Developing Business and Supply Chain Management Competence through RealGame Simulation

Challenges for Professionals Operational environment in constant change Process understanding essential Ever increasing demands for understanding the whole business environment Emphasis on profitability Importance of communication and team work skills

RealGame Simulates the business and its environment as a dynamic and constantly evolving and interacting totality Emphasizes the ability to adjust to the environmental changes Shows the delay between a decision and its outcome realistically as business processes

Key Learning Themes Understanding the entity of a business organization, Importance of individual tasks for the whole, Managing the order-delivery process, Managing the SCM process and its effects on cashflow, Components of profitability, Prerequisites for successful collaboration over space and cultural differences

A simple delivery process Offer Order Delivery Invoice Payment Cash flow Profit Linear, simple, understandable

RealGame includes dynamicity Cause-effects Time delays Non-linearity

RealGame as a Whole Materials flow Information flowsCash flow / Profit

Realgame shows that… Organization’s elements are interconnected by means of influence relationships (often non-linear) delays and inertia in the flow of materials and information reveals that functional objectives are frequently in conflict The behaviour of the firm stems from the internal structure and interaction with the environment constant interaction with a changing environment, which calls for constant adaptation change is accelarating and as the complexity of the system in which we live grows, so do the unanticipated side effects of human actions, further increasing complexity

BioCounter Ltd

Supply Chain Management Basics SCM’s task is to provide end customers with the products required, in the proper quantities, in the desired form, at the right time, and at the lowest possible cost Key issues to be addressed in managing supply chains: –understanding of existing supply chains –reengineering supply chain logistics –recognizing the importance of time –establishing a performance measurement system for the supply chain

Causes for poor supply chain performance Waiting between process steps Elimination of non-value-added activities Serial versus parallel operations - any possibilities for activities to take place in the process simultaneously Repeating process activities due to product or service quality issues Batching: some quantity of e.g. materials, orders etc. accumulated at one step in the process before it is released to the next process step Lack of synchronization in materials movement Ambiguous goals and objectives between the supply chain member organizations Poor communication/limited coordination

RealGame Learning Principles Provide a realistic and complex model of business functions: rich in detail, describes the successive process nature of business transactions and operations Facilitate continuous problem solving and meaningful learning Embed learning in social experience Support student’s learning: game speed (clock speed) can be increased gradually

Elements advancing the acquisition of business knowledge EmpowermentThe teams are responsible Learning by doing The consequences of the decisions are visible practically immediately. AuthenticityTransparent business transactions and business processes are illustrated in an authentic manner IntensityThe case simulation game is clock-driven and dynamic (not operator-driven). Sense of urgency. The actions of other teams are visible in real time. ComplexityProvides a holistic view on business operations. Hundreds of dynamic business transactions, non-linearity and ill- structured decision-making Collective experience Decision-making in teams forces the participants to reason and justify their views. The members share their expertise and externalize their mental models. Lainema, T. & Lainema, K. (2007). Advancing Acquisition of Business KnowHow: Critical Learning Elements. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Vol. 40, No 2, pp