What is TRIUM ?
TRIUM is a Global Executive MBA program. It was formed by an alliance of 3 of the world's top business schools :
NYU Stern School of Business
London School of Economics
HEC Paris
It brings to its students - mostly senior executives - a global view on several topics : finance, economy, strategy, marketing.
The Instructor
The supply-chain course of the program is performed by Michel Fender - Senior Advisor and Adjunct Professor at HEC Paris. Michel works with executive committees and supply-chain organizations of several international companies, to advise strategic decisions, design innovative supply chain models and drive transformation.
« I have been using the Beer Game for 20 years with a large diversity of audience and in more than 40 countries. I consider it as the perfect pedagogical tool to develop the awareness of top managers about supply chain, and as a leverage for building up One Team within their company. Also for involving their external stakeholders such as customers, vendors and contractors. »
Michel Fender - Senior Advisor and Adjunct Professor
Objectives and Organization
Michel decided to use Zensimu's Beer Game at the beginning of an elective course : "Integrated Business planning" which focuses on the concepts of S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning). The purpose of the course is to open the eyes of top executives on supply chain, as a business leverage of value creation. The game had to enable participants to get a practical experience of the supply chain concepts. The solution had to be flexible, as there was an uncertainty in the final number of participants for the session. Also, the time was limited, he had around 2 hours to introduce the game, play and share the results . The session took place on-site, at the HEC campus in Paris. 24 participants played in the same room : 3 games were used, with 2 persons playing each role, sharing the same computer screen.
« Up to recently I had been using the physical version of the Beer Game. I met almost a year ago Mathias, who has developed the Beer Game. I don’t consider myself as an early adopter but I love testing innovation. I chose to use the app for the Trium program, and Mathias was keen to hear my feedback and improve some elements. Innovation is based on cooperation. »
Michel Fender - Senior Advisor and Adjunct Professor
Results
The game and the animation was seen as a memorable experience by the students . Participants understood quickly the objectives of the game, and how to play. The business background of the participants led to interesting discussions around information sharing, and client-supplier relationships , in a competitive environment. For Michel, the tool helped the session run smoothly. The advanced analytics at the end made it easy to visualize the bullwhip effect, and use it as a base for the rest of the course.
« In the physical version, the trainees see the level of stocks moving up and they probably express their emotions more loudly. But Zensimu's Beer Game offers valuable advantages, such as a faster acquisition of the rules by the trainees, more focus on their decisions thanks to the automated flows, immediate production of visual KPIs to follow-up their performance. Since the trium program, I have used the app several times for in-person beer game trainings but as well remotely. It worked quite well in both cases. »
Michel Fender - Senior Advisor and Adjunct Professor
