The Challenge Series These Total Enterprise business simulations are designed to develop business acumen, financial understanding, build the team and understanding of how the functions relate and interact.

Each business simulation models a different industry, replicating its structure and addressing the issues facing it. Each business simulation last a day or less and are designed for specialists and junior through middle management and can be run by your own-staff.

Walk through how a simulation might be used on your course.

METHOD: After a short briefing the training group is divided into several teams of four or five learners. These teams consider the problem facing them and then make a series of decisions that are fed, by the tutor, into a microcomputer that simulates their effect. The results are returned for the team to analyse before making their next decisions. This decision-making cycle is repeated for at least six periods. At the end of the simulation phase the teams reunite to discuss and compare results.

NUMBER OF TEAMS: These simulations may be used with between two and eight teams that compete and, depending on the simulation, interact directly with each other. Thus you can use these business simulations with training groups of between eight and forty learners.

CUSTOMISATION: Although the standard simulations are appropriate for most businesses, where this is not so we can customise them easily at low cost. Examples of this are the Service Challenge modified to replicate a Casino; the Executive Challenge customised to replicate a medical company (learn more) and Distribution Challenge customised to replicate a distributor of electrical equipment (learn more).

BUSINESS ACUMEN LEARNING

BUSINESS APPRECIATION

The simulations involve running a complete business with decisions covering marketing, finance, operations and, where appropriate, business and product development. So, it is especially suited to help your learnerss appreciate the management of a complete company, its main functions and how they interact.  In other words, these simulations help your learners understand the big picture and how to drive commercial success

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

During the simulation, your learners will be concerned with creating a profitable, growing business that survives. They will develop an understanding of business purpose, how this is influenced by their decisions and how the objectives and measures interact. Thus your learners will participate in a results oriented, competitive activity.

Learners without management experience may be especially challenged by the need to deal with ambiguity and make decisions without perfect information and, where, some information is provided as qualitative comments about the business.

FINANCIAL REPORTS & MEASURES

The simulation introduces your learners to financial fundamentals (costing, Profit & Loss Account, the Balance Sheet, cash flow and key ratios).  Optionally, using the work sheets provided, your learners can test their understanding by preparing the financial reports manually. For more advanced use, the Progressive and Compleat versions provide information on break-even, profit analysis and economic value added.

MARKETING - PRICING & PROMOTION

Learners decide, for each product or market sector how to influence current and prospective customers. Besides considering how customers will respond, they must consider the effect of the competitors' actions and the financial and operational consequences of their decisions.

Optionally, using the tutor's audit, the trainer running the simulation can provide market research to help teams identify the responses of the markets to their decisions.

PRODUCT MIX & CONTRIBUTION

Although only selling a few products or serving a few markets, your learners need to decide how each of these contribute to the business's profitability, growth and cash flow. (For more advanced use, an optional report shows each product on a profit or investment centre basis and, where appropriate, the manufacturing/operational facility on a cost centre basis.)

OPERATIONAL CONTROL & FORECASTING

With decisions covering production levels and capacity, your learners must forecast sales and plan their capacity and resource levels. This must take into account the uncertainties of the impact of marketing decisions, competitive actions and the dynamics of the market-place. Also, teams must take a long term view.

DECISION-MAKING

With your learners working in small teams, they have the opportunity to share experience and knowledge, present and promote different viewpoints, and develop their people skills.

TEAM WORKING

With your learners working in small teams, they have the opportunity to share experience and knowledge, present and promote different viewpoints, and develop their people skills. And. importantly. learn from each other.

(BUSINESS PRESENTATION)

Optionally, at the end of the simulation, your learners can be askedfor make a formal board presentation covering objectives, strategies, process, the future (of the simulated business) and learning.