Simulations safely learn to pilot a company

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Simulations safely learn to pilot a company
Ross Crooke Senior Consultant BTS
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A global catalyst

• 400 000 managers and executives trained across
  50 countries
• More than 150 active clients
• 25 training programs per week globally
• World leaders in customized business simulations
• 150 consultants in 16 offices

STOCKHOLM HELSINKI LONDON BRUSSELS GENEVA
BILBAO MADRID CHICAGO NEW
YORK PHILADELPHIA SAN FRANCISCO BEIJING
SYDNEY MELBOURNE JOHANNESBURG SCOTTSDALE
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BTS Clients
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Practising is easier than teaching
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And teaching is not learning
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But what is a simulation?

• Process flow
• Interpersonal

• Financial modelling
• Business acumen

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Types of simulation - Formats
Executives
Staff
Directors
Web sims for distance learning
Mid- Mgmt
Knowledge workers
Monopoly type Boards for lower level audiences
Engage maps for large audiences
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However, success is not guaranteed..
I had great fun but not sure what I have learnt
We lost!!! But did not understand what did we do
wrong
This was too gamey. Real life is much more
complicated
This was too complicated. There was no time to
think or really understand.
This raised a lot of issues which were not
tackled properly.
It was a very generic model. We use different
KPI and our business model is not the same. I
wish I could experience with that.
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Solution A customised and complete process
Many of the simulations available in the market
are generic and thus of questionable value, since
managers will find it hard to learn from games
that do not relate to their own business.....a
successful simulation will be tailored to a
specific organisation. McKinsey quarterly 1996,
1 (repeated 2002)
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1) Development The three rules
Desired learning outcomes
Realistic enough to engage
Simple enough to manage
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Desired Learning Outcomes

• Understand the cause and effect relationship of
  business decisions across the entire business
  system
• Grapple with the tradeoffs business challenges
  necessary to grow revenues in varied competitive
  environments
• Foster a shared vision on system value creation
  long term commonality of interests
• Engrain a new way of looking at the business
  under a new, evolving paradigm

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Realistic Enough to Engage
Capture Best Practice
and dynamics created by different business
models within the system.
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Simple enough to manage...
Unique Consumer Purchasing Criteria and
objectives
Unique Consumer Purchasing Criteria
Super
Home- Makers
Maturia Bottling Org. MBO
Maturia Bottling Org. MBO
Conv.
Beverage Co.
Young Adults
Emergia Bottling Org. EBO
Emergia Bottling Org. EBO
Elite
MP
Grassroots
Revenue Growth Consumer Focus
System Alignment Partner
Centricity
Twin Drivers of success
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2) Workshops complete learning cycles
Do
Business Simulation
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Output from the simulation
Revenue Growth

• How has Team 2 managed to grow volume by 10 and
  average price by 5 at the same time?
• Team 3 grew market share, but with the lowest
  average price in the market.
• Most of this share has come from Team 4

Effective Segmentation

• Team 4 increased prices significantly for a
  standard pack with weak marketing support.
• Team 3 drives growth with low prices on best
  selling packs, but at what cost to margins?
• Team 2 differentiated with innovations which
  appealed to a growing customer segment and
  allowed them to charge a premium.

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Global Deployment
Since end of 2004, over 3,300 people have been
through the workshop
122 Programs in 35 Countries since 2004
Map Source The World Factbook
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Key Success Factors

• Intense collaboration between the client and
  development team
• Discovery learning (experiential, interactive,
  visceral, engaging)
• Learning driven by emphasis on facts and
  experience
• Tight integration of do reflect apply
  process
• Senior Managers participation
• Kick-off
• Know-How Presentations
• QA sessions
• Close
• Application Session to create action plans

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Any Questions?
Thank You