LINKS Simulations: What's New?
What's New?

July 19, 2010LINKS Global SCM Competition: LINKS-simulations.com is pleased to announce an exciting new initiative . . . the LINKS Global SCM Competition. The initial competition is scheduled for October-November 2010. The LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulation will be used in the LINKS Global SCM Competition.

Highlights of the LINKS Global SCM Competition:

  • Cross-Institution 6- and 8-Round Supply Chain Management Simulation Competitions
  • Your Student Teams Compete Against Student Teams From Other Institutions
  • Challenges Students in an Intense Team-Based Cross-Institution Competition
  • For Students in Academic Degree-Granting Programs Worldwide
  • Undergrads Compete Against Undergrads; MBAs Compete Against MBAs
  • Targeted at Upper-Level Undergrads and Advanced (2nd-Year) MBAs

    Separate LINKS Global SCM Competitions are offered in 6-round and 8-round formats to accommodate wide-ranging institutional class schedules, varying instructor timing preferences, and instructor preferences for the intensity of a within-course team-based supply chain management simulation experience.

    Further details about the October-November 2010 LINKS Global SCM Competition (scheduling, student eligibility, costs, and registration procedure) are accessible via the LINKS Global Competition link on the LINKS website.

    Participating in a LINKS Global SCM Competition is an alternative instructional/learning opportunity to the traditional usage of LINKS within a single instructor’s course (i.e., an event with students from a single course conducted according to the course instructor’s preferred scheduling).

    Questions? Faculty members with questions about the LINKS Global SCM Competition are invited to contact Randy Chapman, the LINKS author (Chapman@LINKS-simulations.com)


  • July 9, 2010
    LINKS Train-The-Trainer Seminar
    LINKS Simulations Immersion Experience
    Five 1-Hour Teleconferences + 4-Round Simulation Event
    August 17-19, 2010
    Randy Chapman, the LINKS author, leads this intenstive-mode, distance-learning event for faculty and advanced doctoral students interested in learning more about teaching effectively with LINKS.

    There's no cost to participate, but participants are responsible for their teleconference long-distance dial-in calling charges.


    A 16-18 hour time commitment (including LINKS manual pre-reading) is typical.

    Contact Randy Chapman (Chapman@LINKS-simulations.com) with any questions or to register for this LINKS Train-The-Trainer Seminar. Seminars have limited enrollment to permit comfortable discussion during the five 1-hour teleconferences.


    Access these links for further details:

    Enterprise Management
    Marketing
    Services
    Supply Chain Management

    July 6, 2010 New LINKS White Paper: A new white paper has joined the evolving LINKS White Papers collection: “Planning and Executing Effective Presidential Review Meetings”

    There are now nine LINKS white papers:

    1. “Best-Practice Teaching With Business Simulations”
    2. “Extreme Customization With LINKS Simulations”
    3. “Practice Rounds in LINKS Events”
    4. “Adding Ethical Dilemmas To LINKS Events”
    5. “Individual Performance Assessment in Business Simulations”
    6. “Designing Effective LINKS-Based Courses: Required, Recommended, and Optional Elements”
    7. “Advice To My LINKS Successor”
    8. “Coaching Throughout the Business Simulation Lifecycle”
    9. “Planning and Executing Effective Presidential Review Meetings”


    July 4, 2010 Introducing the LINKS Service Quality Management Simulation: When you don't have time in your services, operations management, and marketing courses for a “larger” simulation but you'd still like to include a “smaller” team-based, competitive simulation experience in your undergraduate, MBA, and EMBA courses, we invite your consideration of our new LINKS Service Quality Management Simulation.

    About the LINKS Service Quality Management Simulation:

  • Challenges students to effectively integrate business processes to profitably manage service quality
  • LINKS firms manage service operations (human resource management and service capacity management) and marketing interrelationships
  • Traditional financial statements and operating reports provide an information-rich environment for analysis and decision making
  • Performance assessment is via a balanced-scorecard of financial and operating metrics, with performance judged relative to within-industry competitors
  • Value priced @ $20/student for a four-round simulation event

    Each of the recommended four simulation rounds is approximately equivalent to a smaller Harvard-style case study in terms of analysis, individual preparation, team meeting and discussion, and student-time requirements. Estimated participant working time is 1.5 hours per simulation round.

    Like all LINKS simulations, the LINKS Service Quality Management Simulation is competitively dynamic (LINKS supports industries with between 2 and 8 firms; simultaneous, parallel LINKS industries accommodate larger class sizes), web-based (no software to download/install), and fully-administered by LINKS-simulations.com (instructors teach; we run LINKS for you according to your schedule).

    Full details about the LINKS Service Quality Management Simulation are accessible via the LINKS website.

    Randy Chapman (Chapman@LINKS-simulations.com), the LINKS author, welcomes the opportunity to converse with LINKS instructors to provide assistance in selecting the most appropriate LINKS simulations variant for courses of all types, lengths, and levels.


  • July 1, 2010 LINKS Newsletter: The July 2010 LINKS Newsletter is accessible via the Newsletter link on the main LINKS webpage.

    Direct Links to the LINKing UP Interview and The Professor's Column in the July 2010 LINKS Newsletter:

  • LINKing UP Interview: Dwight Dowdell (Dowdell & Associates), E-learning and LINKS in Corporate Education
  • The Professor's Column: Chester Xiang (Clarkson University), Online LINKS SCM

  • June 7, 2010 New LINKS White Paper: Another white paper has joined the evolving LINKS White Papers collection: “Coaching Throughout the Business Simulation Lifecycle”

    There are now eight LINKS white papers:

    1. “Best-Practice Teaching With Business Simulations”
    2. “Extreme Customization With LINKS Simulations”
    3. “Practice Rounds in LINKS Events”
    4. “Adding Ethical Dilemmas To LINKS Events”
    5. “Individual Performance Assessment in Business Simulations”
    6. “Designing Effective LINKS-Based Courses: Required, Recommended, and Optional Elements”
    7. “Advice To My LINKS Successor”
    8. “Coaching Throughout the Business Simulation Lifecycle”


    June 1, 2010 LINKS Newsletter: The June 2010 LINKS Newsletter is accessible via the Newsletter link on the main LINKS webpage.

