Participants are part of a project team within Hi-Tech Engineering, responsible for the design and manufacture of products for a major new customer. The team is made up of internal representatives from different functions. The new customer has identified some concerns which need to be resolved and the team has to agree what will be done and by whom as they were all partly responsible for the concerns arising.
Competencies: Interpersonal Sensitivity
Meal-Deal, a well-known fast food chain, has decided to branch out into themed Sports Diners. Participants take the role of Management Trainees for Meal-Deal and each have been asked to consider details of one of six possible locations for the first Diner. The Management Trainees must meet and decide amongst themselves which is the most suitable location. The group must reach a decision by the end of the meeting otherwise the Business Development Director will decide himself.
Participants assume the role of Senior Managers within Cromarty Phamaceutica, a UK based Pharmaceutical Company. Within the context of a technological investment programme to support and sustain future growth, each Participant must present the case for a particular proposal for technological improvement. Each brief contains product information, application details, associated benefits, company information, its future and the results of a recent survey into the use of technology. Participants are given time to consider their brief and then to agree the best use of the available funds.
Participants assume the role of Divisional CEOs of a UK Leisure Group which includes businesses operating hotels, motels, restaurants and holidays. Participants are meeting to agree a range of recommendations for action that will reassure the stock market after recent press rumours of a likely half year profits warning. Participants each have ongoing projects or plans for their own Divisions and they have to bear these in mind while seeking to reach agreement on the best recommendations for the group.
Participants are to take on the role of Sales & Marketing Executives in the South West region of business insurer Peasmarsh Direct Business (PDB). The organisation is looking to expand its customer base by giving regions more flexibility in the way they promote their products. The Executives each represent their own product area and all report to the South West Sales & Marketing Director. The Executives are meeting to negotiate which of their product areas will receive a share of the South West budget for product promotion. The group must decide on a maximum of two product areas to promote in order to enhance the sales and reputation of PDB.
Participants are representing their department within Samuel Brothers, a leading manufacturer of pies and pasties. Students from a local Business College have offered to carry out research projects for Samuel Brothers, and each Participant has several projects which their department wants investigating. The Managing Director has tasked the group with finalising which research projects should be put forward. The group must now discuss and agree which three assignments are the most important for the company as a whole.
Each Participant sitting on the Salesperson’s Discretionary Award Panel represents a nominee from a different sales region who has excelled in his/her job and is therefore a candidate for a special discretionary award. Participants are supplied with salary, commission and general performance data about their nominee. They are expected to prepare a case to argue in favour of their nominee and to discuss the relative merits of each of the nominated candidates.
Each of the six Participants assumes the role of Administrator for various functions in IT Applications Ltd, and they are each hoping to gain the assistance a temporary worker. The firm is expanding and all departments are stretched to meet their workloads, so each of the Administrators would welcome some support. However, as things currently stand, the HR Department has only one temporary worker available, so the group must decide between them how to make the best use of this person until a permanent solution is found.
Participants assume the role of Regional Directors in the Sustainable Environment Agency, a Government body responsible for co-ordinating regional initiatives to deliver environmental change. An independent review has raised significant concerns about the Agency’s performance. The Regional Directors must now meet to decide a strategy of major new initiatives for the next three years. Each Director is given two initiatives suggested by their regional team, some of which could also be used in other regions. Directors have to maximise the amount invested in initiatives that will benefit their region, while reaching agreements with other Directors on the Agency’s overall plan of action. In evaluating initiatives, Directors will have to take into account factors such as cost of initiatives, likely impact and relative priority.
Participants are members of a sports & social club, each representing a location of a multi-site company. Following a successful fund-raising event, the club has a significant surplus and the Marketing Manager of the Company has agreed to match this pound for pound if the club can organise an event or a sponsorship, which will also give publicity to the Company. Each member has looked for an opportunity to promote a good cause at their own location and as a team they are meeting to decide on the best allocation of the money.
