--- title: Business Acumen Skills - Does Santa Have Them? description: Does Santa have the business acumen to effectively run the workshop? In our holiday business simulation, Santa needs your help to run the operations. image: https://www.advantexe.com/hubfs/Santa-business-simulation.png --- [![logo-advantexe-150.png](https://www.advantexe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/logo-advantexe-150.png?width=150&height=123&name=logo-advantexe-150.png "logo-advantexe-150.png")](https://www.advantexe.com) ![blog-banner-2022](https://www.advantexe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-banner-2022.png?width=973&name=blog-banner-2022.png "blog-banner-2022") ### The Advantexe Advisor Blog - providing a deep and applicable understanding of the system of business. # Business Acumen Skills - Does Santa Have Them? By Robert Brodo | Dec 17, 2020 8:58:57 AM | [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fdoes-santa-have-enough-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on LinkedIn](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/linkedin-24x24.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fdoes-santa-have-enough-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dlinkedin) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fdoes-santa-have-enough-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fdoes-santa-have-enough-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Business%20Acumen%20Skills%20-%20Does%20Santa%20Have%20Them%3F) [![Share on Pinterest](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/pinterest-24x24.png)](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fdoes-santa-have-enough-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dpinterest&media=) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fdoes-santa-have-enough-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fdoes-santa-have-enough-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) *The following blog is an introduction to Advantexe’s free virtual [business simulation](https://www.advantexe.com/why-business-simulations) called “[Santa’s Workshop](https://forio.com/app/advantexe/santa-sim/login.html).” Feel free to read the story and then play the simulation! The simulation is designed to introduce learners to the drivers of [business acumen ](https://www.advantexe.com/blog/business-acumen-skills-5-most-important-elements-of-a-learning-journey)in a fun and risk-free environment. * Way up at the North Pole, the Chief Operating Officer of Santa’s Workshop, Incorporated, a not-for-profit organization ![Santa-business-acumen-business-simulation](https://www.advantexe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Santa-business-simulation.png?width=300&name=Santa-business-simulation.png)that distributes toys to the good kids around the world is struggling with the execution of the organization’s business strategy. Last July, after a virtual [business acumen](https://www.advantexe.com/what-is-business-acumen) training session, the CEO (Santa) and the senior leadership team all agreed to shift toward a more Customer-Centric model moving away from Operational Excellence. Customer centricity is a strategy that is focused on the needs of the customers while Operational Excellence is a strategy that is focused on driving costs out of the system to create more efficiencies. As a side note, when Santa first stared the business centuries ago, the strategy was [Product Leadership](https://www.advantexe.com/blog/a-product-leadership-go-to-market-marketing-framework?__hstc=233546881.9023b93d805be8bfaea9f89862479221.1608212209417.1608212209417.1608212209417.1&__hssc=233546881.1.1608212209417&__hsfp=3294285004) where all the presents made in the workshop were the most innovative on the planet. Over the years, that strategy became unaffordable as the population of the planet grew. As parts of the strategy changed, Santa’s operations needed to evolve. Santa’s Supply Chain team is critical, negotiating excellent terms and developing the processes to warehouse and deliver toys on a volume basis. While Santa provides the toys to his customers at no cost, Santa does generate top-line revenue to his P&L to cover the costs of running the workshop and caring for the elves and reindeer. Revenue generation comes in four primary streams and has been declining due to shifts in the market: **Licensing images and characters of certain North Pole employees such as Rudolph the “Red Nosed” Reindeer** This is a growing market due to augmented reality and Santa has been able to generate increased revenues this year as a result. Unfortunately, this segment has shown increased competition from other holiday characters such as “Frosty the Snowman” who just expanded his presence to warm-climate parts of the world and “The Easter Bunny” who recently did a vertical integration with a major chocolate manufacturer as well as superhero movies. **Santa Souvenirs on Santa.com** The direct sales of this product line have been declining as a result of Amazon.com, but one of the Elves was able to strike up a great deal with Amazon this year and “Santa-gear,” in particular “ugly sweaters” are selling like “hot cakes” according to a workshop spokesperson. **Sales of paper-based “wish list” letters for recycling**. This revenue source has been declining significantly due to the growth of eMail, web sites and texting.  **Toy Data Analytics** Santa sells a monthly subscription to in-depth insights into the naughty and nice list. This is a rapidly growing segment. When you take over the simulation, you will be responsible for making and managing the Santa Workshop budgets. This includes Human Capital Management, Research and Development, Supply Chain Management, and overall Toy Operations. With sagging revenue, you will have to pay close attention to growing budgetary constraints or Santa may go bankrupt! - **Human Capital Management (HCM)** – This decision includes all spend on HR related items, but most importantly Elf care and maintenance. This decision effects motivation, engagement, and efficiency. It will also affect the ability to deliver toys and holiday cheer. - **R&D** – In this decision, you set the budget for of all R&D. It’s critical for Santa to keep investing to maintain innovation in the short-term, but also in the future to ensure continued cheer and to help fend off competition from other holidays such as “Birthdays” and “Graduations.” - **Supply Chain Management** – Santa runs a complex operation of many moving parts. Investing in supply chain operations keeps the systems going and helps ensure happy children, on-time delivery, and of course cost management - **Toy Operations** – Santa’s Workshop is where toy distribution and warehousing are managed. This budget decision helps to ensure the Workshop is running at peak capacity with the right supporting technology at the right time of year. As you play the simulation, you apply critical [business acumen](https://www.advantexe.com/blog/why-business-acumen-matters-now-more-than-ever) skills by juggling the trade offs between pricing to drive revenue and managing costs to optimize the key business metrics of Holiday Cheer, Santa Jolliness, and Santa's Helper Pride.  Good luck and have fun playing the [business simulation.](https://www.advantexe.com/blog/how-business-simulations-are-enabling-24901-mile-days) [Click here, ](https://forio.com/app/advantexe/santa-sim/login.html)or on the button below to play the [business simulation](https://www.advantexe.com/blog/digital-business-simulations-a-safer-way-to-practice). On behalf of the entire Advantexe team, we wish you a safe and joyous holiday season.  [![Play The Santa Business Simulation!](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/1153922/c8d047bd-95cb-443c-9122-b5b8f8444d53.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/1153922/c8d047bd-95cb-443c-9122-b5b8f8444d53)   ![Robert Brodo](https://www.advantexe.com/hubfs/Blogs/rob-brodo-author.png) **About The Author** Robert Brodo is co-founder of Advantexe. He has more than 20 years of training and business simulation experience. [**](https://www.advantexe.com) [**](https://twitter.com/robrodo) [**](https://www.linkedin.com/pub/rob-brodo/0/334/574) COMMENTS ### SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL ### About Advantexe Advantexe is a gold medal winning training and performance improvement organization specializing in the development and delivery of interactive learning journeys using computer-based business simulations as the catalyst for learning and change in the areas of: Business Acumen, Business Leadership, and Strategic Business Selling learning solutions. 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