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:
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.
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!
Cloud-based business game – can be delivered fully online, face to face, or a hybrid setting.
Participants are grouped in teams of four. The teams are challenged to manage a virtual company and consider corporate strategy and business objectives.
Each participant assumes one of the four available VP roles: VP Sales, VP Supply Chain Management, VP Finance, VP Purchasing.
Tailor Complexity to match any level from pre-graduate to senior executive. Set up the game to zoom in on specific topics. Create a volatile environment by triggering unexpected events.
is responsible for defining the marketing strategies and the negotiation with a range of different types of customers. The negotiations include the service levels as well as for example INCO Terms.
is responsible for defining 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.
is responsible for production and warehousing. By undertaking intelligent stock planning for components and products, the Supply Chain Manager can optimize both production process and working capital.
is responsible for cash management and financing and negotiates with both banks and credit insurers. These negotiations include the allocation of collateral and the level of credit limits for customers.
The Cool Connection can be easily tailored to match your learning objectives. The complexity level, the topics, delivery format, and even number of rounds can be varied to suit your needs. Make the financial component easy to understand or make it very complex. The choice is yours!
The levels are focused on Working Capital Management (flow of money and goods). There are limited set of entities and the complexity increases per level.
The available extensions are credit limits, partner selection, collaboration, LSP, and KPI.
Integrated Business Planning (IBP): Integrate the financial and supply chain planning. This variant covers topics like forecasting and financial/supply chain budgeting.
Bridging the physical and financial value chain. The complexity increases per level:
Focuses on the integration of financial and supply chain planning by implementing a powerful planning process.
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.