How Business Simulation Models for 2025 Can Build Skills Today

For the second time in a year, I have been asked to start designing a computer-based business simulation to both assess and develop Business Acumen skills for potential leaders who will be taking executive positions in 2025 and beyond.

In order to create the right scenarios that will measure and then develop future skills, a significant amount of research and modeling has to occur.  As I begin that process, I thought it would be beneficial to share some of the foundational thinking so readers of this blog (which more than 3,000 people get twice a week) can start thinking about their skills and the potential issues they will face today and into the future.

Despite the doom and gloom coming from the political world and the overall global uncertainty about the perception of the way things seem to be going, as you will read, when you step back and look at things from the global macroeconomic perspective, things are actually quite good and I believe will continue to get better.

Below are just a few of the significant global trends that we will b    uild into the base conditions of our award-winning business simulations that will provide the skills needed to be future leaders:

One of the very first things we model when building a business acumen simulation is the size and health of global markets.  Without healthy consumers, markets crash and poverty prevails.  The average life expectancy in every part of the world is going up dramatically as the most impoverished nations are able to afford the basic healthcare required for children including immunizations and other basic medications.  Diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C are now basically curable and parts of the world where entire cities were killed off are now thriving and making a contribution.  In our models, we will take note of the impacts the investments pharmaceuticals have made in R&D and their willingness to price products in a way that finds the right balance between a fair profit and the needs of society.

Despite the bipartisan rhetoric that is coming from Washington, the facts speak for themselves.  There is more free trade, more technology, and more democracy on the planet now than ever before in the history of mankind.  The trends indicate – and one of the key elements of our future models will be - that strong and innovative countries like the United States, Japan, and China will be able to continue to build economic wealth and provide the means for the rest of the world to follow along at the same pace.  By connecting the world and then letting the world find the right economic partners, we will see a world of unlimited partnerships and the ability to create specialized customer segments that can transcend the boarders we need to keep the order and structure needed to make it all work.

If people live longer, healthier lives and there is more free trade, technology, and democracy, we are almost guaranteed to significantly reduce global poverty.  According to data from the World Bank, we have seen a significant drop in poverty over the past 10 years and there is a very strong chance that poverty will be eliminated by 2030.  In 1993, there were 2 billion people living below the poverty line. Today, that number is less than a billion and if the trend continues poverty could be totally eliminated within the next 12 years which would be an amazing accomplishment.  The drivers of this phenomenon is better healthcare, technology, and the ability to engage in free trade. 

In summary, the world really isn’t as terrible as it seems on TV.  From a business acumen modeling perspective, we are building the scenarios for leaders that are leading in a free, and prosperous world that provides limitless opportunities for growth and making the right business decisions to get there.