We tested The Fresh Connection Business Game with professionals active in the industry sector. They provided us with valuable insights on the strenghts of the business game and on the main points of attention.

1. Learnings TFC Dry run session
15th of February 2012 @HQ MÖBIUS
Exchanging experiences & insights on the added value of The Fresh
Connection Business Game with practitioners active in the industry sector
Danny.boeykens@mobius.eu
Frank.roch@mobius.eu
Stephanie.felt@mobius.eu
www.mobius.eu

2. Main strenghts of TFC bus.game
Experience the value Become aware of
of cross-functional your bottom line
teaming impact.
Learn how strategy
Get a clear insight in
alignment &
the dynamics of the
execution is key to
total value chain
success.

3. Main strenghts of TFC bus.game
•Agree an approach for the team
Experience the •S&OP = teamwork
•Emphasize cross-functional discussions!
value of cross- •No improvement without cross-functional thinking
•Can be used as a teambuilding exercise, also makes the case for job rotation
functional teaming •Cross-functional discussion: align to common KPI's
•Shows clearly the importance of collaboration
(9) •Improve cross-functional working, thinking, cooperation
•Suited for cross-functional understanding
•Clear reporting
•Very user-friendely interface
Quality of •Thought generation tool
•Enough complexity to be challenging
•Adapted to all levels of experience (one can go as deep as he/she wants)
the Bus. Game (8) •Integrated business game
•Immediate result on decision
•Direct result on action (fast feedback)
•Understanding environment is important
•Total SC thinking (need to sit together)
Get a clear insight •Spread of the functions. Learnings from other departnments and effects on
the actions taken
in the dynamics of •Quick understanding of impact decisions on the entire value chain
the total value •Nice game for salespeople to understand impact of their decisions on other
functions
•Each role impacts the other
chain (8) •Gives insights in funcitonal disciplines that arent' yours
•Gained insight in potential complexity of busines cases/situation

4. Main strenghts of TFC bus.game
Learn how strategy
alignment & •Strategy first but be consistent
•Stick to your strategy
execution is key to •Strategy is needed but execution is key
success (3)
Learn to think & •Very good to make people aware of the impact of changes on company
results!
act in ‘$’ - KPI •Results express in $. See the effect of your actions on the bottom line
•You can run a business on KPI's
driven (3)
•Top players don' t make a top team without a coach
•A lot of Fun!
Varia (5) •Facilitates interaction progressively
•Shows how easy you can get lost in detailed data
•Could be useful to convince students to choose for a job in SC and/or
operations

5. Main areas of attention
Adapt the format Provide enough
according to profile, support/feedback
available time, coaching/training
knowledge, context, to maximise the
… learning.
Be aware of the Secure the team
overload in learnings via
information and high organisational
complexity. transformation.

6. Main areas of attention for TFC bus.game
•Missed a 3d round to finish
Adapt the format •More time needed to process information & communicate
•Level of complexity for short sessons?
according to •More background (theory) could be given for non professionals
profile, available •With a wide group of functions you can not go deep enough in the
individual matter
•Very 'food' related
time, knowledge, •Too far away from the businss I am in?
context, … (9) •Too quick/short
•You will always have criticisms regarding the setup
Provide enough •How to translate strategy into execution?
•Impact of some optional actions is not known
support •Some support for S&OP development (checklist?)
•Provide sufficient feedback explanations on why the ROI is going down/up
feedback/coaching (avoid black box) (it is a need)
•Feedback on 'wrong' decisions?
to maximise the •No simple what if simulation or sensitivity info available
•Initial explanations are not sufficient
learning (8) •Low coaching during the rounds
Be aware of the
•Overload of information to digest if you are not familiar with SC
overload in •Pre-reading of concepts & terminologies used in the game (minor point)
•Potentially overwhelming (complexity)
information & high •Easy to loose yourself in details
complexity (4)

7. Main areas of attention for TFC bus.game
Secure the team
learnings via •It is a game, you need the extra step to reflect and translate for your
organisation
organisational •A game will not always solve organisational problems
transformation (2)
Extra functionality •Complexity increased to include even common KPI's accross functions
•Isn't HR also an important mgt function to be considered as a separate role?
(2)
•What model is behind? too theoretical?
Varia (3) •Rather short term focus on ROI
•How to position TFC in an education curriculum? Go to market model.

8. p. 8

9. Thank you for
your enthusiasm
& for your
valuable input!
p. 9