Business Simulations, Tailored Simulations, and Custom Business Simulations

We’ve touched on this before, but the question seems to be asked with more frequency lately, “What’s the difference between a business simulation, tailored simulation, and a custom business simulation?” This is a good question and tough to answer.

It’s important to note that everyone seems to have different definitions of simulation and this gets confusing when compared to business games (serious games). We can only tell you how we define business simulation in context to our services.

Business Simulation-
This is software solution that bears strong resemblance to part of or an entire business. It is important to understand that this can be any business. A business simulation is often canned. It might be similar to all or part of your business, but it is not a model of your actual business. A business simulation is useful when you’re trying to teach general business skills (acumen). If you’re trying to create strategic shift, these aren’t usually very useful.

Tailored Simulation-
This is the same as a business simulation, but may have some basic changes that might more closely resemble your business. An example of some changes are product name changes, company name, or general high level changes. In many cases this is a business simulation with some straight forward changes. In general, this is still considered pretty canned.

Custom Business Simulation-
This is a business simulation that bears very close resemblance to your actual business (or part of). Most importantly items such as core values (competencies), strategy, products, and methods are incorporated within a custom simulation. A custom simulation may have a similar core calculation engine to a business simulation, but everything else is different. All the results that come from a custom business simulation are developed around your learning goals. These simulations are most useful when strategy shift or process change needs to take place rapidly.

Now, the next logical question is, “Which one should I use?” This is a good question and very much depends on your needs. If you are looking to teach generic skills or provide and experiential general overview, go with a canned business simulation. If you’re looking to create rapid change or introduce your leaders to the overall business, a custom solution is the best fit. Here’s a pictorial overview:



We hope this helps.
- SimDev Team
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