Year Nine Entry Sheet

Decision entries › Product Design

Product Design

Two changes here. Most of the component spec is fine, your camera P/Q is 5.2 against an industry 4.5 and your drone P/Q is 4.7 against 4.1. You are not losing on product quality. You are losing on range and on R&D efficiency.

Action-Capture Camera Design

Field	Now	Change to	Industry	Why
Number of AC Camera Models	1	3	4.1	Flagged a weakness in all four regions. Models are their own buyer-appeal variable and feed market share, which feeds image.
Product R&D Expenditures	$16,000	$20,000–24,000	$23,000	You spend under the field on R&D and $83.89 a unit on components against a $78.21 average. R&D is what buys the same P/Q from cheaper parts.
Image sensor / LCD / quality / photo modes	11mm / 920k / 3840×2400 / 7-3	no change	—	P/Q 5.2 already beats the 4.5 field. Spending more here does not fix your problem.
Housing / editing / accessories / features	$8 / $8 / $14 / 3	no change	—	Component cost is already above average. Leave it.

UAV Drone Design

Field	Now	Change to	Industry	Why
Number of UAV Drone Models	1	2	2.4	Drones are the half that is growing. One model caps how much of that growth you can take.
Everything else	as entered	no change	—	Drone P/Q 4.7 against a 4.1 field. The spec is not the problem.

Watch the projections box as you typeThe help file's own advice: the projections only become meaningful once every page is near final, but the direction each entry pushes them is reliable straight away. Adding models will push EPS down and image up. That is the trade you want.

Decision entries › AC Camera Marketing

AC Camera Marketing biggest single fix

This screen holds the entry that is doing the most damage. Six rows to change across four regions.

1 · Average Wholesale Price to Retailers

Region	Now	Change to	Industry Y9	Why
North America	$337	$250–265	$279	You actually sold at $226 in Year 8, 19% under the field. $337 is a 49% jump with nothing added to justify it. The projection has your share halving, 12.3% to 6.6%.
Europe-Africa	$288	no change	$287	Already at market.
Asia-Pacific	$285	no change	$278	2.5% over, close enough.
Latin America	$271	no change	$266	1.9% over, close enough.

Do not simply revert to $226In Year 8 you earned $35.59 operating profit per camera in North America against a $63.86 industry average and a $117.06 high. You were the thinnest margin in the region. Whoever raised the price was solving a real problem. The answer is a step, not a leap, paid for by the warranty and model changes below.

2 · Advertising Budget ($000s)

Region	Now	Change to	Industry Y9	Gap today
North America	$3,000	$5,568	$5,568	46% under
Europe-Africa	$1,500	$3,646	$3,646	59% under
Asia-Pacific	$1,000	$2,988	$2,988	67% under
Latin America	$500	$2,556	$2,556	80% under

3 · Website Displays / Info ($000s)

Region	Now	Change to	Industry Y9	Why
North America	$1,500	$2,238	$2,238	Under the field in all four regions.
Europe-Africa	$1,200	$1,969	$1,969
Asia-Pacific	$900	$1,500	$1,500
Latin America	$600	$1,513	$1,513

4 · Retailer Support Budget ($000s)

Region	Now (budget)	Now, per unit	Industry per unit	Why
North America	$2,000	$10.45	$9.20	Already ahead. No change.
Europe-Africa	$1,500	$6.93	$10.30	Raise the budget until the per-unit figure under the box reaches roughly the industry number.
Asia-Pacific	$1,200	$6.00	$10.80	Same method. This is the worst of the three.
Latin America	$800	$6.80	$11.30	Same method.

Set this one by the per-unit readout, not the budgetThe screen shows "Projected Support Expenditures Per Unit Sold" directly under each budget box. Type a budget, watch that number, stop when it lands near the industry figure. The right budget depends on how many units you are projected to sell, which changes as you edit the other rows, so do this screen last.

5 · Sales Promotions

Region	Now	Change to	Industry Y9	Why
North America	1 wk / 10%	3 wks / 15%	3 wks / 15.0%	Running a third of the field's promotional weeks at two thirds the discount.
Europe-Africa	1 wk / 10%	3 wks / 15%	3 wks / 15.6%
Asia-Pacific	1 wk / 10%	3 wks / 14%	3 wks / 14.5%
Latin America	1 wk / 10%	4 wks / 15%	4 wks / 15.6%

6 · Warranty Period

Region	Now	Change to	Industry Y9	Why
North America	60 days	170 days	170	Cheapest lever you own, see the note below.
Europe-Africa	120 days	160 days	160
Asia-Pacific	180 days	no change	160	Already ahead of the field.
Latin America	60 days	130 days	130

Why warranty is your best-value changeYour warranty claim rate is 6.9% against a 19.8% industry average, the best in Industry 100, and repair cost is $3.43 a unit against $9.93. Extending the warranty costs you roughly a third of what it costs a rival, while buying the same buyer confidence. It is also what lets you hold a higher price in North America.

