Run Your Company

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia “Management Universe” at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)

As a faculty or a seminar leader, you can use this management game for bit longish type of seminars spanning at least for two or more than two days. It is definitely very useful for the management courses that run for over few weeks or few months. This management exercise is also a great energizer or motivator for the participants.

It is a simulation exercise. With the involvement of the participants of your program, you can
choose from among the real companies which your program participants will like to run or manage as its top managers.

Then divide the entire participants randomly into small groups consisting of say 6 members in each group. The method of forming the groups randomly is described earlier in the exercise titled “Pass the Message” at http://management-games-icebreakers.blogspot.com/2010/08/pass-message.html.

Each group will designate one member from the group as the company’s CEO. Other 4 members will take the roles as chief of marketing, chief of manufacturing, chief of finance and chief of human resources etc. Each group will now decide on the company which that group will like to own and manage. Remember, the company each group chooses to run are from the list of companies that were shortlisted earlier (refer the earlier paragraph) and all of them are real companies.

Explain to them that each group will have to collect the data and information of these companies from the information available publicly on the internet or in the annual reports of the companies or any other formally published literature. They should collect the information for at least past 3 to 4 years.

Data and information on the companies will be collected on the following items:

·Vision, mission and objectives

·Strategies

·Products

·Financial data (balance sheets, profit and loss statements etc)

·Human resources

etc.

Having obtained this kind of data and information, each group will work out the future strategies for the company that each group has decided to management. They may even revise the vision, mission and objectives of the company. After formulating the strategies etc, each group will work out the detailed short term and long term plans for the company in the areas of financial budgets, profitability projections, products and product mix, marketing, manufacturing, inventories, human resources and anything else the group can conceive.

The groups may have to work quite extensively on this exercise and may have to stretch their working hours beyond the usual seminar or course timings.

Announce the date and time when all the groups will make their presentations to you.

As a faculty, you may have to closely supervise their progress and provide the required guidance. Your facilitation will go a long way in making this game a success.

After all the groups have prepared themselves for the presentation, organize their presentations to you on the earlier announced date and time.

After every presentation, allow sufficient time for questions and answers when the participants and you can ask questions to the presenting group.

Sum up the entire presentation by sharing your observations, critique, advice and additional inputs with the participants.

Get Hold of the Related Books

You can order the following books on "management games and icebreakers" as printed books and eBooks from Amazon online:

1. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
2. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
3. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
4. 101 Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

Related Reading: (Repository of a large number of articles in management and leadership): http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com and http://management-universe.blogspot.com