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.

Case Study #2: Enhancing Leadership Skills

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.

Case Study #3: Building Business Acumen

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.

Case Study #4: Developing Future Leaders

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.

Case Study #5: Building Better Business Plans Worldwide

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.

Case Study #6: Strengthening Business Partnerships

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.