Executive education program students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and many are anxious about gaps in their business knowledge. Schools know that students with a non-financial background may struggle to keep up if they don’t quickly acquire a working knowledge of finance.
Income/Outcome® Business Simulation Workshops – A Proven Solution
Our half- or full-day game-based business simulations provide a ‘big picture’ understanding of how the pieces of business fit together in a fast-paced team experience. In our workshops, student teams learn to:
- run a business by making decisions that directly affect the bottom line
- react to market conditions created by the other student teams
- prepare an income statement and balance sheet
- manage their budgets by monitoring cash flow and debts
Experiential Game-Based Learning – Effective for Executives
Our students directly experience how low cash flow, high costs or debt can limit their ability to compete in the marketplace. They take on different roles, such as sales, marketing or accounting, and see how each contributes to the financial health of their company. They learn how to develop and implement a competitive business strategy.
All students learn more quickly and retain more information when they learn by doing rather than by watching, but experiential learning is particularly effective with executives who value hands-on training over lecture-based classes. That‘s why experiential learning is a key method used in leading executive education programs and why our workshops are the best choice for program kickoffs.
Relevant Team Building
The business simulation game not only acts as a fun and engaging icebreaker for the group, but also as a relevant team building exercise in which the students learn to work together in solving business problems. This contextual relevancy improves the team building experience and provides lasting benefits throughout the program.
Workshop Results – Leveling the Field and Overcoming Fear of Finance
Vanderbilt University held a 3½ hour Income/Outcome workshop for incoming EMBA students with the goals of overcoming student fears and increasing the working financial abilities of students. Before the workshop the non-finance professionals were much less confident in their abilities to read and explain financial statements than the finance professionals. As seen in the chart, the change in confidence for the non-financial professionals after the workshop was dramatic, showing the power of the experiential learning that takes place in our business simulations and what can be accomplished in a short workshop.
Choose the Business Simulation Training Trusted by Leading Business Schools and the Fortune 500
Numerous leading business school’s Executive MBA and Executive Ed programs, including Vanderbilt (Owen), UNC (Kenan-Flagler), UMD (Robert H. Smith), and UM (Carlson) have used Income/Outcome business simulation workshops to quickly prepare executive students for their rigorous courses. Since 1996, hundreds of leading companies, including BIC, GE, HP, and Michelin have trusted us to build business acumen in tens of thousands of employees... and we'd like to help you too!
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Learn more about how we can help you start engaging your students right at the start of your executive education program with our business simulation workshops. More »