    Direct Links to the LINKing UP Interview and The Professor's Column in the June 2010 LINKS Newsletter:

  • LINKing UP Interview: Kyle Huggins (James Madison University), Using the LINKS Services Management Simulation in a Retailing Course
  • The Professor's Column: Nancy Stephens (Arizona State University), About LINKS Online

  • May 12, 2010 Introducing the LINKS Procurement Management Simulation: When you don’t have time in your introductory operations management, supply chain management, and logistics courses for a “larger” simulation but you’d still like to include a team-based, competitive simulation experience in your introductory undergraduate, MBA, and EMBA courses, we invite your consideration of our newest LINKS simulation:

    LINKS Procurement Management Simulation
  • LINKS firms manage procurement, manufacturing, and forecasting for their firms during a four-round simulation exercise
  • Traditional financial statements and operating reports provide an information-rich environment for analysis and decision making
  • Performance assessment is via a balanced-scorecard of financial and operating metrics, with performance judged relative to within-industry competitors
  • Value priced @ $20/student for a four-round simulation event

    Each of the recommended four simulation rounds is approximately equivalent to a smaller Harvard-style case study in terms of analysis, individual preparation, team meeting and discussion, and student-time requirements. Estimated participant working time is 1.5 hours per simulation round.

    Like all LINKS simulations, the LINKS Procurement Management Simulation is competitively dynamic (LINKS supports industries with between 2 and 8 firms; simultaneous, parallel LINKS industries accommodate larger class sizes), web-based (no software to download/install), and fully-administered by LINKS-simulations.com (instructors teach; we run LINKS for you according to your schedule).

    Full details about the LINKS Procurement Management Simulation are accessible via the LINKS website.

    Randy Chapman (Chapman@LINKS-simulations.com), the LINKS author, welcomes the opportunity to converse with LINKS instructors to provide assistance in selecting the most appropriate LINKS simulations variant for courses of all types, lengths, and levels.


  • May 1, 2010 LINKS Newsletter: The May 2010 LINKS Newsletter is accessible via the Newsletter link on the main LINKS webpage.

    Direct Link to the LINKing UP Interview in the May 2010 LINKS Newsletter:

  • LINKing UP Interview: Chris Puto (University of St. Thomas), LINKS Across The Curriculum

  • April 30, 2010LINKS Manuals Updated: All LINKS manuals have been updated.

    These editorial updates are mostly minor changes in wording and typo corrections. LINKS instructors and partipants are the main source of insight and ideas for these updates.

    April 25, 2010Volume Discounts in the Enterprise Management and Marketing Simulations:

    Volume discounts now exist for all raw materials and sub-assembly components procurements in the xLINKS Enterprise Management Simulation [Extreme Edition], the LINKS Marketing Strategy Simulation, and the xLINKS Marketing Strategy Simulation [Extreme Edition].

  • Raw Materials: If a firm’s Alpha or Beta raw materials procurements exceeds 750,000 kilograms in a quarter, a firm receives a 7.6% discount on the current raw materials price for Alpha or Beta procurement volume in excess of 750,000 kilograms. An additional 6.2% discount (a total discount of 13.8%) accrues for Alpha or Beta raw materials procurements in excess of 1,500,000 units. A further 5.4% discount (a total discount of 19.2%) is realized for Alpha or Beta raw materials procurements in excess of 3,000,000 units in any quarter.
  • Sub-Assembly Components: If a firm’s Gamma, Delta, or Epsilon sub-assembly component procurements from any sub-assembly components supplier in a region exceeds 150,000 units in a quarter, a firm receives a 10.4% discount on the current sub-assembly components price for Gamma, Delta, or Epsilon sub-assembly components procurement volume in excess of 150,000 units. An additional 7.1% discount (a total discount of 17.5%) is realized for Gamma, Delta, or Epsilon sub-assembly components procurements in excess of 300,000 units from any sub-assembly components supplier in a region.

    Volume discounts will be included in all new LINKS industries with the xLINKS Enterprise Management Simulation [Extreme Edition], the LINKS Marketing Strategy Simulation, and the xLINKS Marketing Strategy Simulation [Extreme Edition].


  • April 5, 2010 Introducing the LINKS Marketing Tactics Simulation: When you don’t have time in your introductory marketing courses for a “larger” marketing simulation but you’d still like to include a “smaller” team-based, competitive marketing simulation experience in the latter part of your introductory undergraduate, MBA, and EMBA marketing courses, we invite your consideration of our newest LINKS simulation:

    LINKS Marketing Tactics Simulation
  • Focus on tactical, “go-to-market” decisions for low-end and mid-range products through a retail channel in multiple market regions
  • Pricing and marketing communications decisions (marketing spending, marketing mix allocation, marketing communications positioning, and promotional programming)
  • Sophisticated marketing research studies to support fact-based analysis and decision making)
  • Four 1.5-hour rounds, equivalent to 2-3 “Harvard”-style cases
  • Value priced @ $20/student for a four-round simulation event

    Like all LINKS simulations, the LINKS Marketing Tactics Simulation is competitively dynamic (LINKS supports industries with between 2 and 8 firms; simultaneous, parallel LINKS industries accommodate larger class sizes), web-based (no software to download/install), and fully-administered by LINKS-simulations.com (instructors teach; we run LINKS for you according to your schedule).

    Full details about the LINKS Marketing Tactics Simulation are accessible via the LINKS website.

    Randy Chapman (Chapman@LINKS-simulations.com), the LINKS author, welcomes the opportunity to converse with LINKS instructors to provide assistance in selecting the most appropriate LINKS simulations variant for courses of all types, lengths, and levels.


  • April 1, 2010 LINKS Newsletter: The April 2010 LINKS Newsletter is accessible via the Newsletter link on the main LINKS webpage.

    Direct Link to the LINKing UP Interview in the April 2010 LINKS Newsletter:

  • LINKing UP Interview: Steve Bear (Iona College), Teaching Through a LINKS Tsunami

  • March 24, 2010 LINKS 1,300: LINKS-simulations.com has just passed the 1,300 milestone … 1,300 LINKS events (industries) since the beginning of LINKS.

    With two LINKS Supply Chain Management Fundamentals Simulation industries, Terry Harrison’s EMBA class at Pennsylvania State University includes LINKS industries 1,299 and 1,300. Terry Harrison is a long-time LINKS user and a member of the LINKS Instructor Hall-of-Fame. Thanks Terry for your long-time interest in and support of LINKS.

    And thanks, too, to our growing LINKS instructor community for their on-going interest in LINKS.


    March 4, 2010 Instructor Hall of Fame: The 2010 class of the LINKS Instructor Hall of Fame includes eleven long-time LINKS users/supporters:
    Tom Baker, Clemson University
    Jarrod Goentzel, MIT
    Tom Goldsby, University of Kentucky
    Terry Harrison, Pennsylvania State University
    Laura Meade, Texas Christian University
    Nancy Nix, Texas Christian University
    Paul Nuzum, University of Denver
    Jim Taylor, University of Michigan
    Doug Thomas, Pennsylvania State University
    Darin White, Samford University
    Bennett Yim, University of Hong Kong

    Instructor Hall of Fame membership reflects recognition, respect, and thanks accorded long-time (5+ years) LINKS instructors for their interest in, support of, and commitment to the LINKS Simulations. Along with LINKS Hall of Fame enshrinement, the title “LINKS Fellow” is bestowed on these distinguished LINKS supporters.

