Markstrat

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Markstrat is a simulation video game developed by Jean-Claude Larréché and Professor Hubert Gatignon from 1974 to 1977. The game lets players take control of a virtual corporation; players must make a number of decisions in marketing, finance, research and development, and other areas in order to achieve a better performance than competing players, who also take control of their own companies.^[1] After the game was developed it was distributed on an ad-hoc basis by the French business school INSEAD. The game is played in over 500 academic institutions worldwide, including 8 of the top 10 international business schools and 25 of the top 30 in the United States.^[2]

Structure and gameplay[]

The simulation generally consists of ten periods, in an industry that contains six companies. Each of these companies - labelled by letters - are player groups that consist of 3 to 6 people. All the companies in the industry start the simulation in the same situation with same products, which are artificial products called Sonites. As the game progresses the companies get the chance to develop better products or enter a new market, which is a market for another artificial product called vodite. Unlike the sonite market the vodite market is a new market so the decisions and the actions of the players affect this market differently than the developed sonite market.^[3] The players use a wide array of market knowledge, which can be bought as Marketing in order to make decisions.

Marketing decisions[]

This area of decisions is the most elaborate one. The players should give verdicts on the amount of production of a certain product, advertisement budget of a product, and the target segments and targeted qualities of the advertisement. The marketing decisions also include the number of sales force for each product that can be allocated to various sale centers such as specialty stores, department stores and mass merchandisers.

Research & development decisions[]

The competing companies also have the chance to create new products to reach various market segments and increase their market share. The characteristics of the products can be changed and made more attractive for the targeted segment. These research projects can either modify the existing products or create new products.

Marketing research decisions[]

The players also have the chance to conduct market research and gather information on their customers, their habits and their interests. Many research studies also exist to apprehend the moves competitor groups make. The marketing research makes this information available to companies and the players can purchase the research studies they want.

On every period the players must submit certain decisions that will affect the progress of their company in the following period. The only time the players can interact with the situation of their company is in the beginning of a period. After the decisions are submitted, the players wait for the results of the next period. Companies’ cumulative net contribution, stock price index, market capitalization and market share are mostly used to measure the performances of the players.

The uses of the game[]

The game, a good measure for performance under pressure, is mostly used to assess the group dynamics and decision-making processes of the players. It is widely used in universities, incorporated in a certain class such as Marketing or Finance. Often, the results from the simulation reflect a certain portion of the grade. The game was originally built for to play, however, because of its ease of use, the simulation became widespread and started being used for both undergraduate and graduate students. Many multinational corporations also use it to assess and boost their employee's skills.^[4]

The Markstrat Heritage[]

A series of other simulation games have been created after the success of Markstrat, modeling the key elements of Markstrat itself, but focusing on other domains such as innovation, B2B marketing and leadership and the BioPharma Industry. StratX launched several mini-simulations such as BrandPRO and MixPRO which encompass many of the key marketing and decision-making features of Markstrat, but can be completed in only 3-hours.

Blue Ocean Strategy Simulation[]

BOSS (Blue Ocean Strategy Simulation) was created with the co-founders of Blue Ocean Strategy. Participants are broken into teams and each manage their fictitious companies. Though 9 consecutive years, they are offered a chance to break away from a highly competitive environment called “the red ocean” and create a “blue ocean” of new uncontested market space.

At first, teams experience the difficulty of the existing market and can only make traditional strategic decisions in R&D, production, marketing, sales, and pricing.

They are then offered a chance to break the market boundaries and develop a Blue Ocean offering, with Blue Ocean Strategy tools such as the Visual Exploration, 6 paths-analysis, Buyer Utility Map, Four Actions Framework and Strategy Canvas.

CentrX BioPharma[]

CentrX BioPharma was launched in 2014 as a business simulation designed to prepare bio-pharma firms in customer-centricity, value creation, strategic thinking, business acumen and innovation. Fully customizable, the business simulation is supported by a consultative learning program and has been used in various bio-pharmaceutical firms to boost their sales, leadership and marketing teams.

CentrX B2B[]

CentrXB2B is a management development simulation that was launched in 2016 with the purpose of helping B2B firms embed a customer-centric approach to leadership, commercial strategy and marketing excellence. The simulation allows participants to think strategically about markets, boost customer-centricity and insights and develop growth-oriented business plans.

References[]

Markstrat Management Development - Experiential Learning for Business Impact