Table of Contents:
1. Starting Your Enterprise [ top ]
When you start playing Simcountry as a CEO, you start with nothing. There is no country or citizens to take care of. These are taken care of by the presidents of countries (You can play both a president and a CEO). The enterprise is initially empty. It does not have any money and it does not owe anything to anyone. There are no loans and no cost or income.
You may start looking for a place to setup your first corporation. New CEOs can easily build their corporations in countries that do not have a president. These countries are run by an automatic procedure and their economy is OK. They have some unemployment and will be happy to allow you to build a new corporation.
CEOs need permission to build new corporations in countries with presidents and some presidents are not so happy to accept anyone they do not know and may refuse permission. Computer Controlled Countries (CCCs) are always willing and permission is immediate. A CEO with at least six corporations, can start building in countries with presidents.
Another way to quickly increase the number of corporations you own is to bid for buying corporations owned by the Four Seasons Enterprise. This enterprise receives ownership of corporations that do not have any player as a share holder. If an enterprise is abandoned, corporations may end up in the Four Seasons Enterprise.
Corporations that have investment funds as the only shareholders, are also placed in the Four Seasons Enterprise and can be bought by any enterprise.
When building a new corporation, you may choose the products you want to produce and start the construction of corporations. While doing so, you may discover that the country you try to build in, does not have enough unemployed workers for the corporation you want to build. You can try and find a different country to build in but you may also decide to build the corporation anyway. You can do so if the country has at least some of the workers you need in all groups of workers that are needed in that corporation.
Workers in the countries tend to move between corporations and find better jobs that will pay more. If you set salaries in your corporations that compete with the salaries in other corporations in the same country, workers will move to your corporations and you will be able to produce at full capacity.
You may also choose to launch a bid for an existing corporation in any of the countries. You will compete against other bidders and against the current owner of the corporation, who may do his best to improve his corporation, increase its value and block your bid. Increasingly, presidents understand that private and public corporations are great contributors to their country's economy and they allow them to build.
Players have to ask for permission from the president to build a corporation in his/her country. The president must answer or if the president does not answer, permission will be given anyway after several game months.
The money you need for the building of new corporations or for the takeover of existing corporations will come from your cash if you have any or from loans you can ask for or you get automatically when your enterprise cash is negative. These loans must be paid back and you also pay interest. The corporations can become profitable, pay taxes to the country where they reside and pay some of the profit after tax, to the enterprise. Corporations will also increase in value and increase the total asset value of the enterprise.
2. Private Corporations [ top ]
Corporations that are owned by Enterprises are private corporations. These corporations are either set up by a CEO and have always been private corporations or they have been purchased by the enterprise from a country and changed from state corporations into private corporations.
Private corporations are bound by the same rules as state and national corporations. The economy and the way business is conducted is the same. Many details on how corporations function are described in the corporations document.
Private corporations pay taxes to the country where they reside and share profits with their owner, the enterprise. Unlike state and national corporations, private corporations are allowed to transfer cash in and out of the corporations to the Enterprise. (State corporations can be supported by the country but cannot freely move cash out of the corporation to the country).
Private corporations also pay a percentage of their turnover to the country as a contribution against cost to the country and as an extra profit sharing with the country where they reside.
The amounts involved are high and constitute a major contribution to the country. The revenue sharing is an important reason why many presidents want to have many private corporations in their country. Most large and successful presidents have many private corporations in their countries.
Private corporations can go public. The procedure is automatic for private corporations that have a market value above 300 Billions but CEOs can try and bring their corporations to the stock exchange even at lower values. The market value needed for a corporation to go public may vary over time.
Taking corporations public means that some of the shares in the corporation will be sold and the owner of the enterprise selling these shares will receive the proceeds from such sale. Enterprises can sell some of the shares in their corporations and use the proceeds to repay loans.
Private corporations can also go public and issue new shares. In that case, the money received from these transactions remains in the corporation and can be used to improve the financial situation of the corporation itself.
3. Managing your corporations [ top ]
Managing your corporations is the most important part of the CEO game. Corporate income is essential for the enterprise that will use profits to setup or purchase more corporations. The corporation�s document explains the way corporations work in more details.
4. Make sure you always produce and sell [ top ]
The key to success in the enterprise game is of course the production of services and products by your corporations and successful selling of these products to others. This can be achieved through contracts with other players, participation in a common market or by selling the products on the open market.
Make sure you produce and sell all the time. Corporations become more profitable if they produce at full capacity. If you succeed in utilizing your industry to the full, your corporations will make good profits and you will have the money needed for expansion, or needed for the repayment of loans and you will get a higher rating in your world.
5. Employment in the enterprise [ top ]
The employment in the enterprise is a measure for its success. Enterprises employ workers in their corporations and can only be successful if their corporations employ all the people they need and are able to produce at full capacity.