    Further details, including a photo gallery of the class of 2010, may be accessed via the Instructor Hall of Fame link on the LINKS website.

    March 1, 2010 LINKS Newsletter: The March 2010 LINKS Newsletter is accessible via the Newsletter link on the main LINKS webpage.

    Direct Links to The Professor's Columns in the March 2010 LINKS Newsletter:

  • The Professor's Column: Roger Woody (University of Kansas), LINKS Helps Army Officers Understand Supply Chain Challenges
  • The Professor's Column: Karl Manrodt and Susan Manrodt (Georgia Southern University), Two-Person LINKS Teams at Georgia Southern University

  • February 16, 2010Who's Using LINKS? Participants' Geography: Since 2000, 30,000+ LINKS participants from these 73 countries have benefited from the LINKS simulations experience.
  • Americas: Argentina Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Mexico Peru Puerto Rico Trinidad United States Uruguay Venezuela
  • Europe: Austria Belgium Bulgaria Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom
  • Africa: Cameroon Egypt Gabon Ghana Kenya Namibia Nigeria Senegal South Africa Togo Uganda
  • Asia: Azerbaijan Australia China Dubai Hong Kong India Indonesia Japan Korea Kuwait Malaysia Maldives Mongolia New Zealand Oman Pakistan Philippines Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Turkey UAE Vietnam

  • February 1, 2010 LINKS Newsletter: The February 2010 LINKS Newsletter is accessible via the Newsletter link on the main LINKS webpage.

    Direct Links to the LINKing UP Interview and The Professor's Columns in the February 2010 LINKS Newsletter:

  • LINKing UP Interview: Jarrod Goentzel (MIT), The MIT-Zaragoza Program
  • The Professor's Column: Laura Meade (Texas Christian University), From LINKS SCM To LINKS SOM
  • The Professor's Column: Michael Gallagher and Greg Kivenzor (Rivier College), Advice To My LINKS Successor

  • January 20, 2010 Alabama Rules! Congratulations to the University of Alabama football team, national college champions!

    And congratulations to LINKS user Glenn Richey, a long-time University of Alabama faculty member!

    January 8, 2010 New LINKS White Paper: Another white paper has joined the evolving LINKS White Papers collection: “Advice To My LINKS Successor”

    There are now seven LINKS white papers:

    1. “Best-Practice Teaching With Business Simulations”
    2. “Extreme Customization With LINKS Simulations”
    3. “Practice Rounds in LINKS Events”
    4. “Adding Ethical Dilemmas To LINKS Events”
    5. “Individual Performance Assessment in Business Simulations”
    6. “Designing Effective LINKS-Based Courses: Required, Recommended, and Optional Elements”
    7. “Advice To My LINKS Successor”


    January 4, 2010About Forecasting and Forecasting Accuracy: Given the importance of forecasting in running a LINKS business, reading the following article offers a positive return on reading-time investment (click on the following citation to access this article):
    J. Scott Armstrong, 'The Forecasting Canon: Generalizations To Improve Forecast Accuracy,' FORESIGHT: The International Journal of Applied Forecasting, Volume 1, Issue 1 (June 2005), pp. 29-35.

    January 1, 2010 LINKS Newsletter: The January 2010 LINKS Newsletter is accessible via the Newsletter link on the main LINKS webpage.

    Direct Links to the LINKing UP Interview and The Professor's Columns in the January 2010 LINKS Newsletter:

  • LINKing UP Interview: Chad Autry (Oklahoma City University) and Tony Roath (University of Oklahoma), A Two-School LINKS Competition
  • The Professor's Column: Verda Blythe (University of Wisconsin - Madison), Adding Limited Reconfigurations To LINKS
  • The Professor's Column: Susan Golicic (Colorado State University), Teaching With LINKS Sustainability Options

  • December 12, 2009LINKS Simulations Test Questions: A test bank of LINKS multiple-choice questions supports LINKS instructors in their LINKS events.
  • This test bank includes 200+ multiple-choice questions covering all LINKS simulations variants. Each multiple-choice question includes the best answer as well as a brief explanation for that answer.
  • The questions are organized by topical categories and by LINKS simulation variant.
  • The LINKS simulations test bank is included in the Instructor Resources section of the LINKS website.
  • These LINKS simulations test questions are provided to LINKS instructors in Word doc format to facilitate use throughout LINKS events. LINKS instructors may freely use these questions for testing or for in-class discussion purposes by appropriate cutting-and-pasting from this Word doc file.

    These multiple-choice questions might be used for in-class discussion purposes, for testing/assessment usage, and for an instructor’s personal review and refreshment before a LINKS event.

    More Information About The LINKS Simulations Test Questions

    December 1, 2009 LINKS Newsletter: The December 2009 LINKS Newsletter is accessible via the Newsletter link on the main LINKS webpage.

    Direct Links To LINKing UP Interview and The Professor's Column in the December 2009 LINKS Newsletter:

  • LINKing UP Interview: Mary Holcomb (University of Tennessee), Single-Person Teams in Cloned LINKS Industries
  • The Professor's Column: Kevin Gwinner (Kansas State University), Thinking About a Simulation? Some Advice From a Long-Time User

  • November 24, 2009 Introducing the LINKS Marketing Simulation: The LINKS Marketing Simulation is a medium-sized marketing simulation targeted at the 1st marketing course in MBA and EMBA programs, where a competitive marketing simulation experience is desired as part a larger set of course activities.

    LINKS marketing simulations now span the “small-medium-large” within-course simulation “footprint”-spectrum for courses at all degree-program levels.

    large LINKS Marketing Strategy Simulation For marketing strategy and marketing management electives where a “substantial” simulation emphasis is desired. Includes extensive marketing research study resources. Typical within-course simulation usage: 8-9 rounds.
    medium LINKS Marketing Simulation For MBA and EMBA first marketing courses. Typical within-course simulation usage: 6-8 rounds.
    small LINKS Marketing Principles Simulation For undergraduate first marketing courses. Typical within-course simulation usage: 5-6 rounds.

    In addition, the specialized LINKS marketing simulations

  • LINKS Multi-Channel Management Simulation
  • LINKS Positioning Strategy Simulation
  • xLINKS Marketing Strategy Simulation [Extreme Edition]

  • provide instructors with customized simulations for a wide range of optional/elective marketing courses in undergraduate, MBA, and EMBA programs.

    Full details about the LINKS Marketing Simulation are accessible via the LINKS website.

    Randy Chapman (Chapman@LINKS-simulations.com), the LINKS author, welcomes the opportunity to converse with LINKS instructors to provide assistance in selecting the most appropriate LINKS simulations variant for courses of all types, lengths, and levels.


