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BTS • Overview Business Acumen
The Consumer Goods Business Simulation
Navigating the Evolving Consumer Goods Landscape
To help companies compete in this demanding business, BTS has developed
the Consumer Goods Business Simulation an interactive and engaging
experiential learning program. Through the high-impact program,
participating leaders develop industry understanding, experience the key
business drivers and challenges of a consumer goods organization, and
develop the capabilities necessary for success
The Program at a Glance
The BTS Consumer Goods Simulation is a one day competitive program that
introduces the key trade-offs, trends, challenges, and business drivers of a
food products and consumer goods business. Participating leaders assume
the role of the senior leadership at the company and manage the enterprise
– from sourcing raw materials through manufacturing of products to delivery
to retailers.
Confronting macroeconomic and microeconomic situations, participants are
challenged to grow revenues, shrink costs, and optimize assets. Throughout
the day, participants receive feedback and analysis of their decisions and
strategies. In the end, leaders develop deep understanding around how to
maximize shareholder value, while maintaining high customer and employee
satisfaction. At the end of the experience, they form action plans to apply
back on the job.
Key Issues Covered in the Simulation
In the one-day board-based simulation, small teams collaborate, build
fundamental capabilities, and practice real-world decision making in a riskfree environment as they reason through how to deal with the following
realistic scenarios:
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BTS • Overview Business Acumen
• Developing strong relationships with raw materials’ suppliers
• Minimizing inventory levels, but still meet market demand
• Managing costs to maintain or improve margins
• Implementing continuous operational improvements
• Understanding commodity products vs. ”green” fresh, organic products
• Allocating R&D dollars for product improvements and developing
marketing channels
• Forecasting accuracy
Audience
The BTS Consumer Goods Business Simulation is intended for two
primary audiences:
• Individual contributor to Director-Level employees within the consumer
goods business
• Organizations with major clients in the industry
Workshop Objectives
After successfully completing the high-impact experience, participants are
able to understand consumer goods industry dynamics, general trends,
and business challenges; how these factors relate to individual roles, dayto-day operations, and the company’s success; and the relating decisions
that drive results.
The following are the learning objectives for the target audiences:
• Enhance cross-functional and cross-business effectiveness by improved
credibility, collaboration and communication
• Create understanding and stimulate discussion around important
challenges and trends facing the industry
• Facilitate an increased focus on improved financial performance and
understanding of key value drivers using the language of business
acumen
• Solve business problems by aligning offerings and value
Implementation and Customization
The BTS Consumer Goods Business Simulation includes know-how
sessions, debriefs, group discussions, problem-solving exercises, and
action-oriented team activities for further reinforcement. To maximize
relevance, the simulation can be highly customized to meet a client’s
specific business objectives and strategic priorities. Customization
includes nearly all aspects of the simulation such as the terminology,
business structure and issues, key performance indicators, and learning
objectives.
The BTS Consumer Goods Business Simulation can be used as a
standalone program or supplemented with additional solutions to
reinforce the skills most critical to a company’s specific needs. To achieve
the full impact of the design, the recommended implementation process
includes pre-work, a pre-meeting with managers, the core workshop, and
rigorous post-program coaching.
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BTS • Overview Business Acumen
Experiential Learning that Delivers Key Results
Through the Consumer Goods Industry Business Simulation, participating
leaders recognize the drivers of key performance indicators and have
an overall big picture understanding of the industry, and the critical
interrelationships. The best practice is for participants’ managers to meet
with the participants ahead of the session, so they can draw a line of sight
to the intended outcomes and manage accountability for application
on the job. Armed with improved capabilities and actionable items,
participants accelerate results once back on the job.
About BTS
BTS focuses on the people side of strategy, working with leaders at all
levels to help them make better decisions, convert those decisions to
actions and deliver results. At our core, we believe people learn best by
doing. For 30 years, we’ve been designing fun, powerful experiences™ that
have profound and lasting impact on people and their careers. We inspire
new ways of thinking, build critical capabilities and unleash business
success. It’s strategy made personal.
For more information, please visit www.bts.com.
Consumer Goods
A PRODUCTS
Suppliers
Cost per
Batch
Accounts
Payable
(credit line: 20M)
Customer Sati sfacti on
95%
90%
2
Labor
Year
3
1
Production Plant 1
Finished Goods
Production Plant 2
Finished Goods
2
Property, Plant and Equipment
3
Transportation
A Products Cost of Goods Sold
inveStmentS
B Products Cost of Goods Sold
Depreciation
B PRODUCTS
Suppliers
Cost per
Batch
Accounts
Payable
(credit line: 20M)
85%
Year
1
Raw Materials
Year
Raw Materials
1
2
Labor
Year
3
1
2
3
Transportation
cOSt Of gOODS SOlD
manufacturing flOw
DepreciatiOn
10.0
80%
B PRODUCTS
A PRODUCTS
cuStOmer
OrDer carD
9.0
R&D
R&D
Selling
Selling
75%
8.0
Customer
Order Card
70%
6.0
5.0
Operating cOStS: r&D & Selling
accOuntS receivaBle
65%
4.0
3.0
60%
Taxes
Return on Assets (ROA) =
Revenues - Costs
Assets
Customer Money
cuStOmer mOney
Marketing
caSh
Interest Loans
Trade Allowances
Consumer Goods Industry
Consumer Goods Industry
Consumer Goods Industry
Consumer Goods Industry
Cost of Sales
Gross Margin
Option
A Cards
Option
B Cards
1.0
Consequence
Cards
Follow-up
Cards
Balance Sheet
Consumer Goods Industry
Revenue
Event
Cards
2.0
General &
Administration
Other Operating cOStS
incOme Statement
Consumer Goods Industry
Channe l De ve lo pme nt
100%
Risk
Cards
Operating Expenses
Earnings from Operations
Interest
Assets
Cash
Inventory
Property, Plant and
Equipment
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts Payable
Long-term debt
Stockholders’ Equity
Earnings before Taxes
Taxes
Net Earnings
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