Business Simulations

Managing Business Today (MBT) is a universal board-based simulation which provides a great opportunity for smart team building.
On the one hand, the game enables employees from all structural levels to understand and improve their contribution to the financial and organizational performance of the business. On the other hand, it encourages teamwork, cooperation, communication and strategy building. At the same time MBT allows players to set and achieve individual goals.
The programme takes the mystery out of finance, creates business awareness and helps participants understand the many inter-relationships existing within a company. Furthermore, it offers an effective way to identify and evaluate the many trade-offs involved by giving a visual and physical representation of the abstract concepts of cash flows and resources.

The simulation involves teams of participants who manage their own company, and compete with other teams for market share. Following a well-explained and realistic business process participants make all the decisions involved in their operations, such as:

• investing in market research,
• developing new markets,
• recruiting and training staff,
• investing in capex,
• purchasing raw materials,
• new product development or product upgrade,
• tendering for sales and various funding decisions.

Teams run a number of business cycles, and after each cycle they have to draft and analyse the financial records of their business to assess their own performance.

Optimal number of participants: 12 – distributed evenly in 4 teams of 3 people.
Duration: The simulation takes a minimum 2 days of 6 to 8 astronomical hours’ duration.
Customisation: The accounting documents and templates used in the simulation can be customised to use your own company’s financial terminology and formats.

Managing Business Today enables players to discover how they personally can influence the performance of the business through their everyday activities and decisions they make if they act as managers. This understanding helps participants transcend traditional notions about functional barriers and ultimately leads to improved analysis, more effective decision making and problem solving. Consequently this all leads to improved individual and company performance.

• Read and draft Income Statements, Balance Sheets and Cash Flow Statements
• Identify and measure the drivers of business performance, analyse the impact of actions
• Identify and analyse market opportunities, implement market strategies.
• Analyse Income Statements through diagnostic tools (vertical and horizontal trend analysis, financial ratios, benchmarking)
• Understand Balance Sheets using solvency and liquidity ratios, return on investment measures, cash flow, benchmarking, external standards.
• Manage Cash Flow – operational cash flow, cash generation, investment cash flow, working capital.
• Prepare revenue and cost budgets.
• Analyse and understand the different drivers of revenue and cost budgets.
• Report on actual results compared to budgets, conduct variance analysis and develop strategies for managing budgets.
• Differentiate between types of costs according to behaviour (fixed and variable), allocate costs and conduct breakeven analysis.
• Make decisions, implement them and assess the results within broader business context.
• Consider cross functional dependencies, allocation and utilisation of limited resources, competitor activity and business performance.
• Work as a team, understand the organizational structure of business.
• Learn how to approach different situations considering the specific views of the professionals involved in the process.

Find out more about оur customised simulations.
Choose a versions of the game that reflects your own business.