In the News

This Wall St. Journal story features a BTS simulation run for client NetApp earlier this year. Participants worked to meet annual sales-growth target of 35% while competing against other teams for market share and profitability. The simulation is a leadership development tool for the second tier of 300 managers, building on BTS’ simulation communicating NetApp’s corporate strategy to top 100 leaders last year.

Managers are unable to make effective decisions that align itself with the overall business strategies because they lack the larger business oversight and do not understand the business market at large.

The key publication for financial managers in the oil and gas industry features an article on BG Group's use of BTS simulations to train their managers worldwide.The Business Discovery program is a four-day workshop designed to improve employees’ abilities to make business decisions by increasing their understanding of the oil and gas value chain and its interrelationships.

Businessweek covers the market for new hires and how more candidates are seeking alternatives to traditional consulting and financial first jobs, in the hopes of gaining more leadership experience and client exposure more quickly, and because many such companies are more protected from the current economic downturn. BTS is given as an example of a firm chosen by MBA's over alternative offers, with a new hire noting that his decision "came down to where he could get the most hands-on experience and access to top executives."

Training magazine profiles Dan Parisi, BTS San Francisco Managing Director and selected as a "top ten trainer under 40" by Training editors and an independent judging panel comprising members of Training's Editorial Advisory Board. "Parisi represents the 'next generation of training industry leaders," says BTS USA President Jonas Akerman. "Not only does Dan 'lead from the front' by delivering seminars and developing new solutions with his San Francisco-based 20-consultant team, he inspires his team to take on newer, bigger challenges each year."

Brian Summerfield quotes Rommin Adl and Steve Toomey of BTS about the inaugural BTS University Challenge, a simulation contest which immersed MBA's from Chicago GSB, Indiana University , University of Michigan , Northwestern, and Notre Dame in a multi-billion dollar business competition.

Dr Andreou puts forward the ideas that although the use of gaming for learning is of great use due to the metaphors, the state of mind of participants and the nature of competition, it is much more effective to use simulations based on real problems and issues adding to relevance and applicability. It provides also a list of the ten things that are needed to design a great simulation for learning purposes.

An important article about what customers want from the people who sell to them, by Jonathan Hodge, the CEO of BTS Scottsdale and Lou Schachter, the managing director of the global sales practice at BTS. Hodge and Schachter make the case for today's salespeople to move beyond product knowledge acquisition by improving their business acumen skills in order to understand their clients' businesses better.

BTS client Kimberly-Clark and BTS are featured in a story describing an award-winning business simulation at the annual leadership meeting of the consumer-products company.

The article discusses how the simulation drove home the importance of TSR, total shareholder return, to executives. "They were totally immersed in running a company. Immersed in a competition. It felt like Kimberly-Clark," says (Lesley) Hoare. "They could really experience the levers that move TSR." They were so engrossed, she said, that the office that Kimberly-Clark had set up to allow attendees to answer their e-mails — usually a hot destination — was practically deserted.