 Learning Objectives
A PriSim® course
has many applications. Depending upon your specific requirements, PriSim
can develop a program that addresses your needs. Consider the following
business benefits of a PriSim exercise:
- Educate
decision-makers on critical business fundamentals including:
- Strategy
and Long-Term Positioning (mission, objectives, goals, strategies)
- Finance (Income
Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement)
- Financial Ratio
Analysis (margins, ROA, ROE, leverage)
- Marketing (segmentation,
targeting)
- Cross-Functional
Decision-Making (integrated business thinking, alignment)
- Teams (group
decision-making, team dynamics)
- Competitive
Analysis (positioning, capabilities)
- Operations (fixed
and variable costs, capacity, investment)
- Communicate and
increase buy-in of long-term plans and strategic initiatives
- Senior
management can't be everywhere. An organization needs
to instill a common understanding of
the business in those individuals who make decisions
that impact performance. Organizations need to know
where they are heading, and each member of the
organization must understand how she specifically
contributes to make that vision and strategy a reality.
- Ask
yourself if your decision-making team understands your current
vision? Are they prepared to have a productive discussion regarding
your company's
longer-term positioning? Do they share the same vocabulary
and language of your business? How long does it take
for you and your
team to identify
the important issues, discuss them, achieve consensus and
react in a meaningful manner? Business war games can
assist in amplifying
the "strategic
conversation" within your organization.
- Develop leadership
skills and teamwork
- Management vs. leadership?
There is a difference, and both perspectives are important. One copes with
complexity (management), the other with change (leadership). One focuses
on efficiencies (management), the other on effectiveness (leadership).
One seeks risk (leadership), the other avoids it (management). During a
business simulation exercise, participants will be able to distinguish
between the role of managers and leaders as they are challenged with both
leading and managing a business entity.
- Introduce decision-makers
to new performance metrics and tools
- Increase cross-functional
communication by building a shared model of the business
- In an age of increased
specialization and compartmentalization, managers rarely get an opportunity
to see how their actions impact those around them. Business Simulations
provide participants with the opportunity to better understand the whole
business and see the importance of integrating decisions across functional
boundaries.
- A business simulation
allows decision-makers to see that decisions which may be optimal for one
function of the business, could be sub optimal (perhaps destructive) to
the business as a whole. Does your team understand this? Are they aware
of the cross-functional nature of your business, the tradeoffs of decision-making?
Can they explain how their decisions impact other areas in the organization,
the company's bottom line and economic value creation? Are they focused
on the alignment of decision-making within your organization?
- Instill proactive
thinking so that decision-makers are better prepared to be successful within
changing market scenarios
- Demonstrate how
functional-level and department-level decisions impact other functional areas
and the company's bottom-line
- Reinforce the
need to constantly assess the strengths and weaknesses of your company, and
the opportunities and threats in the marketplace
- According
to a survey by a large accounting firm, 73 percent of senior
executives "think their firms have an edge on their competitors."
Many of your decision-makers may not realize how the competition
and the economy can wreak havoc on your performance. A business
war game in which participants compete directly with peers,
while receiving instantaneous feedback, leaves them with a much
better appreciation for the competitive intelligence process
and the need to be constantly assessing strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats.
- Tomorrow
could bring any number of new challenges. Have you prepared
your team for these challenges?
How do you explore your strategic and tactical reactions,
or proactive moves? There are several likely scenarios
for what tomorrow may bring,
but you need a tool that will allow you to more effectively
evaluate and discuss these scenarios. A business simulation
provides such a tool.
- Provide an
opportunity for participants to explore the cause and effect relationships
between operational decisions, financial statements, and the creation of
economic value
|
|
