Serious Game: more than a game, a simulation of business life!

For 5 days, the 4th year students have participated in a serious game in management.
The goal? Turn into a CEO, a sales director or a director of production to manage a business and its risks, according to a scenario defined by the Studies Department of the EPF...

A busy week

By teams, the students had to run their business in a competitive world and develop it by creating innovative products. "I held the position of production manager" explains François, 4th year student in mechanics. "Once the sales manager had signed new contracts, I had to make sure that employees could produce the "points" for sale." The teams had to coordinate themselves but also make decisions together and financially manage their business, "I had to constantly work with the other members of our group in order to better handle the different constraints and to respect contracts "says François.

As in a real structure, the students had to create a marketing mix, manage the development of their society, and work with all stakeholders: competitive intelligence, negotiations with unions, interactions with customers, prospects, suppliers. Thibaut, a student in Engineering Management, was the HRD of his virtual company: "We had to understand the challenges of this job and the different missions: recruitment, dismissal, payment of wages, employee rights, dialogue with the unions."

Trials to overcome

This scenario has enabled them to realize the "real life" of a company, by taking into account all the parameters. According to Thibaut, the biggest challenge was "to work, a whole week, with a constant pressure. We simulate, in 4 days, the economic and financial situation of two years of a company in competition." For François, one of the major challenges was learning to use the Interface. "This document is very complex because it gave the variations in real time, simulating the hiring and dismissal of employees."

In conclusion

The results of this crazy week? According to Thibaut: "the most challenging and stressful week of my school life (especially when we finish in first position with my dream team). At the end, we fully understand the economics and finance of a company: the stock market, accounts, investments, loans, various job functions... And the worst is that we will remember it as it was yesterday".

For François, this week was "very interesting because we could learn in a fun way. It changes from "conventional "methods. This serious game taught us to better understand the issues of the various members of a company and to quickly manage unexpected events."