Business simulations for management education

Microworlds (business simulations accompanied by a case study), provide risk free learning environments for individuals, executives or management students to experience issues in strategy or general management.

Our Microworlds are all concerned with business strategy and help develop understanding of dynamic business performance over time.

Our Microworlds are developed in-house and are tested in top MBA and executive courses at leading business schools. The simpler games provide sufficient teaching material for a half day class although shorter or longer class durations are possible. Our more complex Microworlds provide a full days teaching but have been used for periods ranging from under one hour up to two and a half days.

Main Features

• A simple interface that uses standard Windows conventions - spend time on strategy, not learning how to use the software
• Based on a dynamic simulation of the situation being portrayed so react dynamically to the users decisions
• There are no tricks or random variables included. Neither do we include distracting animations, video or sound clips
• What we DO include is a resource map, data and "Management Challenges" to test understanding.
• Tutors can create a range of scenarios or case situations for their own groups
• The situations are, of course, highly simplified but provide a level of realism that people find engaging: many tutors find participants eager to continue playing on long after the course hours are over

Follow the menu links on the left to find out more about individual products.

Summary of some of our microworlds:

For shorter classes:

Mobile Phone Subscribers' takes a single resource system - the subscriber base for a mobile phone business - to introduce the ideas of accumulation, depletion and capacity limits.

Brand Management - a little more complex than Mobile this looks at the situation that arises on the launch of a new brand and includes a challenge for students to complete, with data, before testing their strategy with the simulation.

eBank - based in the banking industry this is loosely based on the launch of the Egg Savings Bank in the UK. The game explores the need to maintain balance between customer and staff resources.

For longer classes:

Beefeater Restaurants Microworld - an established Microworld that has been used by over 10,000 people worldwide. This microworld is also available as an "unbranded" game - White Label Restaurants. This is functionally identical to Beefeater but does not carry the Beefeater name. Please refer to the Beefeater information in the first instance.

Professional Services Microworld - loosely based on McKinsey this microworld explores the staff chain and co-flow of staff experience.

LoFare Airlines Microworld - based in the European low fare industry but reflecting the worldwide growth in budget airlines microworld offers 4 levels of complexity for graduated challenges

We are also international distributors for the popular People Express Management Flight Simulator developed by John Sterman at MIT.