    November 5, 2009 Instructor Hall of Fame: The 2009 class of the new LINKS Instructor Hall of Fame includes nine long-time LINKS users/supporters:
    Joe Blackburn, Vanderbilt University
    Joe Hanna, Auburn University
    Kevin Gwinner, Kansas State University
    Tom Kinnear, University of Michigan
    Bob Mackoy, Butler University
    Chris Puto, University of St. Thomas
    Victor Quinones, University of Puerto Rico
    Al Quinton, The College of New Jersey
    Jeff Thieme, University of Memphis

    Instructor Hall of Fame membership reflects recognition, respect, and thanks accorded long-time (5+ years) LINKS instructors for their interest in, support of, and commitment to the LINKS Simulations. Along with LINKS Hall of Fame enshrinement, the title “LINKS Fellow” is bestowed on these distinguished LINKS supporters.

    Further details, including a photo gallery of the class of 2009, may be accessed via the Instructor Hall of Fame link on the LINKS website.

    October 17, 2009 LINKS Simulation Database Enhancement: To enhance usability of the LINKS Simulation Database, a “Return To Front Page” button has been added to each of the input web-screens immediately below the “Submit Inputs” button.

    Clicking on the “Return To Front Page” button returns the user immediately to the front page of the LINKS Simulation Database without the need to click the browser’s “return” control or to log-out of LINKS and then log back in. Like all clickable LINKS buttons within the input web-screens of the LINKS Simulation Database, any input changes on the current web-screen are saved to the LINKS web-server as part of the “Return” button processing.

    Thanks to Jeff Thieme (University of Memphis) for suggesting this usability enhancement.


    October 5, 2009 Web-Server Outage: The LINKS simulation website was “down” today from about 1100am to 500pm US Eastern Time. We apologize to all LINKS users for this outage. Our commercial web-hosting service reports “unscheduled maintenance” as the reason for this outage. It's been almost a year since the last significant LINKS server outage.

    The LINKS website is hosted by a commercial web-hosting service on a shared server. Server traffic on the other sites hosted on the LINKS server can occasionally slow access to LINKS. And, more generally, server traffic can be congested at any particular point in time due to internet-wide load factors. If you encounter an apparent server outage when you attempt to access LINKS, please try again later (say an hour later). Past experience with the hosting service is that server outages are usually of relatively short duration. We continue to be pleased with the performance of our web-server host, 1&1 Internet Inc. Our experience is that the LINKS web-server is “up” 99%+ of the time, which is certainly an excellent performance level. Of course, this still implies that there will be occasional outages of, perhaps, an hour or so per week.

    For LINKS users, the possibility of unexpected web-server outages implies that you shouldn’t wait until the last minute to access the LINKS Simulation Database to submit your inputs. And, a contingency plan should be in place, “just in case” inputting problems arise. Such contingency planning is, of course, a normal part of business planning and LINKS is, after all, a simulation of business management principles/practices/challenges.

    September 19, 2009LINKS Bulletin Link in the LINKS Simulation Database: The LINKS Bulletin is included as the last page of every round’s financial and operating results reports. The Bulletin provides current-round industry-related news and information that a manager could easily observe without additional cost or with nominal effort during the normal course of events in managing a firm in a real-world competitive industry. To drill down below these headlines, you’ll need appropriate research studies.

    To provide additional visibility and convenient access to the Bulletin, a link has been added to the initial webpage in the LINKS Simulation Database.

    By clicking on the “Current Bulletin …” link (for LINKS industry AZC, in this example), you immediately access the current edition (a Word doc file) of the Bulletin for your LINKS industry.

    August 19, 2009
    New Services Simulations Tutorial: A new tutorial has been added to LINKS. This 30-45 minute self-study tutorial is a useful exercise for LINKS services simulations students as they begin LINKS. After reading the LINKS manual, students can complete the “Services Business Metrics” tutorial to further immerse themselves in the LINKS financial and operating reports.

    Jointly working on this tutorial with another LINKS student is an effective way to complete this LINKS tutorial. A pair of students can discuss the questions before proceeding on to review the solution notes on the page following each of the questions in the tutorial.
    There are eleven questions embedded in this LINKS tutorial. For each question, students formulate an answer before continuing on to the following page … which includes solution notes for the question(s) on the preceding page of this LINKS tutorial.

    August 15, 2009Updated Performance Evaluation Report: The Performance Evaluation Report included on the first page of each firm's output has been updated to include industry-worst, industry-average, and industry-best comparatives. An example from a LINKS Services Management Simulation industry is shown to the right.

    These KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are also reported in a firm's supplementary Excel results file, accessible via the LINKS Simulation Database. The KPIs worksheet includes charts with firm, industry-worst, industry-average, and industry-best results for each of the last six rounds for each KPI.


    July 22, 2009LINKS Instructor Resources: There are many PPT slide decks in the LINKS Instructor Resources section of the LINKS website. These PPT slide decks include Discussion Cases, introductory materials, mid-event materials, and end-of-event materials, among other things. LINKS instructors who haven’t had a look at the LINKS Instructor Resources for a while might find it helpful to review these PPT slide decks.

    Access the evolving LINKS Instructor Resources via the LINKS webpage.

    Instructors are invited to e-mail Randy Chapman (Chapman@LINKS-simulations.com) to obtain the case-sensitive instructor access parameters (username and password) for the LINKS Instructor Resources.

    June 21, 2009Updated FAQ: “Taxes When a Firm Is Unprofitable”

    “When a firm loses money, do taxes still exist?”

    If operating income plus non-operating income (interest from marketable securities plus interest paid due to loans plus the sum of all patent royalties paid and received) is negative, the firm is unprofitable. Such a loss generates “negative” taxes (i.e., a tax credit) which results in a reduction in the size of the final, post-tax net income, since the tax credit effectively subsidizes the operating income loss. In such a situation, taxes will be a positive number, reflecting the tax credit. (Normally, taxes is a negative number representing the taxes paid. But, taxes are only paid if the firm is profitable.)

    June 12, 2009Help Pop-Ups Added to the LINKS Simulation Database: Help pop-up windows are now accessible on each of the input web-screens in the LINKS Simulation Database.

    These help pop-ups will be especially useful for LINKS participants in the early stages of LINKS events. These help pop-ups provide useful top-line advice and tips about an input web-screen.

    Pop-ups must be be enabled in your web browser to access these help pop-up windows.


    June 4, 2009KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and the Enhanced “KPIcharts” Worksheet: An enhanced “KPIcharts” worksheet in the Excel supplementary results file contains charts of each LINKS KPI vs. the corresponding industry KPI best, industry KPI average, and industry KPI worst for each of the last six LINKS rounds. These KPI charts provide an appealing graphic rendition of the LINKS balanced-scorecard performance evaluation dimensions displayed in tabular form on the first page of each firm’s Word doc financial and operating reports results file.

    For all new LINKS industries initialized after June 1, 2009, the KPI charts are no longer provided in the Word doc results file. And, the LINKS manuals (updated June 3, 2009) include no mention of these KPI charts in the Word doc results file.


