The world’s #1 business game on Circular Economy
Experience the transition from a linear to circular value chain

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Discover The Blue Connection

The Blue Connection is an innovative web-based business simulation game. It engages participants in transforming a virtual e-bike manufacturer's linear supply chain to a circular value chain. In teams of 4, participants will represent the functional roles of VP Finance, VP Purchasing, VP Supply Chain, and VP Sales.

Team members will be confronted with diverse real-life, real-time dilemmas, and cross-functional understanding and collaboration are the key success components.

This business simulation game is the core of the learning solution: Circular Business Transition.

Key learning objectives

The circular economy provides
new business opportunities

The upside is clear to many… Increase in economic growth* with 1% to 4% through circular strategies which entail maintenance & repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishment and recycling.

These strategies enable companies to:

  • Enter new markets (C2C and C2B)
  • Gain market share
  • Offer new / differentiating (service) propositions
  • Create competitive advantage
  • Utilize latest techologys
  • Apply solutions to sustain our planet & their business

…but what does this mean in practice and which challenges will you encounter?

Valuation of materials and components

Laws and regulation

Counterparty risk

Value chain collaboration

Control mechanisms

Reverse logistics

Ownership of goods

Product quality

Testimonials

Grand Duke Henri de Luxembourg, Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands, Michiel Steeman, Managing Director of Inchainge, and Marloes Bergevoet Sr. Marketing & Communications Manager at BNP Paribas (from left to right).

Trusted by

  • Kühne Logistics University
  • Pennstate University
  • Cranfield University
  • Nyenrode Business School
  • Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • Hitachi
  • Unilever
  • KPMG
  • Mars
  • ING

Learning solution

Circular Business Transition

It’s increasingly clear that modern businesses need to transform how they operate.
The circular economy provides new business opportunities,
but it also comes with its challenges to go from linear to circular.
What does this mean and which challenges will you encounter?

The world is inhabited by more people, of which a higher share lives in cities and is getting older.

Wealth has increased globally, creating a larger middle class, which uses far more raw materials.

The result is increasing CO2 footprints and waste production. As a result, global consumption currently goes beyond the earth’s regenerative capacity.

How do you transform your company
from a linear to a circular business?

Game setup

Participants get to run their own virtual company called The Blue Connection, a manufacturer of e-bikes. Due to the increased demand for companies to transform how they operate and the new business opportunities provided by the circular economy, the e-bike manufacturer hired a new management team to transform the company’s linear value chain to a circular one. Participants will learn how to adopt a circular approach by transition away from a take-make-dispose linear production towards a circular business models.

Teams will experience the impact of every decision they make,
not just in their own functional ‘silo’ but across their business, and the entire value chain!

The VP Sales

Negotiate on sales contracts with your retailers regarding circularity, warranty and the maintenance service of your product.

VP Supply Chain

Collaborate with the right Recycling Service Providers and oversee the cost and process of disassembling, reusing, refurbishing and recycling.

VP Purchasing

Manage the design of your product. Selecting appropriate suppliers to source from and deciding on the quality and recyclability of product components to buy.

VP Finance

Determine a buy back price to create a reverse flow of products. Manage the financial arrangement with the bank and the potential lease agreements.

User interface

The Blue Connection’s simulation software has been designed to be easy to use for anyone, on any platform from PC to tablet. There is no need to read a hefty manual before starting, because all help information is integrated in the game-screens and can be read on a need to know basis.

Customize your experience!

The Fresh Connection can be easily tailored to match your learning objectives.

COMPLEXITY LEVEL

Tailored to perfectly fit your level and learning objectives no matter your background or experience.

DELIVERY FORMATS

Face-to-face, Online or Hybrid.

NUMBER OF ROUNDS

They can be varied to suit your needs.

The Concept of Learning by doing

A Complex world requires experiential learning

A high-performing circular value chain requires collaboration ffrom across the organization. Adopting a circular approach from a take-make-dispose linear production can be a serious challenge.

How do you adapt to the circular economy? Ideally, you’d like to experiment with different scenarios wherein people learn to overcome various obstacles and learn from best practices. This is where we come in: through our business simulation games, participants have the unique opportunity to learn by experience by immediately putting complex theories into practice.

Advantages of experiential learning:

  • Highly Engaging
  • Constant & immediate feedback
  • Higher Learning Retention Rate
  • Ability to apply theory to practice
  • Real-world experience minus the risk
  • Promotion of teamwork and soft skills
  • Cost-effective

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Let’s get you started!

The Blue Connection is a perfect fit for in-company training and L&D programs. And with our Integrated Learning Approach it is easily implemented into your curriculum.