In management simulation, the participants are divided into teams and assume the management of companies. They perform functions in several areas, such as commercial, marketing, operational, human, and financial resources. Teams make periodic decisions based on business reports and a newspaper edited by the coordinator. Each round equals three months of a real situation. Decisions are entered and processed by the simulator, generating new reports and initiating a new decision-making process.
Concept
“An educational methodology in which participants assume the role of managers competing with each other through simulated companies. They must make decisions that are processed in a simulator, generating managerial reports so that a new cycle of analysis and decision making is carried out.”
Ricardo Bernard, Ph.D.
Benefits
- Possibility of representing several years of the management of a company in a matter of hours, considering different scenarios. This time compression enables long-term vision and the importance of strategic planning.
- Dynamic and motivational learning, in which participants are active agents of the process, in an environment that mixes competition and cooperation.
- Ease of assimilation of errors, avoiding repeating them in a real situation.
- Simulation allows participants to develop skills in the use of quantitative tools.
- A systemic view of companies, through isolated analyzes of functional areas, as well as their interrelationships.
- Experience in the decision-making process, as well as in the evaluation of results and performance analysis.
- Development of skills in the analysis and interpretation of economic and financial reports of companies and the market.
- Identification and development of behavioral aspects, such as leadership styles and ability to work in teams.
- Perception of the various factors that influence the development of companies, such as competitive forces and economic, legal, social, and political norms.
- Use of state-of-the-art technology for managerial learning.
Dynamics
Elements
- Simulator: Technical component. It is software where an industry is modeled. It presents an input unit composed of the decisions of the simulated companies (participants) and the market in which they are inserted (coordinator), a data processing unit, and an output unit composed of reports and business graphics.
- Coordinator: Responsible for the definition of the macroeconomic environment of the simulation. The role played by the simulation coordinator is fundamental, not only because he influences the results of the simulated companies but, above all, the participants’ managerial learning.
- Participants: Main focus of the method. Participants assume the role of managers of the simulated companies and are responsible for their results. Involved in this process, participants gain managerial experiences that will be very important in their careers.