| Below are descriptions of only a few
of PriSim's successful client engagements. Please contact
us for
more examples. |
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Case
Study #1: Developing Financial Acumen |
Client: Top
5 Mortgage Bank
Simulation Used: Cycloan™ (branch management
simulation)
Specific Business Need: Communicate
new financial reporting measures.
Solution: Our client
needed to communicate to regional and area-level mortgage-branch
managers
the new way
that
business success and profitability were
being measured, and the new way that revenues, expenses and profitability
were now being reported.
PriSim customized an existing branch-level simulation,
Cycloan, to replicate the business dynamics of a mortgage loan
center. Classes of ~30 people divided into teams to compete running
separate simulated mortgage branches. Teams received customer-segmentation
data to differentiate the needs and wants of specific customer groups.
Within Cycloan, attendees practiced making the same decisions they
would need to make in a real-world mortgage branch:
- train loan
originators
- define products to sell to different market segments
- set rates charged for specific products
- promote and advertise mortgage products
- develop sources of leads
- manage staffing and support
Results:
Built fundamental business acumen in managers through intense,
interactive training in core business skills. Took directors, managers
and VPs to the “next level” of business acumen and leadership.
Imparted a holistic view tying together the core functions of running
a branch business and the overall fit with the parent company.
Developed and improved attendee’s understanding
of the company’s
business model from a perspective of “controllable profit”.
Demonstrated how specific decisions made in operating a branch feed
into and impact the rest of the organization. Provided a “laboratory
setting” in which to practice branch-level strategies and to
show the final outcomes of profitability at a corporate level.
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Case Study
#2: Enhancing Leadership Skills |
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Client: Tier-1 Automotive Parts Manufacturer
Simulation Used: Mini-MBA™
Specific Business Need: Develop leadership skills
and business acumen
Solution: Our client was looking
for a course that would develop their leaders’ business
acumen and leadership skills during a time of extreme change at the
company while also demonstrating the company’s commitment to
retaining their top talent by investing in an innovative and engaging
training experience.
PriSim developed a custom Leadership Laboratory for our client’s
Leadership Development curriculum and delivers it in the U.S.,
Asia, and Europe. Participants complete leadership profiles based
upon Kouzes and Posner's research and examine their Emotional Intelligence
using
Daniel Goleman's EQ framework.
Using an existing automotive manufacturing simulation, the Leadership
Laboratory addresses the company’s specific leadership development
objectives of strategic thinking, financial acumen, and effective
leadership. Specific dynamics reflected in the simulation and the
lecture content include:
- financing, capital allocation, and debt and equity management
- research and development and product-design
- marketing and distribution channels
- strategic decision-making under uncertainty
Results:
Developed real-world business skills
in high-potential leaders by engaging them for 3.5 days in a full-immersion
business simulation.
Allowed risk-free practice in strategy, finance, marketing, and
operations. Provided tools and approaches that can be immediately
applied on-the-job.
Expanded proficiency in leadership practices that leaders needed
to effectively work with their teams in a challenging business
environment. Provided understanding of leadership styles that can
be applied in specific situations. Conducted “360-degree” leadership
evaluations and examined Emotional Intelligence development opportunities.
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Case
Study #3: Building Business Acumen |
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Client: Top 10 Insurance Carrier
Simulation Used: Insurance Challenge™ (version
101)
Specific Business Need: Build Financial and Strategic Acumen
Specific to the Property and Casualty Insurance Industry.
Solution: Insurance financials
can be extremely complex due to the deferral of certain expenses,
the estimation
of reserves
to cover future
claims, and regulation that varies by each state. PriSim’s
client needed a course that would enhance and expand their future
leaders’ ability to speak this complex language of insurance
finance. The course also allows participants to practice
strategies during changing competitive and economic conditions.
In addition,
the carrier staff needed to become familiar with agency operations,
which represent the company’s, and the industry’s,
distribution channel. Solution: PriSim designed and built a custom
insurance-specific business simulation reflecting the unique
attributes of the property and
casualty insurance business and agency operations. Industry-specific
dynamics were designed into the simulation and critical concepts
built into the lecture content including:
- Combined Ratio
- Loss Reserves, Loss Tails, Claims, and Loss Control
- Underwriting Expenses
- Agency Operations and Customer Retention
- Reinsurance
Results:
Improved financial acumen in participants
targeted as the future leaders of the organization. Unfamiliar,
industry-specific
terms
such as IBNR (losses that are “Incurred But Not Reported”)
become part of participant’s new language of leadership.
Developed participants’ high-level strategic thinking in
mission-critical areas such as product management during “hard” and “soft” markets
that can dramatically impact carrier’s pricing power. Provided
insights into agency operations and the nature of an insurance
carrier's close partnership with independent agencies, brokers,
and captive
agencies.
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Case
Study #4: Developing Future Leaders |
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Client: Top-5 Aerospace and Defense Company
Simulation Used: BizFighter™ (aerospace and defense
simulation)
Specific Business Need: Provide an industry-specific
business “flight
simulator” and proving-ground for the next generation of
company leaders.
PriSim’s client wanted a highly customized course and simulation
that would allow their up-and-coming talent to experience first-hand
the complexities of running an aerospace and defense (A&D) contracting
business.