The ability to hire the people these corporations need depends on the salaries that are paid by the private corporations in comparison with salaries in other private corporations and in state owned corporations. The higher the salaries are, the more workers they get.
This creates competition corporations in the country and can drive salaries very high, resulting in high cost for the corporations and reduction of their profits. Some corporations are driven into losses and may even bankrupt as result of salaries that are driven too high.
Corporation owners in a country will be smart to discuss salaries with the country's president to avoid this process. If they succeed, they may become more profitable and end up with more successful corporations with higher market value and higher score.
Another aspect in employment is the availability of the people the corporation needs. A country president is able to set education priorities such that they will fit the needs of the corporations he owns. The enterprise is not able to change the education priorities and depends on the good will of the president in setting up the education priorities so that the needs of the enterprises are also satisfied.
It is the interest of every president to make sure that all the corporations in her/his country can find all the workers they need and function at full capacity.
6. Find and buy corporations [ top ]
Most countries have 12 to 150 corporations and some are very successful. As an enterprise leader, you may search and find such successful corporations and make bids to purchase them. Some of the corporations cannot be purchased as countries may label up to 24 corporations as national industries.
To purchase such a corporation, you must make an offer, giving other enterprises the opportunity to bid for the same. The corporation will be awarded to the highest bidder about 24 hours after the first bid came in. Bidding will start at a minimum price as determined to be a fair start price for the corporation.
Bidding may continue by multiple bidders who are increasing their bidding price up to the closing moment when the corporation is awarded to the highest bidder. A bid can be withdrawn in the first 10 to 15 minutes after it was made. It becomes definitive after that and cannot be retracted.
Retracting bids is impossible as a withdrawal makes the previous bid highest while that bidder may have decided to go for another corporation or loaned his money away after realizing that his bid for the corporation is not the highest.
During the bidding process, the corporation can become more successful and its market value may increase. If the market value of the corporation increases during the bidding process and becomes higher than the highest bid, than a higher bid is needed to purchase the corporation. If a higher bid is not available at the closing of the bidding process and the market value of the corporation is higher than the highest bid, than the corporation will not be sold.
Many corporation owners, mainly presidents, are unhappy to see their corporations taken over by private enterprises. Although they may receive a very high price for these corporations and increase their cash position and assets, takeover of corporations, is considered unwelcome by many players. Presidents can use a game setting that makes it impossible to purchase their corporations. This is not in their own interest but many do not yet understand the advantages of private and public corporations in their countries.
This is changing to the better as they understand as more of them understand the benefits of such corporations to their countries.
7. Corporate Raiding [ top ]
When you offer to purchase a corporation that is owned by a president or a CEO, you must be a full member and you must be a player for at least 42 days. New players are free to bid for any corporations that are owned by countries that do not have a president or for all corporations that are owned by the "Gamemaster Enterprise".
8. Purchasing Corporations from the gamemaster owned Four Seasons enterprise. [ top ]
The Four Seasons Enterprise is the place where many corporations are moved if their owner is bankrupt or cease to exist in any other way.
The "Four Seasons Enterprise" has many high value corporations that can be purchased at a low price. Many of these corporations are very profitable or can easily become profitable if handled correctly.
Purchasing corporations from Four Seasons is fast and easy. You can bid for a corporation and it will be yours the next game month, within several hours. The bidding period with a waiting time of several days is eliminated.
CEOs must have 6 corporations in C3 countries before they can purchase such corporations.
9. Starting new corporations [ top ]
You may decide to start new corporations as an alternative to buying existing ones. When doing so, you should find out which product is in short supply in the world so that your corporations will have a good chance of becoming successful. The trading system shows details of demand and supply for all the products in the world.
10. Beginner CEOs [ top ]
CEOs can make bids for corporations in countries with presidents, only if they already own 6 corporations. They can always bid for corporations in countries without presidents and the bidding process is faster as permission is automatic and immediate.
This measure is taken to prevent some unpleasant effects of newly installed CEOs and bids that caused tension between players. It is now more complex to launch such bids and new players usually need to play for some time before they can launch such takeover bids. This rule applies for both tryout members and for full members who are playing simcountry for less than 42 days. header class="documentation"] CEO Corporations in a Single Country
The number of CEO corporations a CEO can set up in a single country is limited to 12. Once the number is reached, no new corporations can be set up in that country by the same CEO. It is not possible to move corporations that are owned by the same CEO into that country.
There is however another way for a CEO to increase the number of corporations in a country, using the share market.
Any enterprise can purchase shares on the share market, including shares of public corporations that are in a country owned by the same player. Repeated offers of share by the country on the share market and continuous purchases by the CEO may result in the CEO becoming the major shareholder and gaining control of that corporation. The CEO may even become a 100% shareholder, taking the corporation out of the share market.
