Overview

Every organization has a limited amount of resources. Team at virtually every level faces a choice of how to use them as efficiently as possible in be profitable.

“Business Strategy” board simulation develops a team’s strategic and business acumen providing participants with a comprehensive view of the strategies for running a profitable business through promoting products and retaining clients.

In this simulation, participants face a real competitive marketplace where they should define their competitive business strategy and align it with their operations, investment, marketing and HR resources. They instantly see the result of their business decisions on their company’s income statement.

The game simulates a competitive market: 6 companies operating with the same pool of clients. Each company team consists of 3-5 players. Teams take several business decisions throughout 4 business cycles, where the winner is the company that gains the highest monetary profits at the end of the game.

Participants could try out various competitive strategies and see the consequences without actually losing money. In this emotionally charged atmosphere and high level of player engagement, participants will remember the lessons learned and conclusions drawn for a long time.

Description

Board Simulation Specifics & Goals

This is a tabletop business simulation game that uses mathematical modeling of economic processes and the specifics of the business sector
The game simulates a competitive market: 4-5 groups each represent a company operate with the same pool of clients for 4 years (4 game periods). Each company team consists of 5-6 people
Each company starts the game with an equally limited amount of resources
The winner is the company whose strategy has earned the highest amount of resources at the end of the game

Some of the decisions that players will make:

Which market operating strategy to choose for the 4 periods
What level of personnel to hire and whether to invest in the company image as an employer
What markets to operate in and which employees to assign to which segments
Which retailing products to promote depending on the current market situation
Whether to focus on customer service, convenience, marketing, or something else
How much to invest into finding new clients and how much into retaining regular clients, and what is the payback on those investments, depending on the clients and the market situation

Key Learning Objectives

Develop a competitive marketing strategy to maximize profitability
Less resistance to change
Develop an organization’s operations strategy in alignment with marketing strategy
Assess the impact of operations decision on the company’s financial performance
Market segmentation and targeting strategy
Marketing mix: Product, Price and Marketing Channels?
Balancing investment between acquiring new clients and retaining current clients, and assessing the payback on those investments
Analyzing available market research information
Type and quantity of Products to produce and promote
Investments in the company’s image as an employer
Staffing and assigning sales staff to target segments