Business acumen is the application of both skill and knowledge and therefore carries a practical element. This can be acquired through ‘on the job’ experience either as part of a formal course (with Business Simulation Games included?) or simply as part of normal work experience.
Limitations to learning ‘on-the-job’:
- The individual is only exposed to certain situations.
- Those situations might not be relevant to the acquisition of business acumen.
- It takes a long time to gather the experience required.
- While a person is learning on the job they are contributing below par and sucking in resources from others to help them learn.
Read Business Simulation Games video transcript
Elgood Effective Learning. Our purpose is to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to improve performance at an individual, group and organisational level.
We specialise in the design and facilitation of management games and business simulations. These are “devices through which individuals learn about how businesses and organisations work, and which enable them to improve their performance within their organisation through the development of business and inter-personal skills”.
The device could be anything from a pack of cards to a complex simulation hosted in the cloud.
The common thread behind everything we do is experiential learning. We believe that people learn most effectively when they are given the opportunity to ‘try something out’. So, we create materials that allow participants to have an experience. Through group discussion and facilitation, participants can then reflect on their actions, consider how their experience relates to their everyday world and consider whether they would do something differently next time.
We have been in business for over 45 years and have gained experience from many different industry segments and client groups. We are passionate about what we do and the contribution we can make. We have developed a range of packaged games and simulations which we offer for sale through our web store and we offer a bespoke consultancy service working with our clients to tackle their unique problems in a collaborative way.
If you would like to know more about how we could work with you to solve your challenges, or to see our range of packaged games, then please contact us.
Business simulation games allow for experiential learning: the cycle of experience, observation, conceptualisation and experimentation identified by Kolb. Individuals have the opportunity to consider a situation, take action, examine the consequences of their action and consider their next steps. Through this process, they offer an ideal way for participants to gain the experiences they need to underpin the knowledge and skills which together are required to acquire business acumen. Business simulation games open up a debate in which the individuals can discuss the ramifications of business acumen, reflect on their own level of understanding and consider where additional skill would be beneficial.
Here at Elgood Effective Learning, we have many years of experience in designing and delivering bespoke business simulation games to a wide variety of businesses, educational establishments and not for profit organisations.
Business Simulation Games Offer Many Key Benefits to an Organisation
- They enable the user to select the specific situations that need to be covered. e.g. the examination of a particular aspect of the organisation and the cause-effect relationship associated with individual actions.
- The time required to develop the skill is dramatically shortened. Imagine getting one year’s experience in one day!
- Potentially costly mistakes are eliminated. They have no, or few, real financial implications so mistakes are acceptable.
- They highlight the “cause-effect” relationship and encourage people to start identifying patterns, enhancing their judgement. This means they will be more comfortable making decisions with imperfect information.
For further reading:
Business Acumen: What is it? Who needs it? How do you acquire it?
Business Acumen: The Key to Competitive Advantage in Uncertain Times.