Ignore the green arrow on the Strengths pageThat page marks your short warranty as a "strength" because its legend scores price, production cost and warranty inverted, where below average counts as good. It means cheap, not effective. Expect a teammate to quote it at you.

Decision entries › UAV Drone Marketing

UAV Drone Marketing this half is winning

Drone share is rising in every region: North America 9.2 to 9.6%, Europe-Africa 16.5 to 18.9%, Asia-Pacific 14.4 to 16.7%, Latin America 11.4 to 13.1%. You are under-charging for it and under-advertising it.

1 · Price (average direct-sale $ per unit)

Region	Now	Change to	Industry Y9	Why
North America	$1,600	$1,455–1,500	$1,455	The only region where you are over the field, by 10%.
Europe-Africa	$999	$1,250–1,350	$1,383	28% under market in your strongest region at 18.9% share. Pure margin left on the table.
Asia-Pacific	$999	$1,180–1,280	$1,298	23% under, share still climbing.
Latin America	$1,001	$1,100–1,180	$1,198	16% under.

This change funds the othersMove toward market rather than straight to it, so you keep some price advantage while share is still building. The extra margin here is what pays for the camera price cut and the citizenship spend without sinking EPS below the $4.25 expectation.

2 · Search Engine Advertising ($000s)

Region	Now	Change to	Industry Y9	Gap today
North America	$1,490	$4,200–4,724	$4,724	68.5% under. H Company spends $10,000.
Europe-Africa	$1,200	$3,000–3,513	$3,513	66% under, in your best region.
Asia-Pacific	$650	$1,800–2,018	$2,018	68% under
Latin America	$300	$1,300–1,506	$1,506	80% under

This is the single widest gap in the whole companyDrones sell direct through your own website. Search advertising is how buyers find that website. You are spending a third of the field on the one channel that drives the growing half of the business.

3 · Website Displays ($000s)

Region	Now	Change to	Industry Y9	Why
North America	$4,000	no change	$3,056	Already 31% ahead of the field.
Europe-Africa	$2,300	$2,794	$2,794	Under the field.
Asia-Pacific	$900	$1,713	$1,713	Nearly half the field.
Latin America	$620	$1,259	$1,259	Half the field.

4 · Warranty Period

Region	Now	Change to	Industry Y9	Why
North America	90 days	160 days	160	Drone warranty is short everywhere. Same cheap-claims logic as the cameras.
Europe-Africa	60 days	130 days	130
Asia-Pacific	60 days	150 days	150
Latin America	60 days	140 days	140

Also check Retailer RecruitmentYou spend $228.81 per unit in North America against a $182.15 field average, which is fine, but brand reputation is flagged a weakness in all four drone regions. That one fixes itself through image rating, not through this screen.

Decision entries › Compensation & Facilities

Compensation & Facilities

The screen nobody has looked at. You are running two different companies: the drone line gets the maximum training budget, the camera line gets almost nothing, and the camera line's unit cost is second worst in the industry as a result.

AC Camera Workforce

Field	Now	Change to	Industry	Why
Best Practices / Productivity Training	$1,250	$6,000–9,000	—	The drone line gets $9,000, the maximum. Training raises PAT productivity directly, which cuts labour cost per unit.
Assembly Quality Incentive	$2.00 /unit	$3.40–3.60	$2,717 total	Yours works out at $1,537 a worker against a $2,717 field average, barely half.
Base Wage change	+2% → $21,651	+6% to +8%	$22,469	You pay below the field average and get below-average productivity for it.
Fringe Benefit Package	$1,800	$2,400	$2,300	Under the field.
Attendance Bonus	$1,500	no change	$863	Already well ahead. This is the one line you over-fund.
Workstations / expansion	285 of 300 spaces	no change	—	Capacity is 870.0k units without overtime against 725.1k projected. You have room.

Total compensationCamera line $26,488 against a $28,348 field average. Drone line $28,401 against $30,644. Both under, cameras worse. Camera labour cost is $35.35 a unit against a $31.24 average, second worst in Industry 100, on productivity of 3,053 against 3,240. Paying properly here lowers cost per unit.

UAV Drone Workforce

Field	Now	Change to	Industry	Why
Assembly Quality Incentive	$5.20 /unit	$7.00–7.60	$3,032 total	Yours is $2,045 a worker against $3,032.
Training	$9,000	no change	—	Already maxed. This is what the camera line should look like.
Base wage / attendance / fringe	+4% / $1,400 / $2,000	no change	$22,525 / $1,213	Base wage and attendance already beat the field.

