Aifa Brings Business Simulation Game to Uruguay

Aifa, a new management consulting and training firm with offices in Montevideo, is bringing the Income|Outcome board game business simulation to Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.

Since 1996, US-based Andromeda Training has provided business acumen training workshops incorporating their highly successful Income|Outcome business simulations.

This business finance teaching tool is actually a board game that has employees teaming up to conquer a classroom industry.

The simulation is known for the clarity and simplicity of fundamental business concepts, and it is widely used for teaching the foundations of corporate finance.

Other hallmarks of the training programs include:

• A visual representation of the income statement and balance sheet that connects directly to real-world financial results.
• A selectable learning level that tailors the simulation complexity to match the needs of the target audience.
• The inclusion of people as decision-makers in the business model.

Andromeda has partnered with consulting groups around the world, making the finance literacy seminars available in over 10 languages.

The newly-formed Aifa is the first dedicated group in South America to offer the Income|Outcome business game.

They will offer the workshops in Argentina and Chile as well as Uruguay.

Alejandra Ibarra, founding partner of Aifa, says:
*"I first saw the power of the Income|Outcome simulation when I was a finance manager at BIC. We brought it into BIC as a ‘non-finance for managers’ program, but I quickly realized I also had much to learn, and for me, it became a ‘non-finance for finance managers’ workshop.

I like that the business simulation is played like a board game. I think this will keep people engaged in the learning, and engagement makes effective learning.

Income|Outcome is great because it shows how money moves through the company.

People make decisions, they move the money, and they see the results.

They can actually touch the cash flow.”*

Robin Helweg-Larsen, president of Andromeda Training, adds:
*"Income|Outcome incorporates visual, kinetic, and tactile learning methodologies.

We know that people carry the game board image with them for years after a workshop, so we know the learning sticks.

A few weeks ago, I listened to a university professor tell a group all the reasons her team should have won—and she had played the game five years earlier!”*

Aifa will begin by focusing on one-day programs.

"Finance for Everyone is suitable for everyone in the company," says Ibarra.
*"It covers cash flow, budgeting, and metrics.

We will also have a longer, more complex program for managers, and a shorter, faster program for people who do not want to spend a whole day in training.”*

The first Income|Outcome workshop in Uruguay was held in June.

This was a joint effort between Aifa and the Rotary Clubs of Montevideo and Erie, Pennsylvania (USA).

Alejandra Ibarra co-presented that program with Professor Joe Kuvshinikov from Kent State University (Ohio, USA).

Professor Kuvshinikov says the business game is his favorite teaching tool:
*"I like this business simulation because my students get interested in learning finance.

I have used Income|Outcome with business people in Poland, and now Uruguay, and the level of engagement is just as high with them as with the students.

Sometimes it is even higher.”*

Tom Froehlich, the field director at Christian & Missionary Alliance, which sponsored the Uruguayan/American Businessmen’s Workshop, also spoke highly of the event.

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