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.
Read this before you trust any "industry" column on this pageThe figures in the Competitive Assumptions boxes are last year's actual regional averages, pre-filled as a default. They are editable and nobody on your team has touched them. The publisher's help file says rivals' efforts will be "somewhat stronger than the previous year" and gives seven reasons why. Aim above the number shown, not at it. North American advertising has risen 2,500, 3,438, 4,588, 5,568 across four years, about 21% a year, so Year 9 is realistically 6,300–6,700, not 5,568.
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.
And they picked the right region to try it inFrom the publisher's help file: "the buyers of action cameras in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific regions are more sensitive to cross-brand price differences than are camera buyers in North America and Europe-Africa." North America tolerates a premium better than the other two. That does not rescue $337, the projection still halves your share, but $250–265 is defensible here in a way the same move would not be in Latin America.
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.
Corrected after reading the publisher's own CSR help fileThe gains are "minimal unless your company's actions are comprehensive, entail more than token efforts, and represent an ongoing effort of at least 4-5 years." You have three. The file also says an attractive image rating "can be achieved by performing well on just the first two factors" — P/Q and market share — without spending here at all. So this is no longer the single biggest lever. Fixing the North American price is, because market share acts immediately and citizenship ramps.
A realistic number, calibrated on your own industryForget the 15-to-20-point headline, that assumes five years. The average Industry 100 company spent $8,060k in Year 8 and earned 7 image points, having started around Year 6. Roughly three years of average spending produced about seven points. That is what you can reasonably aim at by Year 11, and it is still worth having when your image is 66 against a 77 bar.
If you only fund some of it, fund these twoThe help file: "The biggest impacts relate to charitable contributions and green initiatives to promote environmental sustainability ... because they are more visible to the public." Do those two properly before worrying about the other four. It also confirms your image rating is never reduced for spending nothing, so this is opportunity cost, not a penalty.
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.
Before you save
What I checked, and what I got wrong first time
Everything on these pages was re-verified against the simulation and against the publisher's own help documentation. Two of my earlier recommendations changed as a result.
The $226 figure, confirmed four ways
The whole case rests on reading one column of the Competitive Intelligence table as G Company. Four independent checks:
Row
Value in that column
Confirmation
Wholesale price
226
−19.0% of the $279 average = $226.0
Advertising budget
3,000
Matches G's own Year 9 entry exactly. −46.1% of 5,568 = 3,000.
Website displays
1,500
Matches G's own entry. −33.0% of 2,238 = 1,499.
Multi-store chains
42
Matches the AC Camera Segment report's "end of Year 8 = 42" — a completely different report.
VerdictThe fourth check is the strongest, because a separately generated report puts the same number in the same place. $226 stands.
Correction 1 — the "industry" figures are last year's, not this year's
I presented the Competitive Assumptions numbers as industry data. They are not. The help file states they are the prior-year regional averages, pre-filled into editable boxes, and that rivals will most likely come in stronger. Every target on these pages should be read as a floor, not a bullseye.
Correction 2 — citizenship is slower than I said
I called it the single biggest lever. The publisher's CSR help file says the gains need "an ongoing effort of at least 4-5 years" and that a strong image "can be achieved by performing well on just the first two factors" without spending anything here. With three years left, fixing market share is the faster image lever and citizenship is the compounding second. Still worth doing, just not first.
What I deliberately did not use
The 2018 SlideShare deck of champion tips. Image-only slides, no text layer, unknown author, eight years old, and the readable content was generic. Nothing in it beat reading your own company's numbers. Every citation on these pages is either your own screens or the publisher's own documentation.
Where I am still estimatingAny target shown as a range is my judgement, not a simulation output. The retailer support budgets in particular must be set by watching the per-unit readout under each box, because the correct figure moves as the rest of your entries change. And the drone price flagged as a "strength" in North America still does not reconcile with the $1,600 against $1,455 in the intelligence report. Check the Help file on that row before quoting it in December.