Drones ran overtime last year175.0k regular plus 35.0k overtime. If you add a second drone model and raise drone marketing, check whether you need workstations here, because overtime assembly costs more per unit.

Decision entries › Special Contract Offers

Special Contract Offers

New from Year 9. Chain retailers will take a volume equal to 10% of regular camera orders from the two companies offering the best combination of price, P/Q rating and number of models, measured as a Value Index.

Region	Discount now	Offer price	Value Index	Why
North America	5%	$320	40	On a 100-point scale. Built off the $337 price and one model, so it is weak.
Europe-Africa	0%	—	0	No offer made.
Asia-Pacific	0%	—	0	No offer made.
Latin America	0%	—	0	No offer made.

Do this screen last, and only after the othersThe Value Index is calculated from your price, P/Q and model count. Once you cut the North American price and go to three models, your index rises on its own without touching the discount. Re-open this page at the end and see where the number lands before deciding whether to offer anything.

Only tick "Yes" to include contracts in projections if you mean itThe help file notes that from Year 9 the projected net revenues include special contract wins only when that box is ticked. Ticking it makes your projection more optimistic, which matters because your Bull's Eye bonus depends on the projection matching reality.

Decision entries › Corporate Citizenship

Corporate Citizenship biggest score lever

Every one of the six initiatives has read No or zero for Years 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. You are the company holding the industry low at $0. This is the only lever that moves image rating without having to win market share first.

Initiative	Now	Change to	Cost	Why
Charitable Contributions	$0 / 0.0%	3–5% of operating profit	Other Expenses, pre-tax	The simplest dial. Percentage mode scales with profit so it never strands you.
"Green" Initiatives	No	Yes	+$2.00/camera, +$5.00/drone, +$1.00 and $2.50 shipping, +$300k admin	Visible, ongoing, and the per-unit cost is small against a $174 camera.
Renewable Energy Program	$0	$2,000–2,500	Capital, depreciated 5%/yr	Treated as capital rather than expense, so it hits EPS far less than the headline figure.
Cafeteria / On-Site Child Care	No	Yes	$3.0M one-off, +$500k/yr admin	Also gives a one-time productivity rise of 100 units per camera PAT and 50 per drone PAT, which helps the labour-cost problem.
Safety Equipment / Lighting	No	Yes	$2.5M one-off, +$600k/yr admin	Same deal, another 100 and 50 units of productivity.
Supplier Code of Conduct	No	Yes	+$500k/yr admin	Cheapest of the six. No downside.

What it has cost you so far

Image points from citizenship	Year 6	Year 7	Year 8
Industry high	5	8	12
Industry average	3	5	7
G Company	0	0	0

Why the total should be around $8–10MThat matches the Year 8 industry average outlay of $8,060k. The top spender put in $16,423k. The page states that five sustained years lifts image 15 to 20 points; you have three left, so expect roughly half. Note the industry high climbed 5, then 8, then 12, because the benefit compounds. Starting tonight is worth materially more than starting next year.

A bonus point nobody has claimedThe Corporate Responsibility Award begins in Year 9 and goes to the highest citizenship outlay as a share of revenue. Nobody has won it yet.

Decision entries › Finance & Cash Flow

Finance & Cash Flow

You are holding $193M of projected ending cash, have never paid a dividend, have never repurchased a share and have made no early loan repayment. Stock price is scored on the final year alone, and you are at $71.29 against a Year 11 expectation of $200.

Field	Now	Change to	Why
Dividend ($/share)	$0.00	start modest, raise in Y10 and Y11	Y8 dividend was $0.00. Dividends lift stock price directly, and a rising dividend over three years lifts it more than one large payment.
Stock Repurchase	0	consider a partial buyback	Cap is 1,200k shares at $71.29. A buyback raises EPS by shrinking the share count as well as supporting the price.
Bank loans (1 / 5 / 10-year)	$0	leave at zero	Fund everything from the cash pile. See the warning below.
Early repayment of long-term loans	None	no change this year	Keep the cash working on image and share first. Revisit in Year 11.

Credit rating is three ratios, so do not overshootThe help file spells it out: credit rating is a function of the debt-to-equity percentage, the interest coverage ratio (operating profit ÷ interest expense) and the current ratio (current assets ÷ current liabilities). Two consequences. Taking new loans to fund the spending would hurt the first two. And paying out a very large dividend drains current assets, which lowers the current ratio and can cost you the A. Moderate and rising beats one big payout.

There is no stock price projectionThe help file states plainly that the system does not project year-end stock price, because too many variables sit outside your control. You will not see the effect of this screen until after the deadline passes. Judge it by EPS, ROE and credit rating instead.

3-Year Strategic Plan

The strategic plan is completely blank

All five steps are empty forms. Two of them are worth real marks in December, and one of them is worth a bonus point tonight.

