Each Participant assumes the role of a Senior Manager within the Acquisitions team for WLP International (WLP), a company operating within the logistics and transportation industry. WLP have recently acquired a similar organisation. The Participants must decide as a group which countries WLP should retain a presence in, and which businesses should be sold off to raise capital for reinvestment. Each Participant has information about one of the six different countries and is provided with quantitative and qualitative information including; company background, financial data, staffing and customer issues, competitor information and future business opportunities.
Exercise Level: Middle Management
Participants assume the role of Project Managers in a large European based manufacturing organisation, Grigston Lacey. Due to cut backs the Project Managers must meet to decide how best to allocate the available resources. Each Participant has parameters within which they can negotiate to achieve the most favourable allocation of resources, whilst trying to ensure that each of the projects is able to run successfully. Projects range from quality testing new products and relocating sites to IT upgrades and process re-engineering.
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.
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 Participant is given the role of Divisional Manager of a different section of the Utilities Agency, who provide central procurement services for other Government departments. Participants are meeting to bid for their share of the divisional budget and must submit their recommendation at the end of the meeting to the Head of Finance, who is unable to attend. Each Participant is supplied with a budget breakdown and supporting material as to why their projects should be funded. Consensus needs to be reached by the end of the meeting or the Head of Finance will decide.
The Participant takes on the role of a newly appointed Compensation and Benefits Manager for Kavanah Hawley, a manufacturer of exclusive beauty products. The Participant is tasked with deciding whether or not Kavanah Hawley should withdraw company cars from its staff benefits package. This exercise requires the Participants to consider both the needs of the business and the people who work in it, in order to make a reasoned decision.
The Participant assumes the role of a newly appointed Project Director for a large civil engineering/construction company called Centurion Design & Construction. The Participant is asked to investigate a request for a Project Manager working for a subcontractor to be dismissed from the Kingsmead Shopping Centre Project. There are a number of significant factors that need to be identified and considered in order for the Participant to be able to make their decision regarding the request.
The Participant, in the role of a Management Consultant, has been asked to collect information about the prospective relocation of a business to new premises. Premier Business Systems is a relatively small software company and the Participant is required to identify relevant issues, consider relocation options and make an appropriate recommendation.
The Participant, in the role of a General Manager of the AL-Harj Project, is asked to make a decision about a prospective repatriation of a Senior Expatriate Manager. Although this looks a relatively straightforward decision, there are much wider issues to be discovered in relation to the commercial risks of a joint venture.
The Participant assumes the role of an International Business Development Manager, with a remit to grow the EMEA region for DentaGlo, a US manufacturer of a tooth whitening system. Although DentaGlo is well established within the US, it has only started to move into overseas markets in the last few years. The Participant’s role requires them to expand the sales channels within the region through a combination of direct sales activity and third party distributors. Items relate to sourcing and evaluating potential new distributors, managing performance issues and devising sales and marketing strategies for the different territories within their region.
