BETTER BUSINESS DECISIONS

A 4-hour workshop that builds or refreshes a big-picture understanding of corporate finance in employees at all levels and positions. The Better Business Decisions simulation will develop business acumen skills in employees and emerging leaders.

BUSINESS ACUMEN FUNDAMENTALS

Participants run a business in a competitive team environment — setting prices, monitoring cash flow, making operational improvements, and planning for growth and profit. They make business decisions and learn to use financial statements to measure results. This simulation enhances everyone’s business acumen and ability to communicate, implement and exercise initiative.

OWNING RESULTS

Participants have complete control of their simulated companies. They make all the business decisions related to production, marketing, sales, and financing. They are responsible for their results, whether they are good or bad. They identify the internal and external forces on the business and experience how forces, like cash flow, and shareholder expectations, can drive decision-making.

STEALTH LEARNING

This simulation develops business acumen through stealth learning – people are so busy having fun and trying to win that they do not realize how much they are learning. Participants gain a big-picture understanding of business and finance terminology by working with financial statements to make decisions.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

In the Better Business Decisions simulation, the goal is for each participant — whether a front-line worker, manager or executive — to learn business acumen and how to use and grasp essential financial tools and concepts. The only way to truly teach business acumen is through experiential learning. Throughout the simulation, employees will gain experience with the following concepts and tools to develop their business acumen as emerging leaders:

Financial statements and their management uses: Income Statement (P&L) and Balance Sheet
Investing, generating profits (or losses!)
The difference between cash and profit
Fixed and variable costs

The need to control working capital
How market conditions impact business decisions
Implementing change and measuring results
Standard financial metrics (operating income, net income, ROA)
Your company’s specific financial metrics

LEARN FINANCIAL & BUSINESS ACUMEN YOUR WAY

Which learning format is best for your team?

In-PERSON

Builds corporate culture and employee collaboration.

Easy for participants to fully engage in the simulation program.

Provides a hands-on learning experience.

Allows employees to learn at the same pace.

ONLINE

Accessible for work-from-home environments.

Allows for international collaboration.

Online learning needs a less time-consuming commitment.

Eco-friendly option (carbon neutral).

COURSE OUTLINE

How it Works

The Better Business Decisions simulation is a team competition consisting of three business cycles. During the business cycles, teams have full decision-making power and are held accountable for their business’s results.

In each cycle, each team develops and implements a business strategy that incorporates real-world dynamics such as production capacity, customers, prices, and financing.

Each cycle includes competitor and market analysis, setting prices in a competitive market, monitoring cash flow, preparing an income statement and balance sheet, and posting, comparing, and discussing results.

Teams have the opportunity to improve their companies with real-world business solutions like expansion, quality initiatives, and niche marketing. Finance and business acumen learning is integrated throughout the simulation.

Application to Real-Time Experiences

Our business acumen simulation utilizes Visual Finance, a graphic representation of your corporate financial position and industry analysis. Visual finance uses colour, placement, and volume to make the sometimes complex financial concepts easy for any employee to understand at a glance. It is one of the best ways to develop business and financial acumen in your employees.

We connect the business acumen learning from the simulation to the real world through a final discussion and real-world financial analysis of your company. This workshop portion relates to your company’s concerns, measures, and goals. It allows participants to see their learning in action and understand how it applies to your company.

BOOK A DEMO

“The impact of low production & high overhead to retained earnings. I have a better understanding of all the inputs that need to be evaluated before expansions, production changes, etc.” — Parts Procurement Lead, Honda