Business Challenge - a virtual business simulation

Over the past couple of years MTP have been working with Unilever to virtually deliver a simulation-based business acumen training program to a global sales audience. The program was developed together with Accenture and Enspire Learning.

The specific learning outcomes agreed upon were to improve participants’ ability to:
- Use financial metrics to inform business decisions
- Make business decisions cross-functionally
- Create business proposals that met company and customer financial needs

The simulation itself is a web application that can be accessed from anywhere in the world with a standard web browser equipped with the Adobe Flash plug-in. Teams can collaborate on decision-making simply by signing into the web application simultaneously and discussing their strategy by phone.

MTP was selected for the facilitation of the programme due to our deep experience in finance and training. Our skills in generating highly engaging and interactive materials were recognised as important, but especially so with a virtual programme. The material that was created features short interactive sessions that link elements of the simulation to key issues that affect a Unilever sales manager’s day-to-day role. The sessions were run on webinar software, and were designed to be as interactive as possible by making full use of quizzes, polls, group discussions and short industry-specific case studies.

The final result is a program that mixes sixteen rounds of competition in the simulation, with interactive sessions and discussions. It is delivered for four hours each day, for four days. This design allows participants to continue to schedule appointments during the days of the course – valuable for sales managers with busy diaries and demanding clients.

Outcome

After an initial pilot run with participants joining from four different countries, the program was refined and has since been delivered to Unilever audiences across Europe, the Americas and Asia. The response from participants and their managers is overwhelmingly positive.

This program has shown that engaging, effective learning programs can be delivered virtually to a global audience. Final proof of the program’s business value is the fact that Unilever has begun to roll-out a variation on it to a wider management audience within the organization.

Click here to read our detailed case study on how the programme was designed and delivered or find out more about our other business simulations.