    May 29, 2009Excel Spreadsheet Results File: The standard reporting of LINKS financial, operations, and research results is via a single Word doc results file. An Excel spreadsheet results file supplements the standard Word doc results file.

    The Excel supplementary results spreadsheet has been substantially enhanced. In addition to the financial and operating results worksheet and the decision history worksheet in the Excel supplementary results spreadsheet:

  • A new “Dashboard” worksheet contains a single-screen top-line summary of your firm’s key results for the most-recent LINKS round. When you access the Excel supplementary results spreadsheet, it opens to the “Dashboard” worksheet. An example of a LINKS Dashboard is accessible via this link:   Sample LINKS Dashboard
  • A new “Forecasts” worksheet contains two extrapolative|quantitative forecasts of the next round’s sales volume. Be sure to review the details and background assumptions of these forecasts, as reported in this worksheet.
  • An enhanced “KPIcharts” worksheet contains charts of each LINKS KPI vs. the corresponding industry KPI best, industry KPI average, and industry KPI worst for each of the last six LINKS rounds. These KPI charts provide an appealing graphic rendition of the LINKS performance evaluation dimensions displayed in tabular form on the first page of each firm’s Word doc financial and operating reports results file.

    The full description of the Excel supplementary results spreadsheet is accessible via this link:
    Excel Spreadsheet Briefing Notes
    This link is included on the initial web-screen when students access their firm in the LINKS Simulation Database.

  • May 2, 2009 LINKS Positioning Strategy Simulation Update: Based on instructor feedback, these updates have been made to the LINKS Positioning Strategy Simulation.
  • Warranty: Warranty has been set to zero for all products (“due to corporate policy”), so that set-top box products will have no warranty. (And, no changes in the initial warranty setting of zero are permitted.) This also means that replacement parts are no longer relevant in the LINKS Positioning Strategy Simulation. This change simplifies the product development/design task a bit by removing one of the product attributes. Instructors may change this technology limit (currently set to zero) during a LINKS event, to add some additional product development/design complexity.
  • KPI Charts: The KPI charts have been eliminated from the Word doc financial reports. Students may access these KPI charts in the supplementary Excel results file in the LINKS Simulation Database.
  • Additional Research Study: Research Study #28 (Marketing Program Experiment) has been added to provide students with another tool to analyze the impacts of marketing program decisions (spending, mix allocation, and positioning).

  • April 8, 2008LINKS Statistics: Tuesday, April 7 was a record-setting peak-demand day for the LINKS-simulations.com website, with 4,176 unique visits.

    March 18, 2009New Instructor FAQ: “Missing Inputs For a Scheduled Game Run”

    “One group of students said they missed the first round (i.e., forget to input the decisions). Can they still make some changes in their inputs after the game run has been executed?”

    Yes, this team can make inputs … for the next round ... but not for the last round. This is a competitive simulation and all firms' decisions influence other firms' results. So, you can't re-run the last quarter without affecting all other firms in the industry. And, those other firms will not respond well to a re-run situation, especially for one firm that missed the first round.

    Everyone in a LINKS industry is operating on the same public game-run schedule. This schedule is in the instructor’s course syllabus. And, everyone receives a same-day reminder of a forthcoming game run. And and, the LINKS Simulation Database has game-run reminders at the top of each input web-screen. The bottom-line: there's just no excuse for not making timely inputs.

    The “missing” firm had its previous decisions remain in effect, so it wasn't punished extremely. But, of course, it has no research studies, since it made no such inputs.

    December 27, 2008Volume Discounts in the LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulations

    Volume discounts now exist for all raw materials and sub-assembly components for regular procurements, excluding emergency procurements, in the LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulations.

  • Raw Materials: If your firm’s purchase order size for Alpha or Beta exceeds 250,000 kilograms in a month, your firm receives a 7.6% discount on the current raw material price for all procurement order volume in excess of 250,000 kilograms. An additional 6.2% discount (a total discount of 13.8%) accrues for a raw material purchase order in excess of 500,000 units. A further 5.4% discount (a total discount of 19.2%) is realized for a raw material purchase order in excess of 1,000,000 units in any month.

  • Sub-Assembly Components: If your firm’s purchase order size for any sub-assembly component from any sub-assembly component supplier (i.e., the sum of surface and air purchases from a supplier) in a region exceeds 50,000 units in a month, your firm receives a 10.4% discount on the current sub-assembly component price for all order volume in excess of 50,000 units. An additional 7.1% discount (a total discount of 17.5%) is realized for a sub-assembly component procurement order in excess of 100,000 units from any supplier in a region.

  • December 12, 2008New FAQ: “Retail- and Direct-Channel Prices” [LINKS products simulations variants with multiple channels]

    “What relationships should exist between retail-channel prices and direct-channel prices? For example, should direct-channel prices always be less than retail-channel prices?”

    Manufacturers' prices to channel #1 are the retailers’ costs. Retailers markup manufacturer prices (i.e., the retailers’ cost) to their customers, the final end-user set-top box customers. Manufacturers' prices to direct channels (channels other than channel #1) are to final end-user set-top box customers. So, manufacturers' prices will generally be higher in direct channels than in channel #1 to allow for the retailers' markups in channel #1, assuming that a manufacturer’s target final end-user prices are meant to be similar in all channels.

    It's difficult know whether the comparable final end-user prices for set-top box products in channel #1 and in direct channels are predictable as to which would be relatively higher or lower. It seems reasonable to expect that retailers would observe brand-comparable prices in competitive direct channels in their region and would not feel positively inclined toward manufacturers who undercut retailers’ prices in a direct channel.

    But, the larger issue may be channel-set segments. Some customers only purchase set-top boxes through a specific channel. Other customers consider all brand options in all channel options when making purchases. So, if the channel-specific segments are large compared to the joint-channel segment, then there wouldn't be much cross-channel competition.

    November 9, 2008New FAQ: “Missing Research Study Results”

    “We ordered many research studies before the last round’s input deadline, but only a few of them have been included in our Word doc output file. Where are the results of the missing research studies?”

    All research studies ordered prior to the last LINKS round have been included at the end of your Word doc results file. You may have intended to order other research studies, but such LINKS research study inputs weren't made by the input submission deadline. This is an occasional “mishap” encountered by LINKS participants; discussion of research study ordering occurs within the LINKS team, but all of the intended research study orders are never input to the LINKS Simulation Database.

    You may wish to review the “Audit Trace” to see the inputs processed before the last round (i.e., the input changes that your firm made and submitted to the LINKS Simulation Database for the last round). Click on the “Display Audit Trace Logfile” button in the LINKS Simulation Database, on the first web-screen after you log-in to the LINKS Simulation Database with your LINKS firm’s passcode.