This possibility was always part of the game. It was not intentionally introduced and not meant to allow an increase in the number of corporations owned by the same CEO. It is a consequence of the freedom to trade in shares.
11. The number of Corporations in an enterprise [ top ]
The number of corporations per enterprise is unlimited but increasing the number above 750 is not very easy. The max number of corporations that a CEO can start in other countries or directly purchase from others is 750.
A CEO can purchase shares of corporations on the share market and try to become the largest shareholder. Once the CEO is the largest shareholder, the corporation is added to the holdings of the enterprise.
There is no limit to the number of corporations a CEO can add to her/his holdings using this procedure.
Enterprises with more than 750 corporations will not be able to start new corporations but their holdings will not be affected in any way. They remain free to purchase shares and play the stock market. The score of the enterprise depends on the number of corporations but it also depends on the average market value of the corporations.
An enterprise that has a smaller number of corporations but achieved a high market value per corporation may see a higher total score. Having a large number of unsuccessful corporations is not a reason for a high score.
12. Enterprise Finance [ top ]
The finance page of the enterprise shows all the income the enterprise receives and the costs it makes. It also shows the total income and cost of the corporations it owns and the total profit the corporations have made each game month.
13. Enterprise Income form profit sharing [ top ]
The enterprise income is mainly from sharing in the profits of its corporations. Private corporations pay a percentage of their after tax profits to the enterprise. The income is higher if the enterprise has a large number of successful corporations. Corporations with debt do not contribute to the enterprise income but keep their profits to pay their debt first.
The enterprise also receives dividends from public corporations in which it has an interest and holds shares. If the enterprise is the largest shareowner of a corporation, that corporation will show on the list of public corporations that are controlled by the enterprise.
If the enterprise is not the largest share owner, the corporation does not show on that list but the enterprise will receive dividends as all shareholders of a public corporation receive the same dividend amount per share they own. The shares portfolio of the enterprise is shown on the share market pages. You can see all the corporations where the enterprise holds shares, the number of shares owned and their value. header name="Enterprise_income_from_selling"] Enterprise income from selling corporations
The enterprise can sell corporations and receives money in the process. These transactions are not always friendly but they do take place and a good CEO will make an effort to make all the corporations successful, reach a high market value and such takeover transactions will take place at a high price and produce a profit for the enterprise.
14. Enterprise cost of purchasing corporations [ top ]
When you take over corporations, the cost of such takeovers will show on the financial pages. This may be a very large item as the price of corporations may vary from several millions to hundreds of billions. Especially, when bidding to purchase a CEO owned corporation, a premium will be paid above the bid price for the corporation.
The premium on the price that is paid for such corporations depends on their market value. At market value under 200B, the purchase price will be increased by 50B. At a market price of 200B to 400B, the premium will be 100B and above 400B in market value, the premium will be 200B.
This means that setting up new corporations, purchasing corporations from C3 countries or purchasing corporations from the gamemaster Enterprise, is cheaper than hostile bids for corporations owned by a CEO.
15. Enterprise loans [ top ]
Many times an enterprise will not have the money to purchase or start a new corporation. It may do so anyway and receive a loan. Loans can be requested for or given automatically if cash is in the red.
Be careful however with these loans. They add up and so does the monthly interest payment. The interest percentage on loans depends on the source for the money. Fellow users, who have more cash than they need, use the money to generate extra income and provide loans. When loans from users are not available on the money market, the worldbank provides the loans.
Interest rates on loans from players and on loans provided for by the world bank is not high.
If a loan is provided by another player interest rates may be very low and remain at 1%. If the loans are obtained from the world bank, the interest rates start at 1% but as the total amount of loans you have is increasing, so will the interest rate and it might reach 3%.
16. Enterprise expenses [ top ]
Enterprises are large organizations that are operating corporations they own. The enterprise receives profit payments from the corporations but the Enterprise itself is a large organization and need funds to operate.
Many Enterprises are successful in the game and make a large monthly profit. Some of the profit is used as "cost of running the enterprise". The cost depends of the financial strength of the enterprise and may range at the level of 0.15% to 0.3% of the total assets of the enterprise per (game) month.
The cost is showing on the financial page of the enterprise, together with the cost of purchasing of new corporations.
17. Enterprise score [ top ]
The score of the enterprise is computed each game month and is a good measure of the success of the enterprise. The score has several factors.
The score depends on the total assets of the enterprise. The assets are computed from the total market value of all the corporations that are owned by the enterprise, the total value of all shares it owns in public corporations, the available cash and the loans it has taken.
The index also depends on the number of corporations, the average value of the corporations, the total number of people working for all the corporations in the enterprise, the average utilization of the corporations, the average salaries in the corporations and the success of the enterprise in its trading in the local and common market.
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