Business Simulation
Games

How Great Business Simulation Games help build Business Acumen and Commercial Acumen

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.

Transcript for the Business Simulation Games video.

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:

• The Business Benefit.
• Business Acumen: What is it? Who needs it? How do you acquire it?
• Business Acumen: The Key to Competitive Advantage in Uncertain Times.