    Reminder: Research studies orders are one-time only. If you wish to receive a research study “again,” it must be re-ordered each time you wish to receive it.

    October 11, 2008Enhanced Usability of Web-Based LINKS Manuals: All web-based LINKS manuals accessible via the LINKS website now include bookmarks. These first-page bookmarks facilitate convenient one-click online access to each LINKS manual chapter.

    September 27, 2008 Forecasting Accuracy Reporting: The accuracy of forecasting decisions is one of the KPIs (key performance indicators) in the LINKS balanced scorecard evaluation system. In addition, forecasting inaccuracy directly influences Administrative Overhead. Forecasting accuracy also indirectly affects operating performance via inventory pipeline decisions in LINKS products variants and service capacity decisions in LINKS services variants.

    The Forecasting Accuracy Report includes:
  • detailed brand-market forecasting accuracy results for all short-term sales volume forecasts
  • detailed gross margin and long-term sales volume forecasting accuracy results, for those LINKS variants that include these forecasts
  • an overall summary of forecasting accuracy for all forecasts
  • a detailed sales history (for the last six rounds) of brand-market sales volume.
  • To provide additional summary reporting of forecasting results beyond just the overall forecasting accuracy score for all forecasts, the LINKS Forecasting Accuracy Report has been enhanced to include brand- and region-specific forecasting accuracy summaries. For example, here’s a sample display of the additional forecasting summary results in a LINKS products simulation variant:

                Product-Specific              Product Product
                Forecasting Accuracy  Overall   5-1     5-2
                --------------------  ------- ------- -------
                Forecasting Accuracy    80.1%   77.1%   83.2%
                Number of Forecasts        12       6       6
    
    
                Region-Specific                Region  Region  Region
                Forecasting Accuracy  Overall     1       2       3
                --------------------  -------  ------  ------  ------
                Forecasting Accuracy    80.1%   74.4%   78.6%   87.4%
                Number of Forecasts        12       4       4       4
              
    While these brand- and region-specific forecasting accuracy summaries could be calculated by LINKS teams, the automatic inclusion of these results in the Forecasting Accuracy Report provides convenient access to these useful summary statistics.

    Brand- and region-specific forecasting accuracy summaries provide potential insights into patterns of forecasting accuracy and inaccuracy. For example, in the sample results reported above, the relatively low forecasting accuracies for product 1 and region 1 stand-out and merit further attention and analysis. Similarly, there is lots of learning, knowledge transfer, and process improvement potential associated with determining why region 3’s forecasting accuracy is highest in these sample results.

    Since forecasting accuracy is a “pure” LINKS performance metric (i.e., higher forecasting accuracy is always better), forecasting accuracy is a particularly noteworthy performance evaluation metric. Indeed, If in addition to other within-team responsibilities, individuals are assigned (or assume) the responsibility for forecasting for a specific brand or a specific region, then brand- and/or region-specific forecasting accuracy could be used as an individual evaluation metric for LINKS participants.

    August 24, 2008
    Repositioning the LINKS Multi-Channel Management Simulation: On-going user feedback has resulted in a repositioning of the LINKS Multi-Channel Management Simulation to improve its fit for channels management courses where a "modest" competitive management simulation emphasis is appropriate.

    The LINKS Multi-Channel Management Simulation emphasizes marketing mix analysis, strategy, and tactics in the management of a portfolio of branded and private-label products across retail, direct/e-commerce, and major accounts channels:
  • pricing strategy and tactics
  • distribution network design and management
  • supply and outbound logistics management (including outbound transportation management)
  • marketing support management (marketing spending, communications positioning, promotional strategy and tactics, and sales force management)
  • In this simulation repositioning, product development decisions, research studies related to product design/development, and service insourcing decisions have been eliminated.

    With this refined positioning of the LINKS Multi-Channel Management Simulation, it's pricing is now USD$30 per student. This price includes a maximum of six scheduled rounds (from Q#4 to Q#9) in a LINKS event. Additional simulation rounds are possible, for the standard costs of USD$2 per student per round.

    August 6, 2008Excel Spreadsheet of Participant’s Manual Exhibits: An Excel spreadsheet containing a participant manual’s exhibits provides another means of accessing frequently referenced parts of the LINKS manuals. A link to each manual’s Excel exhibits spreadsheet is provided within the variant-specific web page within the LINKS website (“Manual Exhibits” link) as well as at the bottom of each web page within the LINKS Simulation Database.

    LINKS participants may wish to download the appropriate Excel exhibits spreadsheet for their particular LINKS event so that it may be conveniently accessed on a local personal computer. Of course, Excel exhibits spreadsheets are always accessible via the LINKS website.

    These Excel exhibits spreadsheets may also be accessed directly via the following links:
  • LINKS Enterprise Management Simulation
  • LINKS Enterprise Management Simulation [Enriched Edition]
  • xLINKS Enterprise Management Simulation [Extreme Edition]
  • LINKS Marketing Principles Simulation
  • LINKS Marketing Strategy Simulation
  • LINKS Multi-Channel Management Simulation
  • LINKS Positioning Strategy Simulation
  • xLINKS Marketing Strategy Simulation [Extreme Edition]
  • LINKS Services Management Simulation
  • LINKS Services Marketing Simulation
  • LINKS Services Operations Management Simulation
  • LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulation
  • LINKS Supply Chain Management Fundamentals Simulation
  • LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulation [Extended Edition]

  • August 4, 2008Surface Delivery Reliability (in Supply Chain Management Variants): To provide additional challenge in managing in-bound procurements of sub-assembly components and finished goods inventory shipments from DC1 to other DCs in LINKS supply chain management variants, surface delivery reliability includes varying reliabilities of delivery within the current month (rather than simply being expressed as a mean and a common 10% range around that mean).

    The typical range of surface delivery rates for in-bound sub-assembly component procurements and outbound finished goods shipments is expressed in “±” form. For example, “80% ± 8%” reflects an average surface delivery rate of 80% within the current month with a typical range for that average being 72% to 88%. This change in surface delivery reliability is now included in the LINKS Supply Chain Management Fundamentals Simulation, the LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulation, and the LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulation [Extended Edition].

    LINKS participants in supply chain management variants must consider both mean and variation in surface delivery performance in their choices of suppliers for in-bound sub-assembly procurements and carriers for outbound finished goods transportation decisions.

    July 1, 2008LINKS Updates: Based on on-going user feedback, various LINKS updates have been implemented.

    Research Study #28 (Marketing Program Experiment) Updates:

  • Research Study #28 (Marketing Program Experiment) has been enhanced to automatically include three experiments for each RS#28 input set. Research Study #28 now includes experiments with the specified marketing spending input plus additional experiments with 50% more and 50% less than the specified marketing spending input. These three experiments are included at the standard cost of Research Study #28.

