Capstone launches simulation programme for Indian corporates

Capstone Business Simulation, an arm of US-based Management Simulations Inc (MSI), has launched a simulation programme for corporates in India.

Dharam Pal, managing director of sansRisk Credit Solutions Private Limited, which represents MSI in India, said: "Managers tend to think from their functional responsibilities. In a business climate that demands excellence, every manager needs a variety of skills that lead to outstanding performance. Also, a chief executive officer (CEO) has to think in a broad spectrum and cannot concentrate only on one aspect. With the help of this programme, we try to make managers understand business in the broader perspective."

Pal said that several Fortune 500 companies across the world are the clients of Capstone and over 50,000 people pick up new managerial skills through the business simulation. Over 500 business universities have also inducted this course in their curriculum, he said.

"The central theme of simulation is business strategy. A unique feature of the simulation is that there can be more than one winner theoretically, since teams can decide their own success measurement criteria for rankings against other teams in the industry," he said.

"Managers have rated cross-functional integration as the top learning benefit of the simulation. The workshop emphasises the interaction among various functional areas of an organisation," Pal said.

During the programme, a participant gets to run a $100 million company for eight virtual years, making all the decisions relating to inventory management, cash management, marketing, R&D, equity, short-term financing, production, sales and promotion and labour negotiations. They stop looking at business merely from their functional angle alone.

Instead, they acquire a strategic and holistic mindset towards business. They come to understand the entire business process and its nuances in a simple and unforgettable manner.

The simulation programme was launched here at a workshop "� Baptism by Fire "� recently where corporates from around 12 companies participated. Pal said that similar workshops and in-house sessions would be conducted in other cities in the country.

"We are in talks with various corporates and colleges which offer MBAs and many of them have shown keen interest," he added.