Resource Allocation Teaching Environment
Faculty Author: David J. Reibstein
Students allocate marketing resources in a simulated environment, using several allocation models and levels of portfolio complexity
- About RATE
- More Details
- Administration and Analysis
Once the students have entered their allocation decisions, the application computes the resulting profit levels. A powerful administrative interface provides easy access to the data and analysis. Professors can view the results as a text report with data sortable by name, forecasted profit, and actual projected profit. The application also provides a number of feature-rich, interactive graphs which can be used to help students see the relationship between allocation decisions and profit levels.
The sample graph below plots all of the students' allocation decisions for the first portfolio. If the professor chooses to display profit levels, he or she can click on any profit point to examine the allocation choices which resulted in that particular profit level.
The professor can obtain additional information about a particular student's allocations by selecting one of his/her data points and clicking on the 'open graphs' button. This opens a window which displays the student's total budget, spending, forecasted profit, and actual projected profit for that portfolio. The student's allocation levels are plotted against the advertising, promotion, and distribution curves. These graphs are available for every student and every portfolio. The allocation plotting and profit level charts are also available for every portfolio, as are the text reports.