    LINKS Services Versions Updates:
  • Research Study #28 has been added to the research study resources in the LINKS Services Management Simulation and the LINKS Services Marketing Simulation to provide access to a powerful experimental research study to permit detailed study/analysis of the drivers of customer perceptions.
  • Research Study #34 (Accessibility Perception Drivers) has been added to the LINKS Services Management Simulation and to the LINKS Services Marketing Simulation to provide additional research resources to access effective/efficient drivers of perceptions of support services.
  • Service design element “Service Appointment Schedule” now has indirect cost implications for CSR productivity. To provide sufficient standby/reserve CSR capacity to service shorter Service Appointment Scheduling programs, available CSR service time is reduced by 1.5(7-SAS)(7-SAS) hours per quarter where “SAS” is the Service Appointment Scheduling level associated with a support service.
  • A new “Service Center Statistics Report” is included in the standard financial and operating reports. The Service Center Statistics Report provides categorized service center call counts of callers’ questions for each of your firm’s services in each market region. Service center call counts are reported for these ten categories: billings, design configuration, design quality, first-time usage, introduction (service introductions to market regions), miscellaneous, service call duration, service experience, service scheduling, and unfilled orders. Where a single caller has several questions, the call is recorded in multiple categories. Thus, these “call counts” are really “question counts” rather than counts of caller calls. LINKS firms outsource service center management to a reputable provider/vendor in each market region in which your firm operates. Firms pay the outsourced service center $6 for each call received. These costs are recorded as “Call Center Service” on a firm’s financial statements.



  • June 17, 2008LINKS Trademark Registration: LINKS® and the LINKS simulations logo are now registered trademarks of Randall G Chapman.

    April 26, 2008Accessing the Audit Trace Logfile in the LINKS Simulation Database: The LINKS Simulation Database maintains a line-by-line audit trace logfile of input changes made by a LINKS firm. LINKS students may now access this audit trace logfile for their LINKS firm via the LINKS Simulation Database. Formerly, the audit trace logfiles were only accessible to LINKS instructors via their “firm-0” webpages in the LINKS Simulation Database.

    The audit trace logfile is accessible via the “Display Audit Trace Logfile” button on the opening webpage in the LINKS Simulation Database (i.e., on the webpage that appears after the successful input of a firm’s passcode).

    Normally, there’s no particular need to access the LINKS audit trace logfile since all current inputs are accessible via the various web input screens within the LINKS Simulation Database. However, the audit trace logfile is useful for resolving questions relating to verifying a particular input change’s timing. And, sometimes questions arise regarding the possibility that multiple team members were simultaneously making input changes within the LINKS Simulation Database … a definite “no-no”, as per warnings in the LINKS manual and e-mail reminders that all LINKS students receive during their LINKS events.


    April 9, 2008New Tutorial for the LINKS Services Marketing Simulation: The LINKS Services Marketing Simulation includes a new tutorial about the details of automatic allocation of CSRs across regions and services. This tutorial shows a complete example of the allocation process in action. The tutorial is accessible via the website sub-webpage for the LINKS Services Marketing Simulation or directly via this URL:
    Automatic Allocation of CSRs Across Regions and Services: A Tutorial

    March 23, 2008
    Refined Price Sensitivity Analysis Research Study (RS #24) Results in LINKS Services Simulations: Research Study #24, “Price Sensitivity Analysis,” has been refined in the LINKS services simulations to account for varying levels of service costs across the price levels tested. The “Adjusted Gross Margin” estimates now shown at the bottom of the Research Study #24 results reflect a reasonable assumption about how service costs might change with variations in sales volume levels across the various price levels tested.

    Here’s the sample text reported after the Research Study #24 results to delineate the assumption about service costs in these financial projections (in this case, RS #24 was executed for service 1 in region 8):
    In estimating “Service Cost,” it is assumed that the current cost per call for service 1 in region 8 applies for all sales volumes included in this price sensitivity analysis. CSR staffing for service 1 in region 8 is assumed to adjust to the predicted sales volumes, to maintain the current service capacity usage level at all prices included in this price sensitivity analysis. For your reference, the current cost per call for service 1 in region 8 is 72.91 and the current CSR utilization is 90.0%.

    This refinement has been implemented in RS#24 in all LINKS services simulations:
  • LINKS Services Management Simulation
  • LINKS Services Marketing Simulation
  • LINKS Services Operations Management Simulation.

  • February 17, 2008Worksheets Accessible on Variant-Specific Sub-Webpages: Each LINKS participant’s manual contains worksheets (e.g., “Pricing Worksheet” and “Judgmental Sales Forecasting Worksheet”) to assist LINKS students in their analysis, planning, and management efforts. These worksheets are now accessible on the variant-specific sub-webpages on the LINKS website. For each LINKS variant, a “Worksheet” link accesses a Word doc file containing all of a variant’s worksheets.

    October 20, 2007 Introducing the LINKS Services Operations Management Simulation: The LINKS Services Operations Management Simulation joins the LINKS simulation portfolio this month. The 14 LINKS simulations span the “small-medium-large” usage spectrum across the enterprise management, marketing, services management, and supply chain management domains.

    The LINKS Services Operations Management Simulation is targeted at elective services operations management courses and introductory operations management courses where a medium-sized, 5-6 round, team-based, competitive simulation event is of interest.

    Learning emphases in the LINKS Services Operations Management Simulation include:

  • Developing and executing a value-creating strategy for customers
  • Matching demand and supply (capacity) in a competitive environment
  • Managing service quality and technology
  • Managing service personnel (staffing, deployment, and compensation)
  • Interpreting business performance metrics (e.g., employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction survey data)
  • Enhancing and encouraging fact-based analysis and decision making
  • Experiencing competitive dynamics in an evolving marketplace
  • The LINKS Services Operations Management Simulation is a sophisticated, competitive, team-based services operations management simulation. LINKS firms market and deliver “support services” (e.g., computing/IT support, financial management, health care, repair, or maintenance services) to households (consumers) and major accounts (businesses) in multiple market regions.

    More information about the LINKS Services Operations Management Simulation (including the complete student manual) is accessible via the LINKS website. Accessing the “Which?” link on the LINKS website provides comparative information about the three LINKS services management simulation variants (marketing, operations management, and full-scale services management).

    The LINKS author, Randy Chapman (Chapman@LINKS-simulations.com), would be pleased to converse with services, operations management, and supply chain management faculty who’d like to chat about the LINKS Services Operations Management Simulation.


    October 8, 2007 Refining The LINKS Enterprise Management Simulation: To meet varying needs of instructors, the LINKS simulations product line includes a range of simulation variants in the “small-medium-large” spectrum in the sub-domains of enterprise management, marketing, services management, and supply chain management. The LINKS simulations are used across a wide range of course applications, including introductory to advanced electives involving “modest” to “substantial” within-course simulation experiences.