Solution: For the first 4 years of this client
relationship, PriSim utilized a generic manufacturing simulation.
After the 4th year the client realized that they needed real industry
dynamics, language, and financials in the simulation exercise. PriSim
designed and built a custom aerospace and defense business simulation
along
with
lecture-content
reflecting the unique dynamics
of the A&D business. A&D-specific terms, concepts,
and dynamics were designed into the course including:
- Program Management, 6-Sigma, and Competitive Bidding
- Earned Value Management (EVM), Schedule and Cost Performance
(CPI and SPI)
- Return on Invested Capital
- Staffing and Workforce Planning
Results:
Built business skills applicable to real-world roles and responsibilities
that the participants are expected to apply on-the-job
as they develop in their careers. Enhanced the leadership acumen of
new decision-makers who apply these skills at the program-level in bidding
on new programs and
managing active programs, and also at the corporate-level
in managing to specific measures such as return on
invested capital and cost
and schedule performance. Additional modules were
created to continue participant's development
after attending the BizFighter course. Modules include
interactive "short-courses" to
separately teach details of Return on Invested Capital
(ROIC) and Estimate at Complete (EAC) in interactive
labs focused
on these financial
management techniques.
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Case
Study #5: Building Better Business Plans Worldwide
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Client: Top-5 Motorcycle Manufacturer
Simulation Used: DealerSim™
Specific Business Need: Enhance business planning
and thinking skills, and develop market-specific business plans.
Solution: PriSim designed and built a customized
business simulation around a motorcycle dealership's business dynamics.
Decision-making in the simulation involves the following departments:
- Vehicle Sales
- Parts & Accessories
- General Merchandise
- Service
- Finance & Insurance
- Rentals
- Accessorization Department/Chrome Consultant
Teams manage their dealership in a competition comprised of five
decision rounds (each round representing 6 months of elapsed time).
At the beginning of the competition a Situation Analysis is performed
and then a 2.5-year plan is developed. The plan needs to address
things like seasonality, marketplace fluctuations, inventory management,
margin management, staff management, and showroom expansion/promotion.
At the end of the competition, one team emerges victorious, and
the remaining teams reflect on what they could have done differently.
During the final half-day of the course, a real-life business
planning tool is distributed to the teams and they are asked to
begin real-world planning by completing a SWOT analysis of their
real dealerships. They are then given a schedule within which they
need to use the planning tool to develop their own business plan.
District Managers follow up with the dealerships after the course
to ensure completion of assignments and implementation of plans.
The solution for this client has been rolled out world-wide and
is available in 7 languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian,
Portuguese, Germany, and Dutch). Results:
Dealership management teams have developed market-specific plans to increase
sales and enhance profitability. Many regions have run additional exercises
so that they can involve entire intact dealer teams in the exercise so
that the enhanced planning processes and skills are available to multiple
managers within a single dealership.
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Case
Study #6: Strengthening Business Partnerships
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Client: Top-10 Insurance Carrier
and Independent Agents
Simulation Used: Insurance Challenge™ (enhanced
version 201)
Specific Business Need: The sponsoring insurance
carrier's success is heavily dependent upon the success of their
independent agents. The carrier seeks
to ensure that it's own branch plans align with the plans of its
agents, and that these plans position both businesses to best
meet customer needs and expectations.
Solution: PriSim designed and built a customized
insurance conglomerate simulation that models both the carrier
and the agency sides of the business. Decision-making in
the
simulation
involves the
following
areas:
- Carrier Product Development & Management
- Carrier Underwriting & Loss Control
- Carrier Customer Service & Claims
- Carrier Staffing & Development
- Carrier Finance
- Agency Production and Sales
- Agency Sourcing and Lead Generation
- Agency Staffing & Development
- Agency Finance
This solution is truly innovative in that teams of Carrier and
Agency partners team up to run the best "conglomerate". Decisions
for one business (e.g., the carrier or agency) can dramatically
impact the performance of other business (e.g., the agency or carrier).
The team
goal
is to run the most effective and balanced conglomerate.
At various times throughout the competition, the partner teams
are asked to step outside of the simulation to analyze and plan
for their own real markets. They complete SWOT analysis exercises
and identify one to three strategic objectives that they want to
achieve to help them in better meeting customer needs and
expectations. Specific plans and tactics are then developed to
accomplish these objectives. Results:
Participants return from this experience armed with specific, actionable
plans to improve their business. They have a much better understanding
for the dynamics of the insurance market and a greater appreciation of
the partner's perspective on the business. The client tracks each partner
team's plan for several months following participation and documents
performance improvements by market.
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© 2008 PriSim®
Business War Games Inc. The leader in customized business simulation
training.
PriSim is an industry
leader in customized, computerized business simulations. Our industry-specific
business simulations include: Agency Challenge™ Business Simulation,
BizFighter™ Business Simulation, Cycloan™ Business Simulation,
DealerSim™ Business Simulation, Deep Pockets™ Business Simulation,
Impact™ Business Simulation, Insurance Challenge™ Business
Simulation, MAGnate™ Business Simulation, Mini-MBA™ Business
Simulation, and Redline™ Business Simulation.
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