One of the core features of Advantexe’s digital business simulation platform is its ability to capture data for review and performance analytics. The performance analytics from a well-designed business simulation can be used as part of capabilities assessments and career planning. For a recent business simulation workshop, we conducted for a top car manufacturer, we pulled all the simulation results from the last five cohorts which focused on four critical metrics of success including, revenue, sales expenses, operating expenses, and Net Income (profitability).

Over the past few months Advantexe has experienced a significant surge in the demand for marketing focused business simulations that develop skills and competencies in what we are calling, “Marketing for 2021 and Beyond.”

The increased demand has been from every industry with a slightly heavier emphasis coming from life sciences, high tech, consumer packaged goods, and financial services. The requests have ranged from simulations designed for marketing professionals to improve and expand their skills, to marketing skill building for employees in various non-marketing functions to better understand the role and importance that marketing has in the new value chain of an organization. In other words, developing empathy in a cross-functional environment.

There are many ways to explain the impact of a business simulation on learning. Descriptions like hands-on learning, engaging, interactive, real-life, and immersive are often used, but “tension-filled” – though it does not get mentioned much – is a key part of a business simulation’s value proposition to building capabilities.

Tension is defined as the act of straining or stretching: the condition of being strained or stretched. This illustrates one of the greatest benefits of a simulation: its ability to put learners in situations that stretch their ability and test their limits. A simulation is a learning tool that creates uncomfortable situations for learners to work through, building confidence and overcoming fear and hesitancy through practice during tense situations that seem very real but are actually risk-free in order to drive experiential learning.

In part 4 of 4, Robb Gomez, COO of Paradigm Learning and Rob Brodo, CEO of Advantexe respond to interview questions about the use of simulations in today’s changing corporate learning environment. 

 
Question: Why did you decide to develop an asynchronous business acumen simulation? 

 
Rob Brodo   

The world has been disrupted. Everything has changed. We needed to change our approach to proactively use innovative tools, like scalable virtual asynchronous business simulations, to provide new opportunities for our mutual clients so they can continue to develop the critical capabilities they need to survive and then thrive. Asynchronous business acumen simulations can be run 24/7 and that’s something we need to offer to organizations thinking differently about how they build the skills of their workforce. 

Both Paradigm Learning and Advantexe have been working in the world of simulations for many years and have always had a great working relationship serving different segments of the corporate market. As soon as COVID-19 hit, we reached out to each other with this idea and immediately started designing game-changing solutions that we could offer to all our clients so they can continue to build their business acumen skills from brands they trust and love.

In part 3 of our 4-part blog series, Robb Gomez, COO of Paradigm Learning and Rob Brodo, CEO of Advantexe respond to the question "Why business simulations are such an effective tool in developing business acumen skills."

The blog post appears on Paradigm Learning’s blog site and can be read by clicking here. 

Advantexe and Paradigm are currently partnering to develop an asynchronous digital business acumen simulation, Zodiak Pro, due to launch this fall.