentra's
consultants to respond to the consulting requests. Times less than 12 weeks are
considered good. Times more than 24 weeks are considered bad.
Cust Svc Backlog: Number of technical support service requirements that they are
not currently being satisfied.
Cust Svc Lead Time: Average time in days that would be used by Sentra's
technical support representatives to respond to the requests of technical support.
Periods of less than 1o days are considered good. Periods of more than 20 days are
considered bad.
EoU Features in Dev Index: This index goes from 0 to 125 and it provides an idea
of the number and quality of the user-friendly characteristics (EoU) that are
currently being considered in the version under development. Values about 100
suggest good user-friendly functionalities; lower values suggest lower
functionalities.
Power Features Index: This metrics suggests the position of the Sentra software
compared to its competitors in terms of calculation power characteristics. A value
under 100 indicates that the Sentra software is less powerful than its competitors. A
value above 100 indicates that the Sentra software is more powerful than that of its
competitors.
A rating equal to 100 suggests parity of the Sentra software compared to its
competitors.
Relative EoU: it indicates the user-friendliness of the Sentra software expressed in
a percentage, compared to its competitors. Ratings lower than 100 indicate that the
Sentra software is more difficult to use than the one of the competition. Ratings
higher than 100 indicate that the Sentra software is easier to use than the one of
the competition. A rating equal to 100 suggests that the Sentra's software is as
easy-to-use as the one from the competition.
Release Readiness: This metrics indicates how close the launching of the new
version of the Sentra software is. When the indicator reaches 100 %, the new
version is ready.

Learning and Growth Perspective:

Consult Rev/Consultant: Annual income divided by the number of Sentras
consultants, in thousands of dollars.
Avg Qual EoU Dream Up EoU: This metrics suggests the quality of the user-
friendly characteristics of the version of the Sentra software being developed. A
rating of 100 suggests the maximum quality regarding how user-friendly it is. A
rating of 50 suggests that, the maximum quality regarding how user-friendly it is

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 half the maximum possible.
Avg Qual Power Ideas: This metrics suggests the quality of the characteristics of
calculation power of the Sentra software version being developed. A rating of 100
suggests the maximum calculation power. A rating of 50 suggests that the
maximum calculation power is half.
Avg Skill Consultant: Average skill level, measured from 0 to 100, of Sentra's
consultants. An indicator equal to 100 is the best; one equal to 50 is fairly good.
Avg Skill Cust Svc Re-P: Level of average ability, measured from 0 to 100, of the
Sentra's technical support representatives. An equal indicator to 100 is the best;
one equal to 50 is fairly good.
Consultant Productivity Index: Indicator of Sentra's consultants productivity. A
rating equal to 70 means average levels of productivity; higher ratings suggest that
the consultants are reaching better levels of productivity than the average.
Cust Svc Productivity Index: Sentra's technical support representatives indicator
of productivity. A rating equal to 70 means average levels of productivity; higher
ratings suggest that the representatives of technical support are reaching better
levels of productivity than the average.
IT in Pipeline/Emp: Infrastructure of information technology in thousands of
dollars per employee that has been bought, but where Sentra has not yet reached
its total effectiveness.
IT Online/Emp: Infrastructure of information technology in thousands of dollars
per employee currently in full use at Sentra.
Revenue/Person: Annual income divided by Sentras number of employees, in
thousands of dollars per employee.