Capstone CAPSIM Exam Answers

Products are invented and revised by which department?

Marketing

Production

Research and Development

Finance

Answer: Research and Development

What is the industry newsletter called?

Capstone Courier

Capstone Quarterly

Capstone Messenger

Answer: capstone courier

Which of these investments is not a function of the Production department?

Increasing Automation

Wage Increases

Creating new production lines

Answer: wage increases

What are your company’s options for raising money?

Borrowing Long-term debt

Borrowing Short-term debt

Issuing Stock

A and C only

A, B and C

Answer: a b and c

Prices are established by the:

Finance Department

Marketing Department

Production Department

R&D Department

Answer: Marketing Department

The Proformas are dynamic financial statements that recalculate based on your decisions.

True

False

Answer: true

5 different markets

Answer: performance, low end, high end, size, traditional

traditional

Answer: age – price – position – quality

low end

Answer: price – age – position – quality

high end

Answer: position – age – quality – price

performance

Answer: quality – position – price – age

size

Answer: position – age – quality – price

marketing, finance, product, research and development

Answer: 4 functional areas

R and D cycle time factors

Answer: – automation level of production line – number of projects underway – distance moved

New product development

Answer: – takes at least one year – max is 2x listed capacity – additional capacity takes at least one year -create 25% awareness at no cost require capacity and automation

over forecasting, failed to raise funds needed for expenditures

Answer: Emergency loan factors

overall cost leader, differentiation

Answer: competition strategies

customer survey score

Answer: calculated 12x/year -age and positioning taken into account -100 – ideal spot, bottom priced, ideal age, MTBF top

awareness

Answer: 1/3 forget from year to year -built over time by products promotion budget -fund advertising and public relations campaign

accessibility

Answer: built over time by products sales budget -fund salespeople and distribution systems to service customers

raising automation risks

Answer: 1) expensive – $4 per unit 2) as you raise, increasingly difficult for R and D to reposition products short distances

current debt, stock issues, profits, long term debt

Answer: 4 different ways to acquire capital

acquire capital, dividend policy, AP/AR policy, debt to equity structure, performance measures

Answer: 5 decisions that come with financing

statement of cash flows, balance sheet, Income statement

Answer: 3 financial statements

poor investing and financing decisions, negative cash flows result in emergency loan

Answer: reasons for having bad cash flows

Products are invented and revised by which department?

 – Marketing

 – Production 

– Research and Development 

– Finance

Answer: Research and Development

What is the industry newsletter called?

 – Foundation FastTrack

– Foundation Quarterly

– Foundation Formula

Answer: Foundation FastTrack

Which of these investments is not a function of the Production department? 

– Increasing Automation 

– Wage Increases

 – Creating new production lines

Answer: Wage Increases

What are your company’s options for raising money? 

– Borrowing Long-term debt 

– Borrowing Short-term debt 

– Issuing Stock

– A and C only

 – A, B and C

Answer: A, B and C

Prices are established by the: 

– Finance Department

 – Marketing Department

 – Production Department 

– R&D Department

Answer: Marketing Department

The Proformas are dynamic financial statements that recalculate based on your decisions. –

 True – False

Answer: TRUE

You produce and sell:

Answer: Electronic sensors

4 main departments

Answer: 1. R&D 2. Marketing 3. Production 4. Finance

R&D is where you:

Answer: – Invent and revise products – Decide how to improve existing products

Marketing is where you:

Answer: – Set your price – Determine sales and promo budgets – Forecast sales for the 

coming year

Production is where you:

Answer: – Schedule manufacturing runs – Manage the size of the plant and its automation levels – Create/sell off production lines

Finance is where you:

Answer: – Ensure your company has the funds it needs to grow – Issue stock or borrow money (short or long term)

Best place to start strategy-wise:

Answer: Analysis – breaking down the industry and the company – strengths and 

weaknesses – potential of the market

Industry Conditions Report

Answer: – Helps you to understand your customers – Lists market segment sales percentage and projected growth rates unique to your simulation – Published ONCE at beginning of simulation

Capstone Courier (Foundation FastTrack)

Answer: The industry newsletter, which is an extensive year-end report of the sensor industry This report includes: – Customers Buying Patterns – Product Positioning – Public Financial Records – This is where your team will evaluate their company’s performance or analyze their competitors

Situation Analysis

Answer: Series of tables that help determine the size of the market, how fast it is growing and what kind of products different customers are looking for

Solid circles on marketing page

Answer: Market segment of customers with similar preferences

Dotted circles on marketing page

Answer: Boundary of sales – outside of the dots, there will be 0 sales

Cost of an R&D project

Answer: Based on how long the project will take to complete (1 year = $1m, 6 mo. = $500k, etc.)

Drift rate in industry conditions report

Answer: How fast each market segment is moving across the perceptual map

What to review before making marketing decisions

Answer: Market segment pages in the report (5-6)

Every dollar above price range will result in:

Answer: 10% loss of demand

Scheduling based on 1st shift capacity

Answer: You can schedule up to 2x the 1st shift capacity – 2nd shift workers are paid time and a half

Contribution margin needed for profitability

Answer: 30% or higher for a nice profit, 20% or higher to make sure you are not losing money

When to add capacity/automation

Answer: When your 2nd shift percentage is very high, you will need more capacity/automation to keep up with demand – they are added after a year