    To better position the LINKS Enterprise Management Simulation as an entry-level business simulation and to reduce its “size” (scope) a notch, the repositioned LINKS Enterprise Management Simulation includes a slightly reduced decision set (credit financing, supplemental dividends, and loans decisions have been eliminated), a single sales channel (“retail”) in each market region, and a slimmed-down set of research studies (research study #25 has been deleted).

    With these reductions in simulation “size” (scope), the LINKS Enterprise Management Simulation now has the potential to involve 1.25-hour decision rounds (although the initial decision round should be longer, to account for initial startup time-cost issues). And, as before, the LINKS Enterprise Management Simulation can be scheduled as a four-round event, although five-six rounds are generally recommended. Thus, the repositioned LINKS Enterprise Management Simulation provides a rich, competitive management simulation experience but in a relatively small time-footprint in an academic degree-granting course or executive education seminar.


    June 11, 2007
    LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulations: To better meet the range of instructional applications of LINKS instructors, there are now three variants of the LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulation.

    Details about the LINKS Supply Chain Management Simulations are available via the “Which?” link on the main LINKS webpage, or directly via this link:
    Which Supply Chain Management Simulation?

    If you'd like to discuss further which variant best fits your instructional requirements, please contact Randy Chapman (Chapman@LINKS-simulations.com).


    April 20, 2007Introducing a New LINKS Enterprise Management Simulation Variant: The xLINKS Enterprise Management Simulation [Extreme Edition] is a sophisticated, team-based, competitive strategy simulation designed for integrative business strategy course applications where the whole course is built around the simulation. At least eight simulation rounds are recommended with xLINKS EMx. Participant teams typically create business plans at the mid-point of the simulation event, for subsequent implementation in the rest of the event.

    A comparison of the three LINKS enterprise management simulation variants is accessible via this link: Enterprise Management Simulation Variants


    March 19, 2007 Introducing Two New LINKS Simulations: Two new LINKS simulations extend the LINKS simulations portfolio to 12. The LINKS Multi-Channel Management Simulation, targeted at channels management electives, includes competition between branded and private-label products across retail, direct, and major accounts channels. The LINKS Services Marketing Simulation is targeted at services marketing courses and marketing principles courses where a services simulation focus is of interest. Details about these two new LINKS simulations are available on the LINKS website.


    February 11, 2007Improved FAQs Accessibility and Usability: The LINKS FAQs (frequently-asked questions) are an important learning asset in LINKS events, providing students and instructors with quick-reference access to 250+ questions/answers. Since they’re web-based, LINKS FAQs are quickly accessible, well-organized into lots of relevant categories, and available 24x7.

    LINKS FAQs are an initial information source for students and instructors with LINKS questions. And, since the FAQs have been developed over time based on prior students’ and instructors’ queries, they naturally reflect common and not-so-common user questions.

    To access the LINKS FAQs for a particular LINKS simulation, access the LINKS simulation variant from the main LINKS webpage. The FAQs link is in the LINKS Resources section on the variant-specific webpage.

    The LINKS FAQs have been re-engineered to improve accessibility and usability. For example, in each FAQs category, the full set of category FAQs are displayed in a lengthy web-screen display to permit convenient printing of a category of FAQs. To facilitate access, FAQs are routinely cross-listed in multiple categories. In addition, there is more cross-listing of individual FAQs in relevant FAQs categories. And, all LINKS FAQs have been refreshed to fully reflect the current status of each LINKS variant.


    January 1, 2007Enhanced GA (Instructor) Excel Charts: Based on feedback from the Fall 2006 set of LINKS instructors, two additional charts have been added to the instructor Excel charts reporting. “Grades (Cumulative”) and “Revenues” charts have been added. There are now 10 charts included in the “Charts (Firms)” worksheet in the GA Excel Charts xls file:
  • Customer Satisfaction (%)
  • Forecasting Accuracy (%)
  • Grade, Cumulative (%)
  • Market Shares (%)
  • (Marketing+Service):Revenue %
  • Net Income ()
  • Net Income To Revenues %
  • Revenues ()
  • Stock Prices ($)
  • Unfilled Orders (000s)
    In each of these charts, the performances of each of the firms in an industry are plotted over the last six LINKS rounds.

  • Reminder: About LINKS Game Run TimingThe LINKS Administrator executes LINKS game runs; LINKS doesn't run automatically on the web-server. LINKS game runs involve downloading an industry's inputs from the LINKS web-server, running the LINKS software on a Windows-based PC, checking the results, uploading new results to the LINKS web-server, and e-mailing all industry participants a 'New Results Available' message. We only promise prompt turnaround of LINKS game runs (within three hours of the input submission deadline) in the 800am-1000pm timeframe US Eastern Time. Sometimes, late-night US Eastern Time game runs will be executed shortly after the input submission deadline. But, more typically, industries with last-night input submission deadlines are executed early the following morning (US Eastern Time). In any event, all industry participants are e-mailed a 'New Results Available' message after the completion of a LINKS game run.

    Reminder: About LINKS InputsWhile any number of members of a LINKS firm may access the LINKS Simulation Database simultaneously, only one member at a time can input new decisions. If multiple members of a LINKS firm attempt to make inputs simultaneously, problems can arise. All decision inputs might not be saved successfully on the LINKS server with simultaneous inputs from multiple LINKS firm members. Any number of 'browsers' may simultaneously page through the LINKS Simulation Database viewing the current inputs. However, only one member of a LINKS firm at a time can input new decisions.

    Reminder: About Personal Credit Card PaymentsIf you pay for LINKS with a personal credit card via PayPal, please use your official LINKS e-mail address (as provided to us by your LINKS instructor). If you use an alternative e-mail address for your PayPal payment, please access the 'Payment Questions?' link on the main LINKS webpage and to provide the necessary information to permit us to correlate your PayPal payment with your official LINKS e-mail address.

    Reminder: About The LINKS Web-ServerThe LINKS website is hosted by a commercial web-hosting service on a shared server. Server traffic on the other sites hosted on the LINKS server can occasionally slow access to LINKS. And, more generally, server traffic can be congested at any particular point in time due to internet-wide load factors. If you encounter an apparent “server outage” when you attempt to access LINKS, please try again later (say an hour later). Past experience with the hosting service is that “server outages” are usually of relatively short duration. We continue to be pleased with the performance of our web-server host, 1&1 Internet Inc. Our experience is that the LINKS web-server is “up” 99%+ of the time, which is certainly an excellent performance level. Of course, this still implies that there will be occasional “outages” of, perhaps, an hour or so per week. For LINKS users, the possibility of unexpected web-server outages implies that you shouldn’t wait until the last minute to access the LINKS Simulation Database to submit your inputs. And, a contingency plan should be in place, “just in case” inputting problems arise. Such contingency planning is, of course, a normal part of business planning and LINKS is, after all, a simulation of business management principles/practices/challenges.


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