HOW TO PLAY Copyright © 2011 by Harvard Business School Publishing. Introduction • You are the newly appointed District Manager of the under‐performing Florida region of Universal R t l Car. Rental C • Your mission is to develop a pricing strategy for the region g in order to improve p performance. p • You need to set weekday and weekend prices for your rental car inventory, or “fleet,” each month for one year. • Depending on the configuration selected by your instructor, you will manage your fleet in one, two, or three cities in the Florida region. region 2 Florida Region Each city in Florida has distinct characteristics. Tampa’s industry includes retail, finance, insurance, defense and shipping. The city’s port is the seventh largest in the nation. Many US corporations maintain regional offices in Tampa Tampa. The greater Tampa area has over 30 universities and colleges. It is also home to one of Florida's largest theme parks, Busch Gardens, which attracts visitors from all over the world. Orlando is a vacation destination for people from around the world and the area receives over 50 million tourists annually. Orlando is home to an incredible assortment of famil family entertainment attractions attractions. Ho However, e er it is also one of the busiest American cities for business conferences and conventions. Miami is viewed as the “gateway” to Latin America and is home to a large variety of companies in the technology, financial and services industries. Many large l companies and d corporations have h a presence in the h Miami area. The Port of Miami is one of the busiest shipping destinations in the world. Miami is known for its good weather and the South Beach region of Miami has become a major Spring Break vacation destination for students. 3 Step 1: ‘Prepare’ Section  This section gives information on your role as district manager and provides basic steps p for “how to p play” y   Further detail is available in the video Read here about:  The cities you you’llll manage  Whether or not you can change inventory between cities  Your performance criteria 4 Step 2: Visit the ‘Dashboard’  The Dashboard provides an overview of key metrics across all the regions you manage. An aggregate view of Florida data is also provided.  You start the simulation in October, with three months of historical data for reference. 5 Step 3: Review Your Data   Submenus p provide an opportunity pp y to analyze data more carefully, including sales, capacity, and market demand. All screens allow you to toggle between graphs and tables 6 Breakeven Calculator The breakeven calculator allows you to experiment with changes in pricing to see how these might affect revenue. The breakeven change in volume shows the change in unit sales resulting from a change in price that would keep total contribution constant. 7 Step 4: Set Pricing for the Month • Each month you’ll make decisions on the following depending on the configuration following, selected by your instructor: • Weekday Pricing in each city • Weekend Pricing in each city • Changes to fleet size (once every three months) • When ready, click “Advance to Next Month” to submit your decisions 8 Step 5: Review Results and Repeat 9 This is what my 1st run looks like 2nd Run 3rd Run
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