Group 3 {Blue Team}

Corporate Simulation Report

MODULE 5

Lunar Landing

Brief Description
The lunar landing module in the program closely represents the Apollo lunar program in the 60s. In this module, we were given two sets of straws and two eggs that we bought using our financial might. The eggs represented the astronauts in the module. Our mission was to build spacecrafts using straws that were offered and to safely land the eggs when the craft was dropped at floor height.

Lessons Learnt and Application to our Everydays Life

1. Time Management The main theme of this module was to introduce the team members about the importance of time management. We were supposed to build two spacecrafts in half an hour time. Thus, we had to set priorities and we separated the team members into two groups and each group was to plan and carry out the design of the spacecraft. Besides that, each team had a time keeper to check out the time we used and how much time was left. Apart from that, we put the problems behind us as the design process went by. Frustration led to disasters and we managed to put that behind us. In real life, we always have a schedule or dateline given to us by our organization and if we miss that the organization may lose millions of dollars if not billions. Say for example, Sony and Toshiba were both pushing for high definition (HD) discs; a replacement to the DVD and whoever be the first to roll out the product will generally control the market share. And the world was watching; Sonys Blu-ray versus Toshibas HD-DVD. In the end, it was Sony that ended up as the winner because Sonys was able to deliver its first Blu-ray to the major filmmaker organizations and thus securing the contracts. Toshiba pulled out from the race because they complaint that the time frame given by the film-maker organizations were impossible to achieve. Therefore, time management which leads to proper planning is important in our daily life. 2. Innovation through cooperation The American lunar landing program was not the work of one people but it was the work of the many. In this lunar landing module, we learnt that cooperation is important among team members. Given the complexity of the design process, each team members contributed their ideas of how a spacecraft should have work and land during the process. Thus, the trademark of the blue team spacecraft belongs to the team and not to an individual as all of us contributed ideas during the design process. During the brainstorming process, we learnt the virtue of patient that is listening to peoples ideas and always be open to criticisms.

Group 3 {Blue Team}

Corporate Simulation Report

In real life, we must treat meetings an important event. This is where ideas are exchanged; constructive criticisms are made, information sharing and so on. I used to treat meetings as a waste of time and money event but GSM simulation program totally changed my view on that.

3. Keeping things in perspective The lunar landing module may be a frustration to some of us as this has nothing to do with our profession. Most of us may not have the basic ideas of geometry or the strength of the straws etc but we just threw ourselves in by focusing our minds and souls into the lunar module and worried about the problems later. If we would have stood still thinking that it was impossible to build spacecraft using straws and hold on rigidly to that view, we would had blew things out of proportion in the module. Thus, we must be able to change our perspective as the world progress like accepting new challenges and technological advances that lie ahead of us. We must be able to change ourselves as the world and organizations change as time goes by. In the real world, we may be assigned to different tasks that may be out of our scope of work. Therefore, it is our responsibility to take it positively and getting it done with responsibility through information gathering. Later, we will realise that what seems to be a big problem before will be less problematic as we move on. And that was what happened in the lunar module and the best words to describe it was Its really fun! though the eggs were broken during the landing process. 4. Allocation of resources The module mainly focuses on wise resources allocation. Given limited resources, the team must determine the number of spacecrafts that can be built using the given sets of straw. We identified and segregated the members in the group accordingly in order to fulfil the mission. Both teams consist of member with different sets of skills and we can safely say that there is not one member with the same skill in the team. In this case, the team had decided to design and built two different sets of spacecraft. Each egg was mounted in the spacecraft and dropped at floor height. The purpose of having two was that if one failed to land according as plan then the other one can serve as a backup. In real life, it is best to have contingency plan in whatever we do. If the first plan does not proceed as according as plan then there is always plan B to save the project and of course saving ourselves from being grill by our superior. Therefore, it is important to always have a contingency plan in whatever we do.

Conclusion

In general, the module provided us a valuable lesson in resources allocation, viewing things positively, the importance of cooperation or teamwork and time management. It offered us hindsight of how the real

Group 3 {Blue Team}

Corporate Simulation Report

world is happening outside. We may be given tasks that are not related to our scope of work and it is our responsibility of getting it done as stated given the budget allocation and time frame of the works. It is also important to view and concentrate on good things, gathering information through various channels and peoples, be open to constructive criticisms and be open to various ideas. Therefore, we must think and stay positively and give our best shot in whatever we do because that is the only way we can enjoy ourselves and our work to the fullest!