Pricing Simulation Administration Guide
The PricingSimulation
Simplified Guide for Running A Simulation Session
Installation
If the software is not already installed. Please install the software as follow.
There are two zipped files: SimulationSetup.zip and Client Install.zip.
SimulationSetup.zip contains the files for installing the administrative module while Client Install.zip contains the files for installing the participant module.
Installing the administrative (server) module
Unzip the files in SimulationSetup.zip into a shared networked drive (for example, in directory “P:/ClassFiles/Pricing Software” on the P: drive). Run the program SETUP.exe. Follow the instructions—making sure that the program is installed on the shared drive. (For convenience, tt could be installedin the same directory onto which the files are unzipped, i.e. P:/ClassFiles/PricingSoftware). A program called ADMIN.EXE should be created in the directory. Also in the same directory, you should find a subdirectory called DATA. This is the directory in which simulations and parameter data will be stored.
Installing the participant (workstation) module.
Unlike the administrative module, which needs only be installed once on the server (or any machine that has access to the shared drive), the participant module has to be installed on each of the machines from which a participant will be using. NOTE, however, that all the machines from which the participants are using must also have access to the shared drive to which the administrative module was installed.
Since the machines all will have access to the shared drive, the easiest way to install the participant module is to first unzip the files in Client Install.zip onto a shared drive (for example, in the directory “Client Pricing Software” on the P: drive). And then, running the program SETUP.EXE from each of the participant machine, install the participant module onto the C:/Program Files/Pricing Simulation directory of each machine. The program PRICESIM.EXE should be installed in the directory.
Preparing the system for simulation
To prepare for a simulation session, first run the administrative module, by running ADMIN.EXE in the shared drive on which the administrative module is installed. You will be presented with the log-in screen as follow.
In order to enter the program, at the `Enter Administrative password' prompt enter the password ‘admin’ (the case is relevant). The ‘Find’ button will remain disabled until the correct password has been entered. Once the ‘Find' button is enabled, click it. This will bring up the Network Directory dialog box:
Select the folder “Data”—noting that by doing so, you have indicated that the data collected during simulation will be added to a file in the directory P:\ClassFiles\PricingSoftware\Data.
On the Log-In Screen, once the password has been entered and-the network directory has been identified the 'OK' button will become enabled. Click 'OK' to enter the Administrative Program.
If a simulation has been run before and there is old data in the system, upon entering the administrative module the following message will pop up:
This is to remind you that you need to clear the old data if you are to begin a new simulation.
Once you click OK, you will be presented with the main menu.
To clear the existing data select File from the main menu and then select Empty Existing Response Tables.
Selecting this option will bring up the following question: Is it OK to proceed with emptying the Responses and Survey tables of data? ' Clicking `OK' will remove any existing data in the tables, so that a new simulation may be run. This option should be utilized onlyafter any post-simulation reports or graphs have been run and not during. Once the data is cleared, you are ready to run the simulation.
Running the simulation
To run the simulation, run the PRICESIM.EXE program from each of the participant’s machine. When you run a participant module, you will be first presented with the following Find-Directory screen:
Click the 'Find' button to pop-up the Network Directory screen, as shown
Navigate to locate the directory containing the data files for the simulation. In our example, you will need to locate P:/ClassFiles/Pricing Simulation/Data as the directory. When the correct directory has been highlighted, the 'OK' button will become enabled. Click on 'OK' to return to the Find Directory screen. At the Find Directory Screen, click the 'OK' button to proceed. (The 'OK' button will only become enabled once the correct password has been entered and a directory containing the data files has been located.)
Once you click the ‘OK’ button, the participant’s splash screen will be shown.
This screen will remain on the workstation's screen until the keyboard combination of Alt-F10 is pressed (press and hold the Alt key while pressing the F10 key). Once Alt-F10 is pressed the software will proceed to the Participant's Log-In.
The Participant’s Log-In screen appears as follows:
The user is prompted to enter their full name. This will be utilized to identify the participant’s pricing decisions in the results database. It willalso be used to identify their spreadsheet printout, if they elect to print a copy of their input at the conclusion of the game.
The user is also prompted for a password.The password determines the competing company to which they will be assigned and which economic scenario (or cell) under which they will be operating. The first two characters are camouflage. The first letter must be alpha, and second character must be numeric. The third character of the password must be alpha, and it must be the first letter of one of the companies entered in the Company database. The fourth letter must be numeric, and it must match one of the active cell numbers found it the Cell database. The fifth letter of the password is also camouflage, and may be either alpha or numeric. The password; therefore, would look like the following: A3B24 or A3B2N. In this example, the participant would be assigned to company 'B' and operate under the economic conditions of celltwo.
The 'OK' button will only become enabled if the user name entry field has at least one character in it (i.e. it cannot be empty), and a valid password has been entered. Once 'OK' has beau clicked, the user will be presented with their next screen. If the "Task/Assumptions ' option has been configured to be active in the participant’s cell, then the 'Task/Assumptions Screen' will appear. If not, the user will proceed to the `Spreadsheet' screen.
The following are a list of recommended passwords. The first column’s will assign the user to cell 1 (price-insensitive), and the second to cell 2 (price-sensitive).
X1A1A / T1A2AW2B1B / S2B2B
V3C1C / R3C2C
U4A1D / Q4A2D
T5B1E / P5B2E
S6C1F / N6C2C
R7A1G / M7A2C
Q8B1H / L8B2C
P9C1J / K9C2C
N1A1K / J1A2C
M2B1L / I2B2C
L3C1M / H3C2C
K4A1N / G4A2C
J5B1P / F5B2C
H6C1Q / E6C2C
G7A1R / D7A2C
F8B1S / B8B2C
E9C1T / A9C2C
Checking the results of the simulation.
To check the results of the simulation, either during or at the end of the simulation, select Analyse from the main menu of the administrative menu. You can then select either Graph, Report, or BrowseData.
Graphs
This menu option will prepare one of two graphs: Average Prices Over Time or Industry Sales Over Time. The graph is prepared and presented on-screen, automatically. There is a 'Print' button which, when clicked will send a copy of the graph to the printer.
Report
This menu option will prepare a report on the Survey Responses, by cell, ranked within each cell by descending cumulative profit. There is a 'Print' button which, when clicked, will send the report to the printer.
Browse Data
This menu option gives you the option of browsing the actual Pricing Decision data and/or Survey Response data.
What the participant will see.
After logging in, the ‘Task/Assumptions’ screen is as follows:
After clicking Continue, the participant will see the main decision screen
Inputs and Results Spreadsheet
Upon entering the last period's decision, the participant will be presented with the following screen.
At this point, ask the participant to just close the window by clicking on the X.
-1-