The world's #1 business game on Working Capital Management and IBP
Experience the power of learning by doing in a virtual environment
Discover The Cool Connection
The Cool Connection is an innovative web-based business simulation game. It engages participants in making strategic decisions in the management of a manufacturing company of personal care products. Working in teams of four, participants will represent the functional roles of sales, purchasing, supply chain management, and finance. They will be confronted with various real-life dilemmas.
This business simulation game is the core of three learning solutions: Working Capital Management, Integrated Business Planning, and Supply Chain Finance.
Learning objectives
- Bridging the physical and financial supply chain Key objective
- Trade-offs in managing working capital Key objective
- Alignment and cross functional collaboration are key Key objective
- Experience the power of a professional and well-structured Integrated Business Planning (IBP) Key objective
- Understand the importance and relevance of a supply chain strategy
- Translate strategy into action
- Learn to ‘speak the same language’ with other value chain partners, internally or externally
- Supply Chain Risk Management
- Build internal or external teams
- Appreciate cross-functional trade-offs in the value chain
- Learn how to manage risks in the supply chain in a coordinated way
- Experience the power of a well-designed set of KPIs
- Assess the implications of international trade
- Learn about the benefits of a Supply Chain Finance solution
Testimonials
“Working alongside the corporates provided a perfect platform for sharing expertise…and also to appreciate the finer details of of those aspects of decision making that we didn't truly understand about each other's daily roles and responsibilities! Great tool for building these critical bridges.”
Standard Bank“The business simulation game is highly interactive and realistic. Great training tool!”
DHLTrusted by
One business game, multiple learning solutions
The Cool Connection is a versatile learning experience that can be adapted to meet the learning objectives required by higher education institutions and companies.
Game setup
Participants get to run their own virtual company called The Cool Connection, a manufacturer of personal care products. Faced with declining performance, the management team must get the company back on track. Your challenges can be to manage its working capital efficiently and effectively or to set up a cross functional IBP process. It’s a high-pressure environment in which effective value chain management is the key to success!
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
Defining the marketing strategies and the negotiation with a range of different types of customers. The negotiations include the service levels as well as INCO Terms.
The VP Supply Chain Management
Responsible for production and warehousing. Can optimize both production process and working capital.
The VP Purchasing
Defines the purchasing strategies and the selection of and the negotiation with suppliers from various regions. The negotiations include the service reliability but also INCO and payment terms.
The VP Finance
Responsible for cash management and financing and negotiates with both banks and credit insurers. Allocates collateral and the level of credit limits for customers.
User interface
The Cool 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 Cool 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 value chain requires collaboration from across the organization. Tearing down silos and creating the right cross-functional mindset can be a serious challenge. How do you prepare for success? Ideally, you’d like to experiment with different scenarios wherein people learn to overcome various obstacles. 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
Why is The Cool Connection different?
For a subject as vital as Value Chain Management, it is not enough to tell people how it works. They must experience it. The Cool Connection is a different way of learning that puts participants at the heart of a lifelike simulation so they can experience the impact of every decision they make, not just in their own ‘silo’ but across the business.
By team experience, participants measure their performance and receive constant feedback from the certified trainer leading the business game. Between rounds, participants reflect on their decisions and the outcome. They are introduced to new concepts and then go back to put what they have learned to practice in the next round. It is this ‘Magic Circle’ that makes The Cool Connection so powerful.
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