Step	Status	Why it matters
1 · Strategic Vision Statement	blank	This is Section 3 of the December report, worth 5 marks. Two to four sentences on where the company is headed and why. Writing it here means it is done twice over.
2 · Performance Targets	blank	This is Section 4 of the report, worth 10 marks. EPS, ROE, credit rating, image and stock price targets for the next two years.
3 · AC Cameras Strategic Approach	blank	Feeds Section 5, worth 10 marks.
4 · UAV Drone Strategic Approach	blank	Feeds Section 6, worth 10 marks.
5 · Operating Projections	blank	This is what the Bull's Eye bonus point is scored against. See below.

The Bull's Eye point you nearly hadOne bonus point if your actual revenue and EPS land within 5% of your own forecast and image within 4 points. Year 8: revenue was 3.9% off (pass), image 1 point off (pass), EPS 9.9% off against a 5% threshold (fail, by 30 cents). Two of three. You hold zero cumulative awards while A and E hold two each. Fifth place on the scoreboard is four points away.

The catch, straight from the help fileYour projection is only as good as the Competitive Assumptions you enter at the bottom of the two marketing screens. Those are your guesses about what rivals will do. The help file is explicit that these will rarely be exactly right, and that underestimating rivals produces worse actual results than projected. Your Year 7 variance was 0%, so this is learnable.

Before you save

Order of operations

The screens feed each other, so the sequence matters. Working in this order means you only have to pass through once.

#	Screen	Do
1	Product Design	Models to 3 and 2, camera R&D up. Changes unit costs everywhere, so it has to come first.
2	Corporate Citizenship	All six on. Changes admin and per-unit costs, so also before the marketing screens.
3	Compensation & Facilities	Camera training, incentive, wage and fringe. Changes labour cost per unit.
4	AC Camera Marketing	Price first, then warranty, promotions, advertising and website. Retailer support last, by the per-unit readout.
5	UAV Drone Marketing	Prices up, search advertising up, warranty up.
6	Finance & Cash Flow	Dividend or buyback, once you can see what the spending left you.
7	Special Contract Offers	Check where the Value Index landed after everything above.
8	3-Year Strategic Plan	Operating Projections last of all, because it forecasts the decisions you just made.
9	Save	Hit Save Decisions. Nothing counts until you do.

Two guard railsKeep projected EPS above $4.25 and the credit rating at A. You currently project $4.66, so you have roughly 40 cents to spend. EPS is scored on a weighted average of every year, so a bad Year 9 stays on the record permanently, unlike stock price and credit rating.

Never touch "Reset Decision Entries"It sits on the Export Options page and reverts every screen to where Year 9 started, for the whole team.

Before you save

How scoring actually works

Taken from the Camera & Drone Journal and the official Performance Projections help file, not from guesswork. This is what makes the changes worth making.

The five measures, 20 points each

Measure	Scored on	Your Y8 I.E. / B-I-I	Still winnable
Stock price	most recent year only	22 / 7	all 20
Credit rating	most recent year only	22 / 19	all 20
Image rating	average of the last three years	20 / 18	all 20
EPS	weighted average of every year	18 / 8	partly locked
ROE	weighted average of every year	21 / 12	partly locked

Sixty of the hundred points reset to Years 9, 10 and 11Game-to-date you are on 105 against investor expectations, which is respectable, and 63 against best-in-industry, which is not. D Company's best-in-industry score is 99. Overall you are 6th of 8 on 84, and fifth place is 88.

What actually drives image rating

The help file lists exactly five inputs, eleven projected outcomes in total:

Input	Where you stand
AC camera P/Q rating	5.2 against a 4.5 field. Strong.
UAV drone P/Q rating	4.7 against a 4.1 field. Strong.
Camera market share, four regions	Collapsing. 12.3% to 6.6% in North America alone.
Drone market share, four regions	Rising in all four.
Corporate citizenship, sustained	Zero for five straight years.

The important consequencePrice, advertising, warranty, models and retailer support do not move image directly. They move it by moving market share. Citizenship is the one input you can raise on its own, tonight, with a cheque. That is why it is first on the list.

What drives credit rating

Three ratios, per the help file: debt-to-equity percentage, interest coverage (operating profit ÷ interest expense) and the current ratio (current assets ÷ current liabilities). Fund the spending from cash, not new debt, and keep the dividend moderate so the current ratio holds.

Two things the sim will not tell you

No stock price projection existsToo many variables, says the help file. You will not know until after the deadline.

Projections are only as good as your Competitive AssumptionsThose entries at the bottom of each marketing page are guesses about rivals. Underestimate them and your actual results come in below projection. This is also what the Bull's Eye bonus is scored against.